League of Women Voters Challenges Florida Election Law

On Apr. 28, 2008, the League of Women Voters of Florida and several voting rights advocates filed a new lawsuit challenging a Florida voter registration law that imposes prohibitive fines on voter registration groups and risks preventing eligible Florida citizens from registering and voting in the 2008 elections.

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Supreme Court Upholds Strict Indiana Voter ID Law

The Supreme Court, voting 6-3, ruled against a constitutional challenge to Indiana's voter identification law, requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID. Opponents of the law argue that having to present such a photo ID will prevent some poor, elderly and minorities from voting. The law will now be in effect for next week's Indiana primary. Bloomberg.com news says that the Court "gave Republicans an election-year victory." This recent decision could also encourage other states to pass similar measures.

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New report draws attention to 2008 primary election protection failures

The National Campaign for Fair Elections, The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, and Election Protection 2008 -- the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition — released a report last week on the problems at the polls during the 2008 primary election season. The report — Election Protection 2008 Primary Report: Looking Ahead to November hopes to spur action to address issues that occurred during the primary season so as to prevent repeat problems during the November general election.

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ACORN Files Lawsuit to Force Missouri Agencies to Register Voters

On Wednesday, voting-rights advocate ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) filed suit against the state of Missouri for failing to implement a key provision of the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA") of 1993 in failing to provide voter registration opportunities at state public assistance agencies. According to ACORN's press release on the lawsuit, ACORN is seeking a preliminary injunction that would require Missouri's Department of Social Services (DSS) to come into compliance with the NVRA as soon as the court can set a hearing date.

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The Candidates and Nonprofit Issues

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has put together a new section of their website that has information about the presidential candidates and where they stand on the issues that matter to nonprofit causes. The Chronicle also invites readers to send in suggestions and additional information. Click here to go to the Chronicle's Special Report on the Campaign 2008.

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Veterans Affairs 'remains opposed' to making voter registration available to vets

In a letter this week to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake said the VA will not help injured veterans at VA facilities to register to vote before the 2008 election, as required by federal law. The letter was in response to a year-long request from Senators Feinstein and Kerry that the VA give veterans using VA facilities an opportunity to register to vote. In the letter Peake wrote,

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The Problem of Generalizing Nonprofits

Earlier, the suggestion was made that "nonprofits" as a whole are increasingly being mentioned in the press in connection to their increased spending for political activity during the current campaign. A perfect example is laid out in this blog, with the headline, "Nonprofits are the New 527s." Understandably, it is easier to use "nonprofit" as opposed to 501(c)(4). 501(c)(4) organizations can be involved in some political activity as long as it is not their primary purpose. The blog makes it clear that the discussion is about 501(c)(4)'s, yet the headline remains vague.

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Mark Up Legislation in the Home not the Hearing Room

The Sunlight Foundation has created an initiative that allows citizens to participate in marking up the Transparency in Government Act of 2008, (TGA) on its site PublicMarkup.org. "Sunlight decided that public input and scrutiny would refine the bill and improve its chances of garnering lawmakers' support.

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Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network Launched This Week

A highly valuable resources for 501(c)(3) nonprofits has launched this week, NonprofitVoter.org. The site has everything a nonprofit would need to become active in the vital work of nonpartisan voter registration. "Nonprofits have inherent assets making them strong civic intermediaries to encourage voter and citizen participation." The site has useful resources such as toolkits, training resources, guides, and links.

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"No Match, No Vote" Voter Registration Law Can Be Enforced

In Florida State Conference of the NAACP v. Browning, the 11th Circuit court of appeals has ruled that Florida can temporarily enforce a law that disqualifies any voter registration where the Social Security or driver license number on the application does not match with government databases, reversing a lower court's December injunction against the voter registration law.

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