"In my opinion, Barber is right. The heart of this book--a section titled "The Eclipse of Citizens" — provides chapter and verse." --Washington Post Book World
Ninth Circuit Makes Final its Ruling that Vote-Swapping Websites Are Entitled to First Amendment Protection
New York — The Ninth Circuit has confirmed an important First Amendment victory for operators and users of political websites, denying California's petition for rehearing en banc in Porter v. Bowen. Today's order leaves standing an August 2007 ruling by a three-judge panel that the First Amendment protects so-called "vote-swapping" websites from threats of criminal prosecution by government officials.
Testimony of Demos Democracy Program Director Stuart Comstock-Gay before the Nebraska Legislature's Government, Military, and Veterans' Affairs on Election Day Registration.
Voting Rights Groups Demos and Project Vote Send Intent to Sue Notices to Arizona and Florida for Noncompliance with National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
Twelve years since the enactment of the NVRA, states across the country have regularly failed to comply with public assistance voter registration requirements.
Testimony of Demos' Democracy Program Legal Director on restoring contribution limits in Vermont, delivered before the Vermont House Government Operations Committee on February 5, 2008.
The Supreme Court today turned back a constitutional challenge to spending limits for student government campaigns at the University of Montana, denying review of a June 2007 ruling by the Ninth Circuit that upheld the limits. The Supreme Court's action is a victory for the Associated Students of the University of Montana ("ASUM") and the University, which argued that the limits on campaign spending serve to assure all students, regardless of their financial circumstances, an equal opportunity to win election to student government.
New York — The United States Census practice of counting prisoners in their districts of incarceration rather than their home districts for the purpose of establishing electoral and Congressional representation is a violation of international treaty. This month, the non-partisan public policy and advocacy centers Demos and the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) submitted their analysis to the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva.
New York, NY — Fewer than one in three middle-class families in America is financially secure, and the remaining majority are either borderline or at high risk of falling out of the middle class altogether, according to a new study published this week by Demos and the Institute for Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.
New York — Provisional ballots were a significant source of voter frustration and administrative problems at polling places during the 2006 election, according to a new report, A Fallible 'Fail-safe': An Analysis of Provisional Balloting Problems in the 2006 Election. The new study, published this week by the non-partisan public policy center Demos, underscores significant concern over provisional ballot implementation, a topic that has been the subject of recent hearings in the United States House of Representatives.
Election Day Registration (EDR), sometimes called “same day registration” (SDR), allows eligible voters to register and cast a ballot on Election Day. Nine states currently have EDR or SDR laws. Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin adopted EDR in the 1970s. Idaho, New Hampshire and Wyoming enacted Election Day Registration two decades later. Montana implemented EDR in 2006.
Demos president Miles Rapoport testifies before the U.S. House Administration Sub-Committee on Elections regarding Election Day Registration and provisional voting.