White House report highlights voting barriers for Native American voters
As part of President Biden’s recent Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting, the White House has conducted and released a study on the barriers to the ballot faced by Native Americans. The report concluded that unjust voting obstacles not only persist, but have increased in some cases, and that they include outright cultural hostility in addition to excessive geographic distances and language barriers. Accessible information about the voting process has also been found to be lacking for many communities, which can lead to
Ohio would require photo ID for voters, provide free state IDs under new legislation
Ohio Republicans have introduced a new bill that would produce stricter voter ID requirements but would also issue free state IDs to eligible voters aged 17 and up. Currently Ohio voters may use alternate forms of identification like utility bills or paychecks, but this bill would change that and require in-person voters to produce a photo ID. Those using mail-in ballots would be required to provide either the number of their driver’s license or a state ID, or a photocopy of one of the
Texas quietly uses redistricting lawsuits to launch war against federal voting rights law
Certain legal arguments being made by lawyers in defense of Texas’s new election maps may hold serious consequences for the federal Voting Rights Act should they make their way to the US Supreme Court. In defending Republican-drawn election maps against a lawsuit claiming they discriminate against voters of color, lawyers for the state of Texas are floating two controversial claims: First, that only the US Department of Justice may bring lawsuits against potentially discriminatory voting laws under Article 2 of the federal Voting Rights
Judge temporarily halts several new Montana voting laws ahead of statewide election
A Yellowstone County District Court Judge has ordered a preliminary injunction against four voting bills passed in 2021 by the Montana State Legislature. Ballots for statewide elections are scheduled to go out in about a month. Judge Michael Moses says his injunction will preserve the status quo for this election and that his preliminary assessment of the bills is that they pose the potential for “constitutional injury” to Montana voters. A Montana Republican has condemned the judge’s decision as “judicial activism at its worst.”
WI Groups Push for Voting Rights for Formerly Incarcerated
A Wisconsin legislative initiative known as the Unlock the Vote Package will have to wait until well after this year’s elections to be considered by the state’s legislature, which is not scheduled to reconvene until 2023. Among other measures, the legislation seeks to restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated citizens who are still under “community supervision” (another term for being on probation or parole). Over 68,000 Wisconsin citizens are under some form of community supervision, which in some cases can last for years and