Elections and Voting
September 11, 2014 -
An analysis by a voting rights watchdog found that 454 North Carolina citizens who would have been able to successfully cast ballots in previous elections had their votes discounted in this year's primary because of the state's new election law -- and those affected were disproportionately African Americans and Democrats.
August 29, 2014 -
The Texas League of Young Voters heads to federal court next week to make the case that the state's voter ID law, which recognizes gun licenses but not student IDs for verifying identity at the polls, violates the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
August 12, 2014 -
Last week a federal judge denied a request to block North Carolina's restrictive new voting law from being enforced for this November's election. Voting rights activists say they'll redouble efforts to register African-American voters and help them turn out, with a mass voting rights rally planned for Raleigh on Aug. 28 -- the 51st anniversary of the March on Washington.
August 8, 2014 -
Proponents of voter ID laws say they're needed to prevent fraud, but a study of all reported cases of the kind of fraud they address found just 31 credible incidents over 14 years out of a billion ballots cast. But about 3,000 votes have been rejected for lack of ID in just four states with the nation's strictest voter ID laws, with blacks and the poor most at risk of disenfranchisement.
August 7, 2014 -
A national coalition of young racial justice organizers has launched a public education campaign to change how young people think about voting and boost turnout for this year's election. The #KnowYourPower campaign will use social media to reach millennials, the demographic cohort whose starting birth year is usually identified as 1982.
August 1, 2014 -
At the same time North Carolina legislators are cutting funding for programs due to a $1.5 billion budget shortfall caused by tax cuts, they want to pay for new State Board of Elections positions to investigate voter fraud -- despite ample evidence showing it's not a problem.
July 29, 2014 -
U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Nunn and gubernatorial hopeful Jason Carter -- daughter of Senator Sam and grandson of President Jimmy -- are Georgia Democrats taking the middle path on a road destined to veer left.
