By Mike Hall
AFL-CIO Senior Writer

Earlier this year, Ohio Republican lawmakers pushed through legislation curtailing the state’s early voting period. Yesterday, a suit was filed in federal court to block the voter suppression law.

Previously early voting had been allowed through the Monday before the election. The Republican bill cuts off voting on the Friday before Election Day for all voters except military personnel.

Coincidentally or not, many groups use those days as a final push to get voters to the polls who might have difficulty casting their ballots on Election Day. For example, many African American churches sponsor “Souls to the Polls” drives on the final election weekend. In 2008, an estimated 93,000 votes were cast in Ohio during the last three days of early voting, according to a nonpartisan voter advocacy group.

The restrictions on early voting are the only remnants of a broader voter suppression bill passed last year by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Gov. John Kasich (R). But following a huge public outcry and a successful campaign to place a referendum repealing the new law on the ballot, the legislature back tracked in May and repealed all of the law but the early voting restrictions. (more…)

In Texas, a gun permit is a valid voter ID, but a university ID is not. Wait, what? Jennifer Granholm says the system of catch twenty-twos and unconstitutional fees being enacted by Republicans who claim to be fighting voter fraud is having a very real effect on real people whose votes are being suppressed. “By using this pretense of voter fraud and the weapon of voter ID laws, the Republicans are systematically snatching away people’s rights,” Granholm says.

Chris Matthews talks with former congressman Patrick Murphy and Jim Burn, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, about the Republican congressman in Pennsylvania who revealed that the state’s new voter ID law was really about stopping President Obama, and not about stopping voter fraud.

Last year, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker passed a law requiring citizens to show identification at the polls. While two state judges have blocked the law from going into effect, if the injunction is lifted the law would likely disenfranchise thousands of voters. The Center for American Progress visited the state during the contentious recall election to investigate.

By Tula Connell
AFL-CIO Managing Editor

This just in from the Brennan Center for Justice:

A federal judge blocked enforcement of key provisions of a restrictive voting law in Florida Thursday, a breakthrough victory for Florida voters and voting rights advocates nationwide.

The law, H.B. 1355, included onerous restrictions on community-based voter registration drives, forcing the League of Women Voters of Florida and other groups to shut down their drives. In his decision, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle found that the Constitution and federal law prohibit most of Florida’s recently passed restrictions and highlighted the law’s impact on the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.

“Together speech and voting are constitutional rights of special significance; they are the rights most protective of all others, joined in this respect by the ability to vindicate one’s rights in a federal court.…[W]hen a plaintiff loses an opportunity to register a voter, the opportunity is gone forever,” U.S. Judge Robert L. Hinkle wrote in his opinion blocking most of the Florida law.

In 2011, a wave of suppressive laws passed that could make it significantly harder for millions of eligible Americans to cast ballots this fall, according to the Brennan Center’s comprehensive study, “Voting Law Changes in 2012.”

The Florida decision marks the first time a federal court has blocked one of these restrictive voting laws and comes after the Department of Justice, in a separate lawsuit, opposed Florida’s law restricting voter registration and early voting. The Justice Department also rejected restrictive voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas. A judge ruled that Wisconsin’s voter ID law violated the state Constitution.

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This has been reposted from AFL-CIO.

By Robert Struckman
AFL-CIO Speechwriter

The crushing of collective bargaining rights—which started 40 years ago with attacks on the rights of private-sector workers and which is aimed today at public employees—has destroyed the demand curve in America, and it will take a mass political movement to fix it, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen said today.

Cohen led an informal discussion at the Center for National Policy examining strategies for addressing America’s jobs crisis. He was joined by Leo Hindery Jr. of InterMedia Partners, and the audience included former Sen. Donald Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.). Speaking candidly and, at times, passionately, Cohen estimated that the true number of U.S. jobless workers—if the under-employed and workers who have given up searching for jobs are counted—is 26 million or 27 million, at least twice the official number of 13 million active job seekers. It will take demand-fueled growth to create the kind of long-term economic upswing to provide sufficient jobs.

Yet, the political movement for workers’ rights also must address the flood of corporate cash in the electoral process, Cohen said.

“Money in politics, we’ve got to get it out,” he said, while saying open seats for the U.S. Senate easily cost $25 million and congressional seats cost $5 million.

Also, the rules of the Senate must be streamlined, or necessary bills will never reach the desk of the president, he said. (more…)

Voter suppression is a strategy to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing people from exercising their right to vote. Across the country, Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed multiple voter ID bills in order to further their chances of succeeding in this November’s elections. These laws make it extremely difficult for many people (11 percent of the U.S. population, in fact) to vote because they do not have the required documents, such as a driver’s license or birth certificate.

Is it acceptable to deny citizens their right to vote just because they don’t have a birth certificate, a photo driver’s license, or some other specific form of identification – especially when poll workers already authenticate identity by checking a prospective voter’s signature against the one on the voter registration card? If it’s acceptable to deny the right to vote to those who can’t produce specific documents, is it then acceptable to deny the right to people who are exempt from paying income taxes because they earn too little money or to homeless veterans?

How Does GOP Get Away With It?

One of my concerns is that both parties, Republicans and Democrats, will falsify votes (by paying groups of people to vote more than once, for example) without some sort of documentation to validate the legitimacy of each vote.  The truth is, I don’t trust either major party.

Of course it is more realistic to prevent the Republicans from preventing legitimate voters from exercising their right to vote.  What I don’t understand is how they can get away with it.  When I vote, all I have to do is sign in.  Maybe that’s one of the advantages of living in a white, middle class district.  My voter registration card is not even requested.

Isn’t there a federal law stipulating the right-to-vote requirements that supersedes local jurisdiction?  If not, there ought to be.

Robert Shorin
Syosset, N.Y.

Voter ID Laws Disempower Workers

It seems to me that anyone living in the United States, obligated by its laws and subject to its policies, deserves the right to vote.

These voter ID laws have no other purpose than to further restrict the franchise, and disempower working people.

Jim Williams
USWA L. 65 retiree
Tacoma, Wash.

Global Romneyites are Suppressing Humanity

It isn’t voter suppression; it is the suppression of humanity as a whole. The strategy of the Romneyites, non-democratic nations, multinational corporations or those who feel they are governed to rule the world is to thoroughly discourage and prevent normal people from exercising their basic rights.

 Across the globe, tyrants, MNC’s, the ultra-rich and Republican-like Romneyites control their legislatures by dictating legislative passage of voter ID bills to further their agenda of achieving total domination of all people.  It is notable in the upcoming November elections that new voters laws make it extremely difficult for many to vote because they do not have the required documents. 

We freedom loving Americans have always scoffed at countries that required citizen documentation; this was required by Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, or Saddam style dictatorships. It is time we let the ultra-rich and powerful know that being rich does not make them divine or wise.  Neither God nor the people have selected them to rule.   In a republic, we the people rule.  Not we the rich people, but all of us. 

I would hope that all people of the world had these rights, but they do not.  We should do all in our power to ensure these rights are not taken away from any American and we should do our best to help those in other nations to acquire the same rights.  These will be small steps for we are just normal folks.  However, we can lend our voice to our fellow labor groups around the world.  We can voice our displeasure at the ballot box by voting out those who support sending our jobs overseas so they can exploit foreign workers and pit us against them rather than seeing who the real evil-doers are.  The ultra-rich and MNC’s are seeking total domination of all the people. It is not to make more money; it is to own or control all the resources, including money, food, housing, medicine, safety and freedom, which we all need to survive.  Do not be complacent or your children and grandchildren will not be free or safe.

Kent Hammond
Baton Rouge, La.

Finding a Balance Between Fraud and Basic Rights

While I would never want to see the voting fraud that historically we have endured in the past, we need to take a good long look at this voter suppression issue.  Money should never be a decider on who gets to vote; that is not what this country is about.  Any person who has served our country should never be denied the voting privilege; they have more than earned this right.

Now, many third world countries know the value of having a voice, and a chance to be able to vote in a fair election.  If it wasn’t important then President Carter would not be helping to ensure fair elections all over the world with the Carter Center’s work. 

I wouldn’t want anyone who could duplicate my signature to be allowed to vote in my place.  We do need some checks and balances in place.  Simply to get a driver’s license or even a picture ID from the bureau, we need quite a bit of proof that we are who we say we are.  I have no problem with going through this process of helping to prove who I am.  I have nothing to hide, and I want to ensure there is no identity theft. 

In response to the voter ID bills, we all need to be more pro-active to register voters.  Just like we helped to register black voters and other minorities in the past, we need to get busy doing this again.  We need to help homeless veterans get registered, as well as the poor and other targets the new legislative bills are excluding.

Should we have a booth outside the polling places helping ensure we have correctly identified someone in order to make sure they are who they say they are?  I thought we did that. 

Donna De Graaf – Smith
Gary, Ind.

Voting Rights and the Loss of Community

In listening to the nightly news, we are fed by the mouthpiece that is Fixed (er, Fox) News, of dead people, convicted felons and illegal immigrants, voting in the last presidential election that stole the office for President Obama.  We are religiously bombarded with allegations of voter misconduct-with no proof forthcoming.  The only exception being the former Secretary of State for Indiana, who was convicted of felony voter fraud!  Yes, the Republican elected Secretary of State of my state (a red state if there ever was one!) was convicted of a felony and stripped of his office-and he’s appealing?  (Sarcasm intended). 

Why have so many of our brave men and women of the military given their lives if we cannot allow everyone the freedom to vote?  I would gather those brave men and women would all tell us that they gave their lives willingly to defend our rights-EVERYONE’S RIGHTS-and not just those of the privileged.  My late father-in-law, a 20-year Army retiree with two tours in Korea and one in Vietnam, told me that when in combat, you don’t care about skin color or sexual preferences, you simply look out for one another. 

It used to be that we could show up on Election Day and state our name to vote-our friends, whether Democratic or Republican-would greet us with a smile and ask how we were doing and allow us to cast our vote.  Surely, we have not lost that much of a sense of community that we do not recognize who our neighbors are and, by extension, will not allow them to vote.

Michael S. Ayers
Logansport, Ind.

Rights Spelled Out in the Constitution

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged…”  Says so right in the Constitution.  Pretty clear.

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States…” Says so right in the Constitution.  Pretty clear.

Donald J. Cosgrove
West St. Paul, Minn.

Republicans Doing Dirty Work

It is never acceptable to deny eligible voters the right to vote via this phony issue.  I’ve worked the polls, and I know how easy it is to authenticate a voter’s identity.  One can even use that little voter card provided by the state.  This is real dirty work prompted by the same forces that fought the 8-hour day and every other improvement in the lives of working families.  As for denying the vote to people who don’t make enough money to pay income taxes, or homeless veterans, they’d love to do it.  These are people who are most in need of a voice.  But that’s the point, isn’t it?

Susen Shapiro
Summerville, S.C.

The GOP’s 2012 voter suppression campaign is unprecedented in scope, organization and ambition.

Viviette Applewhite is 93 years old and has voted in nearly every election for the last 60 years. She marched with Martin Luther King Jr in . She has tried for years to obtain Photo ID, to no avail. Under Pennsylvania’s new Voter ID law, Miss Applewhite’s vote will not be counted. She is a plantiff in our lawsuit to stop Voter ID.

By Dave Johnson
Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

Some companies are learning that supporting hyper-partisan groups can backfire when their customers find out about it. In recent weeks a number of companies are trying to distance themselves from the partisan, right-wing group ALEC before their brands become as damaged as Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

ALEC, The American Legislative Exchange Council, is a shady, hyper-partisan, state-based lobbying group that was able to wield power by staying under the radar. Recently the Trayvon Martin shooting case exposed how ALEC helped push through a dangerous “shoot first” law in Florida. Now people are learning that ALEC is also getting state laws passed that limit the voting rights of minorities, limit the power of working people to negotiate for better wages and limit the power of citizens to fight for cleaner environment. So now the big corporations supporting ALEC risk being seen as fighting people’s efforts to have a better life, and their brands are at risk.

(Please visit Alex Exposed for more information. See alsoAtlantic: Exposing ALEC: How Conservative-Backed State Laws Are All Connected)

Komen Foundation’s Serious Brand Damage

A few months ago, in a move to please the conservative right, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® foundation pulled funding from Planned Parenthood. How’d that work out for them? Komen’s “brand equity” dropped 21 percent, one of the most dramatic plummets in brand-equity ever.

How far a drop was this? Komen was ranked among the top two. This year it ranked No. 56. That’s a drop of 54 spots. The value of the Komen brand is ruined. The Komen executives behind the Planned Parenthood decision were forced out.

Harris Interactive: Scandal Rocks America’s Support for Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, According to 23rd Annual Harris Poll EquiTrend® Study,

Based on findings reported in the 2012 Harris Poll® EquiTrend® study, Susan G. Komen’s current brand equity score of 55.1 represents a 21% drop in brand equity over the prior year ─ a historic drop in the study’s 23-year history, surpassed only by Fannie Mae in 2009.

From “Gold Standard” to “Trailing the Pack”

Since its inclusion in the EquiTrend survey in 2008, Susan G. Komen has consistently rated as either the first or second most equitable non-profit organization in its category. This year, SGK fell 54 spots to 56th place out of 79 non-profit brands surveyed.

If you are a corporate executive, numbers like that are terrifying. This is a completely ruined brand, and it only took a few weeks to get there after people heard about their association with the partisan right. This is what happens to a brand when it is caught associating with the likes of ALEC. (more…)