State Election Officials: New Funding Available from EAC to Improve Election Data

On Monday, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) announced that it will award $2 million in funding to five states to improve precinct-level election data. The EAC is now accepting applications. The deadline is April 28th. According to the press release, the objective of this new program is "to provide states with the resources needed to develop and implement election data collection administrative and procedural best practices that can be shared with and replicated by other states."

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Ask Your Lawmaker!

At a new website, Ask Your Lawmaker, anyone can ask lawmakers questions on issues they care about. The site was created by Capitol News Connection (CNCNews). Users of the site vote on the questions, and then CNCNews reporters track down lawmakers in Congress and on the campaign trail to get the questions answered. The answers are then posted back on www.askyourlawmaker.org. In addition, users can add a customizable widget to their own websites, allowing visitors to their websites to ask and rank questions.

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Photo ID requirement receives preliminary approval from Kansas House

Yesterday, the Kansas House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require Kansas voters to shower photo ID at the polls. The bill is expected to be voted on next Friday. If passed, the new legislation would come into effect by the 2010 election. The bill includes exemptions for voters 65 years old and over, those with disabilities, soldiers on active duty away from their district, and citizens living abroad. The Wichita Eagle offers more details on the bill.

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Election day registration in MA could boost turnout

A new report by Demos estimates that Election Day Registration (EDR) in Massachusetts would increase overall voter turnout by nearly 5% and would increase the youth vote by nearly 10%. EDR allows citizens to register and to vote on Election Day. The report was authored by R. Michael Alvarez of Cal Tech and Jonathan Nagler of NYU. In their report, Alvarez and Nagler, write "Moving to EDR would lower that hurdle for thousands of citizens in Massachusetts, and bring more participants into the democratic process."

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Whitehouse bill would stop voter caging

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is proposing new legislation that would put an end to voter caging, a practice in which the voter rolls are questioned. It can lead to unwarranted purges or challenges of eligible citizens. The Caging Prohibition Act (S. 2305) would outlaw voter caging, and was first introduced in November 2007, and is pending before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. Sheldon, testifying before the committee in February, said,

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Election law expert believes Roberts Court may be taking voting rights in wrong direction

In commentary posted on Wednesday, Rick L. Hasen -- a law professor at Loyola Law School-- argues that the Supreme Court's recent decision in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party may be setting the groundwork for future decisions that could limit voting rights. By rejecting facial challenges to election law, Hasen believes,the Supreme Court, will allow increasing restrictions on voting, and will likely uphold the Indiana voter ID requirement law in the Crawford v. Marion County Election Board case pending before the court. Hasen writes,

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ChangeCongress Helps Empower Citizens

Last week a new effort began which uses technology to promote a transparent and open government. ChangeCongress wants legislators to make four commitments, which they can do by filling out a form indicating which of the pledges they support. In the end, it provides a graphic that the candidates can then place on their election campaign web sites. Citizens can also fill out pledges to put on their own website. ChangeCongress is an innovative way to organize citizens, encourage them to be politically active, and in doing so demands accountability in political campaigns.

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The VA Can Deny Third Party Voter Registration on its Property

A recent AlterNet story highlights an unfortunate case that has been going on since the 2004 presidential election, challenging the refusal of the Veterans Administration to help soldiers register to vote. In August 2007 the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, in Preminger v.

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Congressional Hearings Examine Election Issues

The House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee passed a resolution, with a 6-4 vote, authorizing a subpoena to former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell for testimony about the 2004 election. On January 29, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) wrote a letter to Blackwell to "explore the state of voting rights and the allocation of resources to end voter suppression and voter fraud," but he has refused to appear voluntarily. The Associated Press quoted Conyers; "Mr.

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Ohio Court Prohibits Harmful Rules for Third Party Voter Registration Efforts

In Ohio, a federal judge has upheld a previous decision to ban certain restrictions on "third party" voter registration activities. A coalition of voter advocacy groups led by Project Vote sued the state challenging an Ohio law that required compensated voter registration workers register with the state after completing an on-line training course and had to turn in voter registration applications directly to the secretary of state or local board of elections. Any violation would result in criminal charges.

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