Voting

'Hillary's Women' Reject McCain's VP Choice

America's largest women's rights organisation delivered a snub to Sarah Palin's history-making candidacy yesterday by endorsing Barack Obama and Joe Biden's bid for power.

The National Organisation for Women (NOW) is 500,000 strong and hugely influential. The feminist organisation almost never supports a presidential candidate, but the Alaska governor's Christian fundamentalist faith and her opposition to abortion rights has forced its hand.

Posted in Voting, Women's Rights

Lose Your Home, Lose Your Vote: Republicans Move To Deny Homeless Votes, Democrats Claim

WASHINGTON - The reported effort has been denounced as "lose your home, lose your vote". "It is part of a broader scheme to harass voters and suppress the vote in the state of Michigan," said a spokesman for the Barack Obama campaign.

The campaign has joined the Democratic National Committee and several voters in Macomb County to file an injunction to prohibit the Republican Party from challenging Michigan voters whose homes are on foreclosure lists.

Posted in Politics, Voting

Why Hurricane Ike Demands Paper Ballots on November 4

Hurricane Ike has made it clear that paper ballots must be made available for all voters in Ohio and throughout the nation on November 4.

Ike has blown all the way up into the Great Lakes region with devastating impact. Power has been knocked out and airports shut by gale-force winds up to 78 miles per hour. Days later, hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners remain blacked out, and casualties still mount. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has declared a state of emergency, with up to 2 million Ohioans still without power.

Posted in Voting

Obama's Youth Movement

Twenty-year-old Tobin Van Ostern finished his sophomore year last spring at George Washington University, but this fall he's enrolled in the Barack Obama campaign as a full-time organizer. The Richmond, Virginia, native started Students for Obama on his campus last year as a Facebook group.

Posted in Activism, Voting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2008
11:00 AM

CONTACT: League of Women Voters
Maggie Duncan (202) 263-1332
mduncan@lwv.org

Leauge of Women Voters Launches Voter Registration Challenge

Only Three Weeks Remain Until Deadlines in Many States

Voter Registration PSAs Available for Media Use

WASHINGTON - September 16 - The League of Women Voters continues to emphasize voter registration and preparedness ahead of the 2008 general election. Today, LWV president Mary G. Wilson announced the 2008 Registration Challenge, a project designed to encourage League activists and citizens alike to do their part to expand our electorate.

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The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Membership in the League is open to men and women of all ages. With more than 88 years of experience and 850 local and state affiliates, the League is one of America's most trusted grassroots organizations.

Posted in Voting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2008
4:12 PM

CONTACT: ACLU
ames Freedland, ACLU national, (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666;
media@aclu.org
Sara Cohan, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 354-3408

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Voter Disenfranchisement in Mississippi

State Unconstitutionally Denying Voting Rights to Citizens With Felony Convictions

JACKSON, Miss. - September 12 - The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Mississippi filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the state's denial of voting rights to citizens with felony convictions. Although the Mississippi Constitution permits people who have been convicted of a crime to vote for president and vice president, election administrators are denying that right in practice. In today's filings, the ACLU asked the court to allow these citizens to register to vote in time to cast ballots for president and vice president this November.

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Posted in civil rights, Voting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2008
2:14 PM

CONTACT: Brennan Center for Justice
Tim Bradley, Brennan Center for Justice, (646) 452-5637

Mississippi Ballot Will Disenfranchise Hundreds of Thousands of Voters

Ballot Experts Urge State Officials to Place Wicker-Musgrove US Senate Contest at Top of Ballot with Other Federal Races

JACKSON, Miss. - September 12 - Today the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a non-partisan advocate for voting rights and sound ballot design, released a letter sent yesterday to Mississippi state officials sharply criticizing their intention to place November's Wicker-Musgrove U.S. Senate race at the bottom of Mississippi's ballot, far from the other federal races listed in the 2008 election.

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Posted in civil rights, Inequality, Voting

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