Initiative changing state voting rules to begin gathering signatures after canvassers’ OK
A Michigan organization known as Secure MI Vote has received approval from the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to begin collecting signatures for a proposal to change a number of Michigan voting laws and strengthen identification requirements for voters. If 340,047 valid signatures are acquired within 180 days, the proposals may be submitted to the Michigan Legislature, and if approved by that body, would not require Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature to become law. A voting rights advocacy organization known as Voters Not Politicians
Abbott says Texas vote audits aren’t all about Trump
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott is insisting that his Secretary of State’s decision to audit the 2020 election results in several counties is not entirely due to former President Trump’s recent call to “get to the bottom of the 2020 election scam!” Facing questions after a much-criticized audit in Maricopa County, Arizona simply reaffirmed Biden’s victory there - and by an even greater margin than previous thought - Governor Abbott defended Texas’s decision to proceed with its own audits in broad civic terms: “Why
Native American Voting Rights acts introduced in Congress
Freshman Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) has introduced a new bill known as the Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA), or S. 2702. The bill includes provisions that would require poll workers everywhere to accept all tribally-issued forms of identification; help voters without addresses or access to mail delivery to more easily register to vote, as well as to acquire and submit ballots; and facilitate the creation of more polling places on tribal lands. US Representatives Sharice Davids (D-KS-3) and Tom Cole (R-OK-4) have
Texas governor signs new GOP voting restrictions into law
Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has signed a new elections law after a prolonged battle with Democrats in the state legislature. The bill was signed in Tyler, a city in East Texas, which is part of the district represented by Texas Senator Brian Hughes, who is credited as the main author of the bill. At least three lawsuits have already been filed against the state for what many view as its excessively restrictive policies regarding voting access. Visit the Associated Press to learn more. Image Credit:
Shelby County ruling could make it easier for states to get away with extreme racial gerrymandering
Legal experts are predicting great difficulties for the Department of Justice as the country enters its first redistricting period in over fifty years in which states and localities with a documented history of racial discrimination are not required to submit their redrawn electoral maps for federal “preclearance.” According to some legal analysts, the now-defunct “preclearance” policy not only gave the federal government the power to reject electoral maps that might have been designed to disadvantage minority voters, but also served as a deterrent to