Virginia legislators are considering several bills that would make it more difficult for eligible persons to cast a ballot that will be counted, and would impose large costs for implementation. One bill requires photo identification in order to vote, while others require one of an enumerated list of identification documents. If the voter does not have identification he must sign a sworn statement of his identity and then cast a provisional ballot.
In the midst of the worst economic downturn in decades, millions of Americans are out of work and struggling to keep up with bills for even the most basic expenses. What they need more than anything is a job. But for too many people, access to employment is blocked by the growing practice of employment credit checks. Employers in the public and private sectors now routinely check the credit histories of prospective employees and may use the information to deny them jobs.
Same Day Registration (SDR) (also known as Election Day Registration) states have historically led the nation in voter turnout, with average turnout rates 10 to 12 percentage points higher than non-SDR states. In the high-turnout 2008 presidential election, SDR states led the nation in turnout by 7 percentage points and by nearly 6 percentage points in the 2010 midterm elections.
A Vermont Partnership Bank will generate new revenue for Vermont, save local governments money, and make our small businesses, farms and consumers less vulnerable to cutbacks in lending in our state.
Prison-based gerrymandering is the practice of counting incarcerated persons as “residents” of a prison when drawing legislative districts in order to give extra influence to the districts that contain the prisons. The U.S. Constitution requires that election districts be roughly equal in size, so that everyone is represented equally in the political process. But prison-based gerrymandering distorts our democracy by artificially inflating the population numbers — and thus, the political clout — of districts with prisons, while diluting the political power of all other voters.
We have analyzed the likely impact on voter turnout should California adopt Election Day Registration (EDR). The availability of EDR procedures should give voters who have not previously registered or need to update their information the opportunity to vote. Consistent with existing research on the impact of Election Day Registration in the other states that use this process, we find that EDR would likely lead to substantial increases in voter turnout. We offer the following voter turnout estimates for California under EDR:
Dēmos has measured the comparative effectiveness of five leading fiscal proposals. We evaluate the plans in eight categories: jobs and public investment; health care affordability; Social Security income; education; defense policy; fair and adequate revenues; and long-term debt reduction.
“Same Day Registration” (SDR) greatly expands opportunities for Americans to participate in the electoral process and cast a ballot that will be properly counted by allowing citizens to register and vote on Election Day or during the period immediately preceding an election. States that allow for Same Day Registration consistently lead the nation in voter turnout.
Proof that when laws to protect peoples’ democratic rights are put into practice, they can have a major impact on bringing more voices into the political process.
This fact sheet includes a brief overview of why paying for college has become so difficult. Suggestions for how college students can lower their own college costs and information on public policies that can make attending college more affordable are included.
TOP FACTS:
Americans are confused and anxious about trade and globalization. On the one hand, many voters fear for their jobs and living standards, worrying about rising competition from developing nations. On the other hand, many Americans see clear benefits from globalization, believe that the United States must engage in the global economy, and want poorer nations to develop. Trading Up offers a new framework for understanding and responding to this phenomenon — one that balances a commitment to markets and open trade with dramatic efforts to reduce inequities and insecurities.
Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), voters whose names cannot be found on the voter rolls on Election Day or who cannot meet HAVA’s new voter identification requirement must be provided a provisional ballot. These provisional votes are subsequently counted if local election officials are able to verify that the individual is a legitimate voter under state law. With predictions of record turnout, including millions of first-time voters, provisional ballots may play a significant role in the 2008 election.
Toward an Equal Electorate draws upon available data to show that low-income voter registration in public assistance agencies have increased anywhere from 22 percent to over 2,600 percent compared to previous years. In the five states examined — North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Missouri — an additional 125,290 low-income voters have registered at public assistance agencies prior to the November election, most within the past several months.
In July 2008, 49 advocates, scholars, and thinkers met in Washington, D.C. and came to agreement on the outlines of a broad agenda for democracy reform. In the weeks that followed, the participants broke into workgroups and developed the recommendations outlined in this document.