There has been a wealth of opinions on whether our right to vote is under assault from dark forces….it seems that some areas are being hit with all kinds of limitations…..I understand the concern about voter fraud….although I cannot say that I can find a report that states that it is a nationwide problem but that is that….my problem is where does limiting voting spots or times or some such help prevent voter fraud? And why is it seem to be a problem only in states with GOP control?
Anyway there has been a report about the voting across the US………
Voting is one of the critical ways for citizens to voice their opinions and desires to leaders and express their will for the direction of the country. But while voting is the crucial bedrock of a healthy democracy, citizens’ access to voting varies considerably within the states where elections are the most hotly contested.
With election administration delegated to officials and boards in more than 3,000 counties and localities in the United States, the ease with which one exercises his or her right to vote can depend on where he or she lives. Not only do state voting laws differ across the nation, even within a state, county-based election administration varies widely.
This report evaluates the election performance of counties in the 17 states that had the smallest margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in 2012. This analysis allows us to better understand how well the election process is working within a state, and will hopefully encourage state and local officials to consider how they can improve the voting experience for their citizens.
IMO, there should be a push to get MORE people to vote than ones that seem to limit who can vote…..but thenb there is always an agenda when dealing with politicians…..right?
I know that many organizations are trying to push back on what they see as infringements on the rights of the voter….and today there was a piece of good news for them and their agenda……
A nearly 2-year-old requirement that almost all of Pennsylvania’s 8.2 million voters must show photo identification before casting a ballot was struck down today by a state judge, setting the stage for a courtroom showdown before the state’s highest court. Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley, a Democrat, said the law would unreasonably burden the fundamental right to vote, and the state had been unable to convincingly explain why it was necessary. “Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal,” McGinley wrote in his 103-page ruling. The law, one of the strictest in the nation, was signed by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in March 2012 over the protests of every single Democratic lawmaker in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature. Enforcement of the law has been blocked by court orders pending resolution of the constitutional challenge. Both sides had vowed to appeal a negative decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. At a 12-day trial, the plaintiffs including the NAACP, the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, and Philadelphia’s Homeless Advocacy Project emphasized problems in processing and distributing a new voting-only ID card available for free to voters who lack other acceptable IDs. They said dozens of registered voters who applied for those cards before the 2012 election did not receive them before ballots were cast.
This will be the precedence cited with any further attempts to block what they see as an infringement on the rights of Americans, all Americans, to vote……
And the situation goes on……….