Election Reform Fighting for Our Voting Rights
Fighting for Our Voting Rights
It seems as Americans that fighting for our rights is as old as the foundation of the nation. However more than 235 years after our new nation was formed we are still fighting for the right for all peoples of our country to have a say in how it is governed through their vote. To restrict the voting rights of our more vulnerable fellow Americans is to bring an eerie reminder to us all that unless we stay diligent, all that a just society has worked towards will be taken from us. Restrictive voting laws have passed quickly throughout the nation this year, affecting mostly the young, low-income, minorities, and the disabled.Thankfully we have the Brennan Center amongst other organizations which will contest these laws, but until they succeed, all of us will need to work harder. The Brennan Center's Study on Voting Law Changes in 2012 estimates that the states that have passed restrictive laws provide 171 electoral votes, just over 60% of the needed 270 for election. Of the 19 new laws passed, at least 5 million voters will be effected by five areas targeted by those seeking to restrict voting rights.The five areas include government issued photo I.D's, reducing early voting periods, ending same day voter registration on election day and restricting voting rights of former felons. A bright spot in voting registration is the new California law signed recently by governor Jerry Brown. This law allows voters to vote online.SB 397, authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco is a federally compliant voter data base which will allow 9 million more Californians to vote who were eligible to vote last year,yet not registered. Voting signatures will be verified by the DMV and at voting time they will be compared.North Carolina is now considering this, 34 states allow online voting registration.Know your state's voting laws and write your legislators to tell them to open voting rights to all the peoples of their state for a democracy we can trust.
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