New Hampshire Court Ruling Opens Door to Improved Voting Transparency
Users of True the Vote’s election integrity smartphone app, VoteStand (download for iOS or Android), can rejoice in New Hampshire. This week a federal judge in the Granite State ruled that the NH law banning “ballot selfies” and other personal photography within the polling place was an unconstitutional burden on free speech. You may know that rules tend to vary across state lines with respect to cell phone use and personal photography. Without fail, in-person voting season is always ushered in with spoken reports and hastily captured images of touch screens displaying a variety of ballot glitches. If rulings like this continue to spread in the face of similar bans, voters will be further empowered to document and share irregular experiences. To read more about this landmark ruling, click here.
Virginia is For Lovers…of Citizenship Requirements in Voter
Registration
Two weeks ago, TTV raised awareness of a proposal in the Commonwealth of Virginia that would remove the requirement on voter applicants to directly attest to being United States citizens as a prerequisite for successful registration. The Governor McAuliffe-backed proposal was opened to a period of public comment on the matter ahead of a vote by the State Board of Elections in September. After only a few weeks with more than a thousand officially registered citizen comments, the Democratic Party operative turned Governor pulled the proposal, according to a report this week in The Washington Post. As comments poured in opposing the change, one statement stuck out to TTV from a ‘Proud Naturalized Citizen of the US’: “If [you’re] concerned that eligible voters will get rejected 'simply because they forgot to check off a box or two' (about their citizenship and criminal history) MAKE THOSE QUESTIONS MORE PROMINENT, because they are important!” It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Well played, Virginians.
Check Out the
August 2015 Webinar Replay: D.I.Y. Election Integrity
Do you want to learn how the pros succeed at dislodging critical election information from government offices large and small? This month, True the Vote presented a crash course in developing an effective open records request strategy in your community. Click here to watch the entire presentation on demand. Don’t bother taking notes directly from the video because we’ve made available all education materials here. Happy hunting!
Click
‘n’ Share -- True the Vote Blog
Legislation on the Move
United States
Same Day Registration bill H.R. 3276 was referred to the House Committee on House Administration. This bill would require states to provide Same Day Registration in federal elections. Eligible individuals would be allowed to register and vote on any day of voting for federal offices, including Election Day and any early voting days permitted by the state.
Omnibus election bill S 1912 was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. This bill relates to voter registration and voting access for Native Americans on Indian Reservations. The bill requires states to provide tribal polling places, including early voting sites in states that provide early voting. Under this bill, Indian Tribes may request that tribal government offices or federal facilities, such as the Indian Health Service, be designated as polling places or voter registration agencies under section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act. Tribal ID would be accepted as voter ID in states that require ID for the purpose of voter registration or voting. Finally, the bill outlines the requirement for federal preclearance of new election practices on Indian Reservations.
No comments:
Post a Comment