civil rights

McCrory Appoints Art Pope To Head Budget

Here is something of critical importance to North Carolina immediately. First, excerpts from the article/broadcast at WFAE, the NPR station in Charlotte, NC.  Then, my personal commentary. ‘At a press conference ,,,Governor-elect Pat McCrory appointed …conservative activist Art Pope to be his deputy budget director–the governor’s top aide on budget issues. Pope … is a director [...]

Dr. Martin Luther King on Ensuring Voting Fairness – VIDEO

Broadcast 12.12.12 on the Rachel Maddow Show.  She showed this Meet The Press footage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4/1/60 calling for national uniform voting standards to ensure election fairness. Please click here to view this remarkable piece of history–that you are seeing being attacked today, some 62 years later   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#50182721

ALEC Wins and Defeats in 2012 State Races

“The Center for Media and Democracy reports several ballot measures backed by the extremist American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) went down to defeat yesterday. Most notable was in Michigan, where voters overturned the state’s emergency manager law. Known as “financial martial law,” it allowed Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to declare a “financial emergency” in a city or [...]

New boss, same as the old boss – ALEC News from UTAH

From the Salt Lake Tribune… “State Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, was selected by his fellow Republicans Thursday to be the new president of the Utah Senate. He replaces outgoing Sen. Michael Waddoups, who did not seek re-election to the Legislature this year. Other than the name, though, it seems that there will be little change in [...]

Oregon Election Worker Fired for Altering Ballots to Republican Straight Ticket

An election worker in Oregon is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly altering multiple ballots to benefit Republican candidates. In a press release on Monday, Clackamas County spokesperson Tim Heider said that 55-year-old Deanna Swenson had been “relieved of duty immediately after the alleged ballot tampering was discovered.” Swenson, who was registered as a Republican, [...]

Texas AG threatens to arrest monitors observing US election

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has monitored several previous elections in the US. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images ############################ State Attorney General calls international group’s plan to watch for fairness at the polls ‘legally irrelevant in the United States’ The Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott, has threatened to arrest international election monitors invited [...]

GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal Widens: Arrest in VA–Video

“A man originally reported to have been working for the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested by the Rockingham County, VA Sheriff’s office on Thursday and charged with attempting to destroy voter registration forms by tossing them into a dumpster behind a shopping center in Harrisonburg, VA. “Prosecutors charged him with four counts of destruction [...]

ANALYSIS: Georgia leaders depend on the same well for ideas

From the Rome News Tribune, by Walter C. Jones Georgia citizens are discovering that many of the laws passed in Georgia relating to prison, criminal justice and privatizing prisons and public education are taken directly from ALEC’s play book. “ALEC is the well conservative leaders in Georgia dip their bucket into when they’re looking for [...]

Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Ruling: Judge Halts Enforcement Of Law For Election

From HuffPost by Dan Froomkin “In a much-anticipated ruling, Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. ordered that voters without government-issued photo ID should be allowed to cast regular ballots… “At the same time, the judge specifically ruled to allow the state to continue its education and advertising campaign, which currently tells voters that IDs are required. “Walczak [...]

Fight for early voting continues in Ohio – VIDEO

In Ohio, the Obama campaign had to go to court to try to force Ohio Republicans to comply with a judge’s ruling that restores early voting in the state.  Ohio isn’t the only state where Republicans are making it more difficult to vote. Please click here to watch this video of history in the making. [...]