New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, issued a statement regarding the brewing voter registration scandal in Nevada, where political consulting firm Sproul and Associates, sometimes operating as Voter Outreach of America, has been accused of destroying registration forms completed during a months-long voter registration drive.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson's recent decisions regarding counting voter registration applications without "double affirmations" of citizenship.
New York, NY — Anticipating a razor-thin election Nov. 2, many election officials and political commentators are making alarmist and inaccurate claims that "new" voter registration procedures will enable voter fraud.
However, election fraud is at most a minor problem across the 50 U.S. states, and does not affect election outcomes, according to a 2003 study being re-released today by Demos, titled "Securing the Vote: A Report on Election Fraud."
New York, NY — Today Miles Rapoport, President of Demos, a nonpartisan voting rights organization, and former Connecticut Secretary of State, issued the following statement on the dramatic nation-wide shortage of poll workers:
"Election officials across the country are facing critical shortages in poll workers, falling more than 500,000 workers short of what's needed nationally. When record numbers of Americans show up on Election Day, including many new voters, we must be prepared to handle the influx.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver's recent decisions regarding how to handle provisional ballots and voter registration applications.
New York, NY — More than 200,000 votes cast on November 2nd could be invalidated due to improperly and illegally applied provisional balloting procedures, according to a new report released today by Demos, a nonpartisan public policy research organization based in New York.
NEW YORK — Millions of eligible voters may be prevented from casting their ballots on November 2nd due to non-existent or flawed procedures used by state election officials to purge felons from voter rolls, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union and Demos, as part of the Right to Vote Campaign.
Washington DC/NY, NY — Today Demos and Project Vote, two leading, national nonprofit organizations dedicated to voter registration, criticized the Department of Justice for failing to remind states of their responsibilities under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to offer voter registration services in public assistance agencies.
New York, NY/Washington, DC — Today two leading national voting rights organizations, Demos and Project Vote, asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take action to improve states' compliance with the Nation Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensure easy access to voter registration for thousands of citizens.
New York, NY. — Today a New York City-wide coalition of celebrities, community-based organizations, civil rights groups and criminal justice activists held a press conference to publicly launch its campaign, Release the Vote: Unlock the Block. Forty-two organizations have endorsed the initiative (listing attached).
Unlock the Block is mounting a major public information campaign to educate, mobilize and register thousands of people formerly incarcerated for a felony conviction, their families and their communities. See www.unlocktheblock.org.
New York, NY — Demos has published two new reports which provide compelling research, analysis, and timely information on felony disenfranchisement laws, and their impact on American democracy.
New York, NY — Propositions to enact Election Day Registration (EDR) in California and Colorado were defeated yesterday, preventing citizens from gaining the ability to register and vote on Election Day. The promise of EDR is that every citizen, including significant portions of the population that have traditionally been marginalized, have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
New York-A newly released review of a June 27 report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) shows that voter registration application rates at state public assistance agencies have risen sharply following National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) enforcement actions by advocacy groups Demos, Project Vote, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and others. In contrast, the overwhelming majority of states not targeted have continued to see a long decline in registration of lower-income residents.
In a victory for voting rights, a decision issued September 7, 2011 by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has denied certification to a proposed ballot initiative that would impose restrictive requirements for photo ID in Massachusetts elections.
The decision rests on Article 9 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which guarantees “the freedom of elections.” The certification ruling likens the ID requirement to a poll tax because the proposed law makes no provision for qualified voters to obtain state-issued identification without paying a fee.
Civil rights groups will release a letter to the Department of Justice charging an unnecessary, unfair, restrictive photo voter ID law intentionally discriminates against African American and Latino voters.
Testimony to Congress on current voter suppression tactics including voter purges, registration barriers, felony disenfranchisement, and prison gerrymandering.
