Hundreds arrested outside White House during second day of voting rights protests
Approximately 200 voters were arrested after protesting for voting rights reform outside the White House. Hundreds of protestors, among them the Reverend Doctor William Barber III and members of the Poor People’s Campaign, the League of Women Voters, and People for the American Way, marched on the White House demanding that President Biden take action. The group was confronted in Black Lives Matter Plaza by members of the National Park Service, where the mass arrests, marked by delayed processing and alleged misconduct, took place.
Utah lawmakers slam the brakes on a plan to expand alternative voting methods
A committee in the Utah State Legislature narrowly voted against advancing a proposal that would give municipalities the option of adopting the “approval voting” method as part of a pilot program. Approval voting, which has been used in Fargo, North Dakota and St. Louis, Missouri, allows voters to vote for as many candidates as they choose, and the victory is given to whomever wins the most votes in total. Advocates for the method are counting on a single state legislator to reintroduce the measure
Senate Republicans again block key voting rights bill
In the latest in a long series of legislative disappointments this year for advocates of federal voting rights, Senate Republicans have blocked a vote on another bill to protect access to the ballot. This amended version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was the product of a compromise with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the only Republican in the chamber to lend the bill her vote. This latest defeat at the hands of Senate Republicans has prompted outraged reactions from various organizations, demanding
New York voters reject 3 ballot propositions backed by Democrats
In what some observers are calling a failure on the part of New York State Democrats to educate their supporters, three ballot propositions which may have expanded access to the vote were rejected by the voters themselves. One proposition would have allowed voters to register to vote on the same day as an election. Another would have allowed any New York voter to make use of an absentee ballot. The third failed proposition, which was perhaps the most complicated, would have fixed the number
The University of Florida bars professors from testifying in a voting rights case
Three professors who specialize in voting rights law have been denied permission by their employer, the University of Florida, to testify in a lawsuit. This suit has been filed against the state of Florida after the recent passage of a bill which the plaintiff’s claim unfairly limits voter access. Critics of the University’s decision to forbid their employees’ participation in the case argue that this is a violation of the professors’ academic freedom and First Amendment rights. The professors’ lawyer claims that "it's unprecedented