Texas Voter ID Law Blocked By Federal Appeals Court

Texas flag on capitol domeFinally some good news on the effort to stop Republican voter suppression. Today a federal court of appeals blocked the Texas voter ID law saying it would disenfranchise the poor. Texas cannot implement their discriminatory voter ID law unless today’s ruling is overturned by the Supreme Court. While Texas is not a swing state and is a lock for Mitt Romney in November, this is still a nice victory for everyone who believes in a fair election system.

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5 Republican Efforts To Suppress The Vote In 2012

Everyone who believes in democracy and the right to vote, which is fundamental right in a democracy, should have a problem with any effort to make voting more difficult. Republicans have been on a crusade to do just that in 2011 and 2012. Below are 5 active Republican efforts to suppress the vote in 2012.

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A Letter to Liberals and Democrats Who Didn’t Vote in 2010

If you are a liberal or a Democrat and you didn’t vote in the 2010 midterm election then you only have yourself to blame if you are concerned about all the new voter ID laws that have passed in Republican controlled states. According to the Melissa Harris-Perry show and the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 180 bills were introduced in 41 states to restrict voting rights since the beginning of 2011.

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Nicole Austin-Hillery: Voting In This Country Is A Right

Voting in this country is a right, and we should never allow it to be compared to things that are not rights (in the context of the voter ID law debate). We all know this, well at least those of us who value equal rights. The following quote is an excellent statement on the right to vote in America. It comes from Nicole Austin-Hillery (Director of the Brennan Center D.C. Office) on Saturday’s Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC.

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GOP Congressman Todd Akin Says Overturn 1965 Voting Rights Act

What does a political party do when they become increasing ideologically pure and cater to a smaller portion of the electorate? They do whatever they can to suppress the vote. Polls and studies show that on average, the more people who vote in an election, the more likely it is to benefit the Democratic Party. So the Republican Party is going to do whatever it can to suppress the vote and limit voting rights. They will also do whatever is necessary to make Americans lose faith in the system altogether. If you think your vote won’t make a difference you might not vote at all, and Republicans have no problem with this.

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Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Lives, Judge Refuses to Block It

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson says he will not halt Pennsylvania’s voter ID law. Everyone else is calling the law “tough” but I call it “discriminatory,” and it matters little to me what one particular judge has ruled because I know what’s right and what’s wrong. It turns out that the reason Republicans stated we needed this law played little role in the judge’s decision.

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Pennsylvania’s Voting Problem – Partisan Hackery Looks To Rule The Upcoming Presidential Election

Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Bob Warner reports, “More than 758,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania do not have photo identification cards from the state Transportation Department, putting their voting rights at risk in the November election, according to data released Tuesday by state election officials.” This is a staggering number and it represents over 9 percent of the over 8 million registered voters in Pennsylvania. The number of voters who will be disenfranchised this election is still unknown, and is not likely to ever be known, but based on this report we know over three-quarters of a million voters face the possibility of being turned away at the polls. This is just one state!

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