Voter Suppression

Voting rights are under attack in this country. States are making it harder for people to vote as legislatures pass voter suppression laws under the pretext of preventing voter fraud and safeguarding election integrity. These regressive laws take many forms and pose significant barriers for eligible voters trying to exercise their most fundamental constitutional right.

12/09/2011

Voter Suppression

5 Million and Counting – Rally Dec. 10 to Protect Voting Rights

By Donna Lieberman, New York Civil Liberties Union at 3:03pm

On Saturday, December 10, more than 100 civil, labor, and human rights organizations will take a “Stand for Freedom” in New York City to protest the attack on voting rights.

12/18/2012

Voting Rights Act

Federal Reforms Needed to Increase Voter Access

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Shawn Jain, ACLU at 4:18pm

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an important hearing entitled, The State of the Right to Vote After the 2012 Election. The timing is ripe for the committee to consider the state of our most fundamental right as citizens. Just six weeks ago, Americans went to the polls in large numbers to elect a president in spite of massive hurdles that interfered with their most fundamental right.

09/04/2012

Voter Suppression

South Carolina Doesn’t Need a Voter ID Law

As a former South Carolina State Election Commissioner, I hope that the U.S. District Court will see the new South Carolina voter ID law for what it is and block its implementation.

08/13/2012

Voter Suppression

Sorry, We’re Closed: Some Ohio Counties Opt Against Extra Early Voting Hours

By Mike Brickner, ACLU of Ohio at 4:59pm

Ohio elections are once again making national news, but not exactly in the way we’d hoped. County Boards of Elections are deciding whether they will be open extended hours on evenings and weekends for early in-person voting. In 2008, many counties, including Cuyahoga and Franklin (home to Cleveland and Columbus) had large numbers of voters use these extended hours.

PODCAST
3 prominent Ohio pastors talk about why early voting is important to their communities>>

05/07/2012

Voter Suppression

Let Andre Vote

By Eunice Hyon Min Rho, ACLU at 4:37pm

President Barack Obama kicked off his reelection campaign last week in Columbus, Ohio. Governor Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, will be in Cleveland today.

03/09/2012

Voter Suppression

Let's March On: Protecting the Right to Vote in 2012

By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:33pm

Today marks the 47th anniversary of the fateful march from Selma to Montgomery, which began with the horrors of Bloody Sunday, and concluded with a rally and speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., only days after President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted the Voting Rights Act to Congress.

As I prepare to join Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil and human rights leaders on the steps of the Capitol in Montgomery today to commemorate that historic march, I am reminded of both where we've been as a nation and how great the need is, in the words of Dr. King, to keep marching on. The greatest legacy of the civil rights movement — access to the ballot — is in jeopardy across the country.

American Civil Liberties Union