American Civil Liberties Union

Even though we pride ourselves as a beacon of democracy around the world, a recent Pew Report revealed that we are falling far short of our ideals. We are one of the few democratic nations in the world that imposes on voters the burden of registration. This has significant costs, both in real dollars and to our democracy. In this modern age, our registration system is almost entirely paper-based. When this is coupled with the requirement that voters re-register each time they move in our highly mobile world, it is hardly shocking that nearly a quarter of eligible voters remain unregistered and that this burden falls disproportionately on the mobile, young, low-income, and those serving in our nation’s armed services. The study’s findings are especially dismaying in light of the sustained attack on our fundamental right to vote, which willfully ignores the real problems plaguing our system of elections.

What’s new in voter suppression land today? South Dakota is trying to prevent Eileen Janis — and hundreds of other citizens — from voting.

Eileen grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and does suicide prevention work. She registered to vote for the first time in 1984. “I always vote because my mom told me to,” she says.

With Florida’s primary just days away, all eyes are on the Sunshine State. And in an effort to shine a light on the state’s new regressive voting laws, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin, is holding a federal field hearing today in Tampa, Florida.