Iowa governor signs Republican bill restricting voting access into law
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a Republican-backed bill into law which limits and restricts Iowans’ access to the ballot box. The law shortens the early voting period from 29 to 20 days, requires mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day, closes voting sites at 8pm rather than 9pm, bans election officials from sending absentee ballot request forms unless requested, and removes voters from active voting lists if they miss a single election and don’t report a change in address or register as
Push to oust judge over absentee vote ruling sparks outcry
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are trying to remove a state judge from the bench for expanding absentee voting in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Republican lawmakers charge that Ellen Hobbes Lyle’s decision requiring Tennessee to offer widespread absentee voting during the pandemic, a decision which was later reversed by the state Supreme Court, violated her constitutional authority. The Tennessee Bar Association and Democratic lawmakers have condemned the effort as a violation of judicial independence and a further assault on voting rights.Visit AP News
Georgia Senate votes to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting
The Georgia Senate voted to restrict absentee voting to those who are at least 65 years old, have a physical disability, or are out of town. They also voted to require Georgians to provide a driver’s license number, state ID, or other identification. The bill passed on a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing the measure.Visit the Atlanta Journal Constitution to learn more.Image credit: Connor Carey (CC BY-SA 3.0) Voter Education Week Young adults will be the nation’s largest voting bloc in the upcoming
New Hampshire Republicans Wage War on Student Voting Rights
Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire have introduced a series of bills which would make it more difficult for college students to vote. Those bills prevent students from voting in New Hampshire if they maintain a domicile address in another state, forbid students from registering to vote at their college address, and prohibit the use of a college ID as a voter ID. New Hampshire has the highest number of students per capita in the country, making up about 12% of the entire state population.Visit
Biden signs executive order aimed at promoting voting rights
President Biden has signed an executive order which seeks to expand access to voting and voting information. Signed on the 56th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the order directs federal agencies to devise plans to increase voter registration and participation, help states with voter registration efforts, and modernize Vote.gov, the federal government’s voting information website. President Biden signed the order a week after the House passed H.R. 1, a sweeping voting rights reform bill, and in the wake of several Republican state legislatures introducing or