Common Cause Blog

Election Day Registration: Bringing it to Connecticut

On Tuesday, about 40 activists turned out to hear a terrific round table discussion on bringing Election Day Registration to Connecticut. The event was held in beautiful Dwight Hall on Yale University campus. We discussed the ins and outs of EDR, and how we could get it passed in Connecticut this year.

When I started organizing the forum on Election Day Registration, I wondered if anyone would attend. Actually, in this case, "wondered" equals fretted, worried, obsessed, etc. After all, EDR isn't as compelling an issue as say, getting your favorite Presidential candidate elected, which is what folks are concentrating on at the moment. But it matters. A lot. Each presidential election year we see so many people work their hearts out on campaigns, which is a wonderful thing. We also see so many people bemoaning the state of voting rights in the United States, and worrying about voter suppression. Passion runs high - will the election be fair? Will we have to take to the streets? Do we really still live in a Democracy? Will the other side be able to steal the election?

All of this passion and concern is terrific. However, once the election is over, the fervor dies down. Sometimes it is slower to fade away, but it inevitably does. Activists who played such a big part in the GOTV effort go back to their daily lives and families. Concerned citizens vowing to take to the streets over voter fraud stay home and watch TV once more. Activism is hard. It is tiring and at times frustrating. People can hardly be blamed for wanting a breather in between big races. But in order for reform to candidate of the hour has been elected or defeated. That is a challenge.

Guns, Suicide and Democracy in DC

I learned something new yesterday: the District of Columbia has the lowest suicide rate in the country.� Why?� Until the Supreme Court decided otherwise, DC had a tough handgun law - few handguns in homes=fewer suicides.

Common Cause has no position on gun laws, but we do strongly support democratic rights for DC (as well as everywhere else).� But some in Congress are prepared to tromp all over DC home rule and impose an ill-considered gun law on DC -- even though the DC City Council already passed a temporary law in response to the Supreme Court decision and is working on a permanent law.

Global warming, high gas prices, economic distress, health care?� Forget it - Congress has better things to do: Dump on the rights of DC to pass its own laws, something they would never do to their own hometowns.

Read on for the text of a coalition letter:

Alaska 50 - DC Still Counting

Fifty years ago today, Congress passed the Alaska Statehood Act, giving Alaska, among other things, two Senators and a US Representative.

208 years ago, Congress, apparently without noticing what it was doing, allowed Americans living in the then-new District of Columbia to lose their right to representation in Congress.

Today, Alaska has a population of�670,053; DC's population is 581,530 -- both roughly the size of one congressional district.

Alaska has three Members of Congress - pictured here, all under ethical clouds.� DC has one non-voting Member of Congress - no ethical clouds for Delegate Norton, just no vote.

I've got nothing against Alaska and they deserve better representation in Congress, but DC deserves voting representation now.� The Senate needs to vote again to end the filibuster by Senator McConnell and give DC the vote!

Did You Know DC Has No Vote in Congress?

What do people who don't live in our nation's capital know about the city?� Not much - a lot of myths and misinformation.� Some don't even realize it is a city with nearly 600,000 residents; or that it wasn't until 1974 that it had a�local elected government - 185 years after the Constitution.� According to�one survey, few Americans know that DC doesn't have voting representation in Congress - more than 80% - but when told about it, they support the vote overwhelmingly.

Here's a quick anecdote from a DC resident visiting Georgia, illustrating the poll's analysis.� Here's what one person said when told about the lack of a vote: "Well, that's just wrong. Shouldn't be like that."

Students at Private Colleges Turned Away and Discouraged from Turning Up

Evidence of what Common Cause predicted in our report on the Indiana Primary for young voters is turning up in the news this evening.� Another victory for the architects of voter suprression in the state.

The reports of student voting problems are here, here�and here.� New Voters Project has reported from the ground that students at St. Mary's College, a private institution were unable to vote because their college ID does not count under the law, even though public college IDs would - if they have a valid expiration date.

You don't have to turn people away for having the wrong ID, you just have to get people not to turn up because they know they don't have the ID and can't get it.� Some of the coverage above plays down the impact of the ID law on this primary.� Yes, 12 nuns might not seem like a huge number (it's not even a whole cloister), but it's important to remember that there was a whole convent full of retired nuns that didn't and couldn't turn up because they too didn't have the ID.

In the end, suppressing one vote, disenfranchising one citizen is too high a cost to bear for an unfounded fear which produces a bad law.� It's undemocratic, it's un-American.

Bicycling Vet Turned Away at the Polls, His Right to Vote had Expired

Russell Baughman fought in three wars for our country. His brother, Ronald, died in one of them.

As thanks for his service, Russell was turned away from the polls when he showed up to vote on March 11.

You see, his drivers license was out of date.

Of course, to drive a car legally in his state of Indiana, one must have an up-to-date drivers license or other up to date photo ID.

But Russell doesn't need to drive a car. He rides his bike.

ID Blues

I lost my respect and reverence for the Supreme Court long ago so I was among the large group of�unsurprised yesterday when�the court�upheld a law erected as a barrier to voting - Indiana's strict voter photo ID law.� Not only have the justices left only the thinnest thread of hope for future challenges but, more importantly, they have encouraged those who seek to build more barriers to the polling place.� My state, Virginia, has an ID requirement.� I'm sure it won't be too long before it's amended to require a photo.� Poll tax, anyone?

While there's been a lot of legal analysis whizzing across my screen - "facial challenge" (is that acne?)�-- I liked this quote:

Just because plaintiffs didn't convincingly produce disenfranchised voters at the start of the litigation doesn't mean voters aren't and will not be disenfranchised by Indiana's law.� There is a reality that exists outside the bounds of legal fora and beyond the minds of lawyers.� We should all be concerned because there is more at stake here for free and fair elections than what a handful judges have to say about the Indiana law. (from Lorraine Minnite)