Archive for the 'Voter suppression' Category

Nobody Puts Sweetie In a Corner!

Terri Whitehouse May 20th, 2008

I hope you stocked up on booze yesterday, because you’re SOL until after the polling places close. Something tells me that you won’t *really* have to worry about stocking up until the general elections in November, though.

Check out the ballots where you live here, and double-check your polling location here.

For Jefferson County voters, ballots for individual precincts can be found here. The Courier-Journal provides profiles for down-ticket candidates here, and Metro Council candidates answered questions here.

Per the State Board of Elections, if you’re in line by 6:00 P.M., you can vote. You must be known to the precinct officer or provide identification. Acceptable forms of I.D. are driver’s license, Social Security card, credit card, or other I.D. that has your picture and signature. The Voter Fraud Hotline number is (800) 328-8683.

For some leisurely reading, check out this new post at Crooks & Liars. It reports on the fallacy of “voter fraud” and the wastefulness of Republicans who wish to suppress the franchise at taxpayer expense.

Consider this an open thread for today’s election. If you have any anecdotes to share, local information, profiles for other candidates throughout the state, etc., please do so in the comments section. Keep it above the belt!

Quick Hits: Disenfranchised Nuns & Crazy Antis

Terri Whitehouse May 6th, 2008

Elderly nuns in South Bend, IN were turned away from their polling place today, thanks to Indiana’s GOP-backed voter ID law. (h/t: Crooks & Liars)

Anti-choice activists contend that 20% of American women are “murderers.” (h/t: Feministing)

Keys Shouldn’t Be Thrown Away

Terri Whitehouse February 29th, 2008

Hot on the heels of news that +1 in 100 adults in the U.S. are in prison comes an excellent diary entry by Joe G. at BlueGrassRoots about the human side of felon disenfranchisement in Kentucky. The fact that Kentucky leads the nation in the growth of imprisoned population is especially troubling.

I implore you to take a look at KFTC’s site and learn more about felon disenfranchisement in Kentucky, particularly under disgraced former Gov. Ernie Fletcher. You can contact your legislators by going here. And while you’re at it, tell Republican Rep. Jeff Hoover to quit tacking on superfluous amendments and remind Republican Rep. Addia Wuchner that even Pres. George W. Bush agrees that literacy tests are bullshit. (Of course, we know that literacy isn’t his strong suit.)

We Suspect it Happens All the Time

Terri Whitehouse January 10th, 2008

TPM posted a must-read yesterday about the voter ID case currently being reviewed by SCOTUS. In the TPM post, there is a link to a point-by-point rebuttal that disproves every last reason people like Sen. Mitch McConnell offer for requiring state-issued voter I.D. Worth the read if you have some time to kill and are as fed up as I am with presidential primary coverage.

Quick Hit: Neither Of, Nor By, Nor For

Terri Whitehouse January 7th, 2008

Today’s New York Times has an extensive article giving face to the Indiana voter ID case that will be heard by SCOTUS this week. (h/t: Crooks & Liars)

Meanwhile, Kentucky remains one of only three states that intentionally prevents felons from voting once their time is served. Hopefully, this will change soon.

In other SCOTUS news, Justice Antonin Scalia worries himself over any actions that might render a longer moratorium on executing people.

Elizabeth Edwards Rocks Lexington (and chats with Jim and Joe!)

Joe Sonka July 2nd, 2007

I’m not really sure how many supporters John Edwards had in Lexington on Friday morning, but I know that he has a lot more now. The line on John Edwards that is making the rounds is that his best asset in the campaign to win the presidency is not his humble Southern background, health-care platform or charm, but his wife, Elizabeth Edwards. After watching her performance during Friday’s Small Change for Big Change event in Lexington, I think that statement isn’t too far off base.

Elizabeth Edwards performed a rather spectacular hour+ Q & A session with over 200 contributors, fans, and potential voters. And due to the online outreach efforts of the Edwards campaign (thanks to Tracy and Amy, via DMKY’s Shawn Dixon) and the southern charm of DMKY’s own Jim Pence, Jim and I were able speak with Elizabeth face to face for roughly 10 minutes before her public Q & A session.

Though the Edwards staff thought we had a decent chance of chatting with her for a couple of minutes, shortly after we entered the venue and set up our cameras (Jim and fellow film guru Erica), we were told that there was no time for an interview. After Jim disappeared for a few minutes to chat up the Edwards folks, he came back saying that she might be doing a short “meet and greet” with some people.

“What’s a meet and greet?”

“I’m not sure”

“I’ve never been to a meet and greet”

“Yea, me neither”

Ten minutes later, Jim pulled me backstage and one of the staff stopped us and asked if we were the guys from DitchMitchKY and told us that we could speak with Mrs. Edwards in a few minutes, but not on camera or on tape. So while all of the slick, dolled up TV reporters waited for Elizabeth to come out for the Q & A, the blogger in ratty Chuck Taylors and ripped pants, and the hillbilly with the Acapulco shirt were whisked upstairs to meet her.

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Democrats defeat McConnell’s plot to deny poor, elderly, and ethnic minorities their right to vote

Matt Gunterman June 7th, 2007

As we’ve noted before here, Senator Mitch McConnell has assumed the disenfranchisement mantle from Karl Rove now that the Democratic-controlled Congress is providing oversight of the Bush administration and preventing Rove from carrying out his malicious plan to deny as many poor, elderly, and ethnic minorities their rightful votes as possible.

So, with Rove and his operatives, like McConnell protégé J. Scott Jennings, paralyzed in the face of constantly defending their illegal actions, it’s our very own Mitch McConnell who’s stepped up to place as many obstacles in the way of legitimate, but disadvantaged, voters: namely, again, the nation’s poor, elderly, and minorities.

McConnell knows that Republicans will be taking a thumping next year, and he’s willing to do anything possible to minimize those losses, even if it means keeping willing and able voters, who happen to be traditional supporters of Democrats, away from the polls.

Fortunately, the Democrats defeated McConnell’s anti-democracy program. This press release came yesterday from the People for the American Way:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

McConnell Voter ID Amendment Resoundingly Defeated In the Senate 41-52

WASHINGTON - JUNE 6 -Late Tuesday, the Senate rejected 41-52 Senator Mitch McConnell’s effort to attach a voter ID amendment to the immigration bill. Hailing McConnell’s defeat as a victory for voting rights, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas issued the following statement:

“Senator McConnell’s voter ID amendment was politics at its worst. It had nothing to do with immigration. Rather, its impact would have been to keep eligible voters away from the polls – especially poor people, senior citizens, students, minorities, and people from rural areas. Its resounding bipartisan defeat is a huge victory for voters and voting rights advocates.

“Voter ID schemes make it more difficult for voters to exercise their right to vote and significantly increase the chances that eligible, registered voters will be denied the right to vote, while doing absolutely nothing to prevent voter fraud, which every study agrees is virtually non-existent. McConnell’s amendment is part of a coordinated political strategy to create a more exclusive electorate. Fortunately, so far this year, 22 state legislatures have rejected voter ID bills. And now the Senate has joined them in doing the right thing.

“The Bush Administration’s support for onerous voter ID legislation is just one aspect of its destructive politicization of the Department of Justice, which has undermined its mission to protect and serve the rights of all Americans.”