Wednesday, June 24, 2009

GA and Voting Rights Act

The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion on the federal Voting Rights Act on June 22 is already having an impact on Georgia voter registration. Earlier this year, the Georgia legislature passed a bill requiring new registrants to provide proof of citizenship when they register.

Under the Voting Rights Act, Georgia cannot implement that new law until the U.S. Justice Department approves it. Georgia had been hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court would invalidate Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act, but that didn't happen, so now the state must submit the 2009 change.

Odds are it will not be approved. Under the federal Voting Rights Act, though, Georgia is free to bring a lawsuit to approve any election law change that the Justice Department won't approve. Georgia is already thinking about doing that.

Michael H. Drucker
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Texas district wins voting rights act exemption

The Voting Rights Act, the government's chief weapon against racial discrimination at polling places, survived a Supreme Court challenge on Monday, but questions are being raised about what could happen to the landmark law in the future. NBC's Pete Williams reports.


The court said that the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 in Austin, Texas, could apply to opt out of the advance approval requirement, reversing a lower federal court that ruled it could not. The district appears to meet the requirements to bail out, although the high court did not pass judgment Monday on that point.

"It leaves the courts wide open to another challenge. If someone files a new lawsuit, I think there's a very good chance that down the line they might find it unconstitutional," said Hans von Spakovsky, a legal scholar at the conservative-oriented Heritage Foundation.

States covered in whole or part by the provision of the Voting Rights Act (Section 5)
that calls for federal approval before any changes in election procedures can take effect:

States covered in full:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
South Carolina
Texas
Virginia (with the exception of 15 cities and counties that no longer have to submit changes for approval)

States covered in part:

California (four counties)
Florida (five counties)
Michigan (two townships)
New Hampshire (10 townships)
New York (three of New York City's five boroughs)
North Carolina (40 counties)
South Dakota (two counties)

Michael H. Drucker
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Friday, June 19, 2009

Save the Illinois School for the Deaf

If the IL budget does not change, it could possible happen that the Illinois School for the Deaf (ISD) will be closed. Governor Quinn supports ISD! He does not want to see it closed. 75 members of the Illinois House of Representatives said NO to his budget plan, which would have provided FULL funding for ISD. If you live in IL I urge you to contact the your State Representatives below and politely explain that you support a small increase in the income tax so the state can pay its bills, keep ISD open and be fair to people who need help the most!

Use the above link to find their phone numbers.



This video shows some of the students including my grandson, Joel Dramin, explaining why ISD should not be closed.

If lawmakers don't support a tax increase, thousands of state employees could be laid off. Essential services will be slashed. Pensions may be cut, creating two tiers. Yet many legislators, even some of our most reliable allies are saying they won't support the tax increase needed to close the $12 billion budget gap. They claim they are only hearing from tax-increase opponents. We've got to turn that around! Our message to Springfield:

"I support raising taxes and fees to prevent cuts to vital services, stop layoffs and protect pensions. Consider the consequences!"

Who to call:

Springfield and District office numbers

Representatives
Jill Tracy 217-782-8096 and 217-223-0833
fax 217-223-1565
email: jiltracy@jiltracy.com

Jim Watson 217-782-1840 and 217-243-6221
fax 217-245-2071
email: jimwatson@localnetco.com

Senators
Deanna Demusio 217-782-8206 and 217-854-4441
fax 217-854-5311
email: ddemuzio@senatedem.ilga.gov

John Sullivan 217-782-2479 and 217-222-2295
fax 217-222-2944
email: jsullivan@senatedem.ilga.gov

Tell them to raise revenue - NOW!

Failure to do so will hit needed services at our schools and health care facilities for the disabled. It will affect services needed in this crisis.

Big Rally on the Capital in Springfield

June 23, 2009 at 12 pm

Front Lawn at State Captial


Thank you, Lisa Dramin, secretary of PTSO ISD, and is my daughter.

VIEW more about the fight to keep ISD open.

Michael H. Drucker
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2009 NYC Mayor Endorsement

As a member of the NYC Independence Party Executive Committee, I endorsed Mayor Bloomberg in his campaign for Mayor of NYC as an independent. I collected signatures for him in 2001, 2005 and again this year in my district (the Eastside of Manhattan).

Here is a video of his appearance at our:

Eleventh Annual
Spring Chairman's Reception
Sunday, June 7, 2009





Michael H. Drucker
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Water for the World

I just watched a video from charity: water, in which Jennifer Connelly shows us the terrible plight of the hundreds of millions of people who live without access to clean water and sanitation.


Then I took action with ONE and asked my senators to cosponsor the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009 (S.624), which will help bring first-time, sustainable access to clean water and sanitation to a hundred million of the world's poorest people. Check out the video and then make that commitment, too, by using the above link and adding your voice.

Together as ONE, we can make a difference!

Michael H. Drucker
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

NYS Term Limits

On June 16, the New York Assembly passed A1224 by 135-11. It says that when term limits already exist in any local government, if the elected officials of that local government pass a bill or resolution to repeal term limits on themselves, the repeal won’t go into effect unless the voters also approve the repeal.

The bill, if signed into law, would not be retroactive. However, if such a bill had been part of the state election law last year, New York City would have been forced to hold a new referendum on repealing term limits for Mayor and City Council.

Michael H. Drucker
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PA Open Primaries

On June 10th, Pennsylvania State Representative Eugene DePasquale (D-York) introduced House Bill 1672, which provides that major parties must let independent voters participate in their primaries. Under the bill, independents could choose which party primary to vote in. The bill has eight co-sponsors from all across Pennsylvania, including two Republicans.

This is an important legislative development in a crucial "bellweather" state, and we have a real opportunity to impact.

Said Representative Pasquale, "The presidential election woke me up to this. The largest growing political affiliation registering to vote is independents. It's been that way for 20 years. A closed election really shuts them out of the nominating process."

Here is some of the local press about the bill:

Pocono Record - June 16
ABC TV - June 15
Morning Call - June 11

Independent Pennsylvanians is leading the campaign to generate grassroots support for the bill, and they need our help. Here's things to do:

First of all, e-mail or call everyone you know in Pennsylvania. Talk to them about open primaries and Rep. DePasquale's bill, ask them to sign the petition to President Obama and to contact their local representative urging them to support the bill and make your donation.

The more money we raise, the more outreach we can do in Pennsylvania, where over one million voters are independents and are currently locked out of voting in primaries.

Pennsylvania is an important state. It was a pivotal state in the Presidential primaries, and with New York, California and Florida, one of the largest and most high profile closed primary states. If we can open the primaries in Pennsylvania, it will provide momentum for other local efforts.

So open up your rolodexes and let's do some outreach to our friends in PA!

Michael H. Drucker
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Unity08 Files Appeal Brief

From Ballot Access News:

On May 29, Unity08 filed its main brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, against the Federal Election Commission’s ruling in 2006 that no one could give Unity08 more than $5,000. The FEC treated Unity08 as a “political committee”, and individuals may not give more than $5,000 per calendar year to a “political committee”. However, a “political committee” has always been understood to be a committee that backs a particular candidate for federal office. The case is Unity08 v FEC, 08-5526.

If the FEC had made a similar ruling in 1995, then Ross Perot would not have been able to create the Reform Party in September 1995. Like Unity08, the Reform Party didn’t have any particular candidate for president or any federal office when it was founded.

Use the above link to read the brief.

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

NY NEEDS ELECTION REFORM NOW

Citizens Union last week released a detailed list of recommendations for election reform in New York. The recommendations fall under four broad categories: dismantling the Board of Elections; creating a new state and local election structure; ways to standardize and improve campaign finance and current Boards of Election; and easing barriers to voting.

Use the above link to read the recommendations.

Michael H. Drucker
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U.S. Justice Dept. Objects to GA’s Voter Registration Rules

Thanks to Ballot Access News and Rick Hasen’s Election Law Blog for this.

On May 29, the U.S. Department of Justice objected to Georgia rules for voter registration that were passed in 2008. GA is one of the states that can’t change its election laws without approval by the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department.

The 2008 GA rules say that when someone registers to vote, the information on that registration form is matched against Social Security records, and Georgia drivers license records, and if any discrepancy is found, the voter registration is rejected.

The Justice Department letter says that by March 2009, the state had rejected 199,606 registration forms, and that a disproportinate number of the rejected forms are minority ethnic groups. The Justice Department letter cites evidence that the vast majority of rejected voter registration forms were rejected because a single digit was accidentally transposed in a drivers license number, or a Social Security number.

Note that this issue is separate from the 2009 Georgia law that requires newly-registering voters to submit documents proving that they are citizens. The process of obtaining Justice Department approval for that law lies in the future.

The DOJ letter said:

"We have considered the accuracy of the state’s verification process. Our analysis shows that the state’s process does not produce accurate and reliable information and that thousands of citizens who are in fact eligible to vote under Georgia law have been flagged….

An error as simple as transposition of one digit of a driver[s] license can lead to an erroneous notation of a non-match…..

….Although the state has not provided data on the racial and language minority characteristics of all registrants whose applications went through the verification process, we have been able to compare the composition of those persons whom the state has flagged for further inquiry because of a non-match with both the composition of newly registered voters in the state and the composition of existing registered voters….

[A]pplicants who are Hispanic, Asian or African-American are more likely than white applicants, to statistically significant degrees, to be flagged for additional scrutiny…."

Michael H. Drucker
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