Link: Block the Vote - New York Times.
I've been looking forward to joining the League of Women Voters when I reach my golden years, because I just LOVE those ladies so much, and I think they are just about the coolest people I've ever met.
This is THE most politically-neutral organization on the face of the earth. They were perennial sponsors of political debates because of their famed neutrality (I think that ended in 2004, when the candidates issued ultimatums with too many rules to stack the debate in their favor. Again famously, the League would have none of that crap).
But my experience with the League is more personal. I like to hang out and talk with them at the polls, as they are THE MOST faithful and diligent poll-watchers out there, and so many of these ladies remember well how hard women had to fight to get the right to vote. I'm not saying all the League of Women Voters ladies are elderly, but I am saying the more elderly among them are a national treasure, and everyone should befriend and talk with them, because these are women who understand the importance of democracy above all else, and they've been quietly willing for 67+ years to put their time and energy where their mouths are.
Every time I sit and visit with ladies from the League, I fall in love with them all over again. They've seen politicians come and go, local campaign storms heat up and die, and through it all, they've got one issue: everybody's got a right to vote, and to be informed on what they are voting on.
You wouldn't think that's controversial, but there seem to be people who have a vested interest in making the basic premise of the League seem too radical. Where's MTV with it's "Rock the Vote" campaign? Can't they stand up here with the League?
I wish the League had some clout to fight gerrymandering, but that seems beyond their mission, and it could well be the most serious threat to our voting rights since poll taxes and Jim Crow.
But the ladies are too political for Florida. They want people to vote, to be able to understand their ballots, and Florida just can't have that. The state government of Florida is apparently TOO THREATENED by the League's work. I never would have thought I'd see the day.
Link: Block the Vote - New York Times.
New York Times Editorial
Block the Vote
Published: May 30, 2006
In a country that spends so much time extolling the glories of democracy, it's amazing how many elected officials go out of their way to discourage voting. States are adopting rules that make it hard, and financially perilous, for nonpartisan groups to register new voters. They have adopted new rules for maintaining voter rolls that are likely to throw off many eligible voters, and they are imposing unnecessarily tough ID requirements.
Florida recently reached a new low when it actually bullied the League of Women Voters into stopping its voter registration efforts in the state. The Legislature did this by adopting a law that seems intended to scare away anyone who wants to run a voter registration drive. Since registration drives are particularly important for bringing poor people, minority groups and less educated voters into the process, the law appears to be designed to keep such people from voting.
It imposes fines of $250 for every voter registration form that a group files more than 10 days after it is collected, and $5,000 for every form that is not submitted — even if it is because of events beyond anyone's control, like a hurricane. The Florida League of Women Voters, which is suing to block the new rules, has decided it cannot afford to keep registering new voters in the state as it has done for 67 years. If a volunteer lost just 16 forms in a flood, or handed in a stack of forms a day late, the group's entire annual budget could be put at risk.
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Congress is considering a terrible voter ID requirement as part of the immigration reform bill. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, introduced an amendment to require all voters to present a federally mandated photo ID. Even people who have been voting for years would need to get a new ID to vote in 2008. Millions of people without drivers' licenses, including many elderly people and city residents, might fail to do so, and be ineligible to vote. The amendment has been blocked so far, but voting-rights advocates worry that it could reappear.
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