50th Anniversary March on Washington

On Saturday, August 24, 2013, beginning at 8AM at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC the 50th Anniversary March begins against the recent attack on voter rights, against Stand Your Ground and racial profiling, and to continue to raise awareness on unemployment, poverty, gun violence, immigration, gay rights and other critical issues affecting our nation. 50 years ago the march on Washington was a historic event that lead to the passage of the very civil rights legislation that ended Jim Crow and began the modern era of civil rights. It brought us our dignity, our humanity and our march to realize the dream that so many had given their lives for.

Today, the first African American President in the history of our nation sits in the White House. That would not have been possible without the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court in the final days of its term this year has struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and thereby have place our right to vote in jeopardy. We must turn out by the hundreds of thousands in Washington DC on August 24th.

CLICK HERE for more information.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Justice Dept. Starts VRA Bail-In for TX

Attorney General, Eric Holder, delivered remarks at the National Urban League Annual Conference.

"Today I am announcing that the Justice Department will ask a federal court in Texas to subject the State of Texas to a preclearance regime similar to the one required by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. This request to “bail in” the state – and require it to obtain “pre-approval” from either the Department or a federal court before implementing future voting changes – is available under the Voting Rights Act when intentional voting discrimination is found. Based on the evidence of intentional racial discrimination that was presented last year in the redistricting case, Texas v. Holder – as well as the history of pervasive voting-related discrimination against racial minorities that the Supreme Court itself has recognized – we believe that the State of Texas should be required to go through a preclearance process whenever it changes its voting laws and practices.

This is the Department’s first action to protect voting rights following the Shelby County decision, but it will not be our last. Even as Congress considers updates to the Voting Rights Act in light of the Court’s ruling, we plan, in the meantime, to fully utilize the law’s remaining sections to ensure that the voting rights of all American citizens are protected. My colleagues and I are determined to use every tool at our disposal to stand against discrimination wherever it is found. But let me be very clear: these remaining tools are no substitute for legislation that must fill the void left by the Supreme Court’s decision. This issue transcends partisanship, and we must work together. We cannot allow the slow unraveling of the progress that so many, throughout history, have sacrificed so much to achieve. And, in our broader efforts, we will continue to look far beyond America’s ballot boxes – to our schools, military bases, and border areas; our immigrant communities, our criminal justice system, and even our workplaces – in order to advance the fight for equality and against injustice."

On June 26, Texas Congressman Marc Veasey, who is African-American, and eight other plaintiffs filed a new lawsuit against the Texas photo-ID law for voters at the polls, Veasey v Perry, 2:13-cv-193, southern district. Some of the plaintiffs are voters who lack the approved forms of ID. Others have state ID but the name on the voter’s ID and the name of the voter on the voter registration rolls don’t exactly match and the voter has not been able to resolve the problem.

If approved under Section 3, Texas would fall under preclearance for 10 years. They would have to prove, at a later date, using the Bail-Out option, documentation for the court that they corrected their voting rights problems.

Other states where Section 2 could come into play:

1. Mississippi: The state legislature approved a voter ID scheme in 2012, but it has not received DOJ clearance. Despite the restrictions, Mississippi’s secretary of state said they would proceed with implementing the voter ID law and that “We’re not the same old Mississippi that our fathers’ fathers were.“

2. Alabama: In 2011, the state passed a law requiring photo ID to vote, but never cleared it with the DOJ. Both the attorney general and the secretary of state said they believed their plans could now be implemented in time for the 2014 elections.

3. Arkansas: In April, the Arkansas legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto to pass their voter ID legislation. With preclearance out of the way, the state law can now be implemented without DOJ review.

4. South Carolina: The Palmetto State passed a similar voter ID law in 2012, but DOJ at least succeeded in delaying its implementation. South Carolina’s attorney general issued a statement following the decision, lauding the Court for allowing the preclearance states to “implement reasonable election reforms, such as voter ID laws similar to South Carolina’s.”

5. Virginia: Unlike several of the other states, Virginia’s voter ID plan was not scheduled to be implemented until July 2014 anyway. But unless Congress replaces the preclearance formula before then, Virginia will also likely be able to move forward with its plan.

6. Alaska, which just had its own voter ID law struck down, has not moved to restrict the right to vote in less than two days since the ruling.

7. Arizona, which just had its own voter ID law struck down, has not moved to restrict the right to vote in less than two days since the ruling.

8. Georgia, whose own voted ID law was likely ruled unconstitutional, has not moved to restrict the right to vote in less than two days since the ruling.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NC HB589, Voter Suppression Bill

The North Carolina legislature just released a new voter suppression bill that would enact voter ID, but a host of other new initiatives designed to make it more difficult to vote. The Senate will consider substituted language for HB 589 on Tuesday afternoon. Among the dozens of changes, these are the most onerous for North Carolina voters:

1. Implementing a strict voter ID requirement that bars citizens who don’t have a proper photo ID from casting a ballot.

2. Eliminating same-day voter registration, which allowed residents to register at the polls.

3. Cutting early voting by a full week.

4. Increasing the influence of money in elections by raising the maximum campaign contribution to $5,000 and increasing the limit every two years.

5. Making it easier for voter suppression groups like True The Vote to challenge any voter who they think may be ineligible by requiring that challengers simply be registered in the same county, rather than precinct, of those they challenge.

6. Vastly increasing the number of “poll observers” and increasing what they’re permitted to do. In 2012, ThinkProgress caught the Romney campaign training such poll observers using highly misleading information.

7. Only permitting citizens to vote in their specific precinct, rather than casting a ballot in any nearby ward or election district. This can lead to widespread confusion, particularly in urban areas where many precincts can often be housed in the same building.

8. Barring young adults from pre-registering as 16 and 17 year olds, which is permitted by current law, and repealing a state directive that high schools conduct voter registration drives in order to boost turnout among young voters.

9. Prohibiting some types of paid voter registration drives, which tend to register poor and minority citizens.

10. Dismantling three state public financing programs, including the landmark program that funded judicial elections.

11. Weakening disclosure requirements for outside spending groups.

12. Preventing counties from extending polling hours in the event of long lines or other extraordinary circumstances and making it more difficult for them to accommodate elderly or disabled voters with satellite polling sites at nursing homes, for instance.

If passed, HB 589 will almost certainly have a disastrous impact on voting in North Carolina. As Ari Berman notes, 56 percent of North Carolinians voted early in 2012, including a disproportionate number of minorities. In addition, more than 155,000 voters registered to vote at the polls last year. And with 10 percent of North Carolinian's, 613,000 people, a third of whom are black and half of whom are registered Democrats lacking photo ID.

In December, the Center for American Progress released a report detailing 11 specific pieces of legislation state lawmakers could enact to strengthen voting rights. This North Carolina bill is what you would get if you looked at that report, then did the exact opposite.

UPDATE
From Ballot Access News:

On August 12, a lawsuit was filed against three provisions of the North Carolina omnibus election law bill that had been signed a few hours before the lawsuit was filed. The case is League of Women Voters of North Carolina v State of North Carolina, middle district, U.S. District Court. It challenges: (1) the reduction in days in which early voting is in effect (the bill reduces the early voting period from 17 days to 10 days); (2) the elimination of the ability of individuals to register to vote at the polling station during the early voting period; (3) the new law that says provisional ballots are void if they are used in a polling place that is different from the polling place that serves that voter’s neighborhood.

The basis for the lawsuit is that those three provisions violate the Voting Rights Act, and also the 14th amendment to the Constitution. The complaint alleges that statistical data shows that all three provisions will have more impact on African-American voters than other voters.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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The 99% Declaration, Continental Congress 2.0

As a spin-off of Occupy Wall Street, from July 2-4, 2012, Delegates from across the United States and Territories convened in Philadelphia, PA, to participate in the Continental Congress 2.0, producing a petition for the redress of grievances known as The 99% Declaration.


The goal of the event was to bring representatives from every corner of the US together to write up a list of grievances in accordance with the US Constitution First Amendment.

CLICK HERE to read the declaration(pdf).










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Maryland Republicans Considering Opening Their Primary

The Maryland Republican Party is weighing whether to open its primary elections to independent voters.

Republicans losses in top offices has convinced some party leadership to study inviting unaffiliated voters to help pick GOP candidates as soon as 2014, tapping into the fastest-growing segment of Maryland's electorate.

The idea has inflamed opposition in the party's more conservative ranks, whose members predict partisan shenanigans by Democrats and a dilution of Republican values if independent voters could participate in primaries.

Since 2001, elections officials saw an 83 percent increase in registered voters who don't associate with any political party, growing from 13 percent of the electorate to 17 percent. Republicans agree they need those independents, who number more than 630,000, to cast a ballot in their favor if the party hopes to secure the governorship or other top state jobs.

A task force of seven to nine people will investigate how open Republican primaries have worked in other states where the GOP is in the minority. The study could lead to a vote at the party's convention this fall.

If such a change were approved, Maryland's unaffiliated voters would be able to help pick from a growing field of Republicans contending for the governor's mansion next year, a prospect some gubernatorial candidates endorse and others shun.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Adolfo Carrion Jr. on City&State New York

Former Bronx Borough President and mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion, Jr. discusses his political ideology and what he sees his path to victory in a video interview with Morgan Pehme of City&State New York.

Formed from the merger of City Hall and The Capitol newspapers, City&State New York provides insightful and detailed coverage of the politics, the policies and the people that drive New York.




Earlier this week, Adolfo hosted the Carrion 2013 petition team at campaign headquarters for a pizza party to say thanks for running the best petition operation in New York City. As a petitioner, I enjoyed the pizza, meeting my callers, and talking with Adolfo about were we go from here to win in November.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC BOE Going Back to the Future

The New York City Board of Elections (BOE) could face legal action from advocates for the disabled over its plan to bring back lever voting machines.

James Weisman, senior vice president and senior counsel at the United Spinal Association, said his organization was considering taking legal steps to stop the BOE from using the machines.

He said disabled voters would face physical challenges to using the lever voting machines.

So the board made the following change for the 2013 Primaries. Elections officials say disabled voters will have access to electronic devices at each poll site this year so that they can submit paper ballots for the September primary, even though inaccessible lever voting machines are being brought back.

A spokeswoman for the city's Board of Elections said in a statement today that ballot marking devices would allow "all voters, including voters with disabilities, to vote privately and independently at their poll site" on Election Day.

So we are now "Going Back to the Future".

First we were going back to using lever voting machines and now will also hand count paper ballots.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Voter Fraud in Ohio

I watched the Senate hearings on the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the Section 4 Preclearance formula change. There was references to how small the voter fraud cases were. But voter fraud does happen.

As a Hamilton County (Cincinnati, Ohio) poll worker, Melowese Richardson helped people exercise a precious right, the opportunity to vote.

Today, because she voted illegally in the name of others, including one who was in a coma, she was sentenced five years in prison.

Three of her four convictions involved voting for a relative who has been in a coma since 2003. Richardson was a poll worker since 1998 but that ended when she was indicted.

Fellow election workers recognized her handwriting on ballots from the same address, information that helped lead to her convictions. Richardson, 58, of Madisonville, admitted she voted illegally in 2008, 2011 and 2012 elections:

• In the November 2012 election, Richardson admitted she voted twice, using a normal and absentee ballots. Because she had access as a poll worker to the voter registration book, she noticed her absentee ballot request hadn’t been updated as of election day. She signed the registration book and voted a normal ballot knowing she’d submitted an absentee ballot a week earlier

• In 2008, 2011 and 2012, Richardson admitted forging the name of and illegally voting for her sister, Montez Richardson, who has been in a coma since 2003.

She became the third person convicted this year of illegal voting in Hamilton County.

The other two – Sister Marguerite Kloos, 55, of Delhi Township, and Russell Glossop, 76, of Symmes Township, were given diversion. That means if they follow the judges’ orders and do nothing wrong in the next year or so, they likely will have their cases expunged and will be allowed to vote again.

The difference between them and Richardson is they voted for a deceased roommate, in the nun’s case, and a deceased spouse while Richardson was convicted of illegal voting in three different elections and essentially said early in the investigation she had and asked what authorities were going to do about it.

Three others also have pending charges of illegal voting in Hamilton County.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Congressional Hearings on the Voting Rights Act

The Senate will begin an attempt to update the Voting Rights Act by hearing testimony on July 17, 2013 from a civil rights icon and a key steward of the Act in the past.

Sen. Pat Leahy’s Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who led a 1965 Peace March in Selma, Ala., and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who chaired the House Judiciary Committee in 2006 when Congress last reauthorized the Voting Rights Act by overwhelming votes in both chambers. That effort seven years ago was precipitated by about 20 hearings, according to Leahy’s office.

The House hearing, scheduled for July 18, 2013, will be held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, a committee chaired by Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican. He was one of 33 Republicans to vote against the 2006 re-authorization of the VRA, which passed with 390 House members supporting it.

The formula for coverage under Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act

As enacted in 1965, the first element in the formula was whether, on November 1, 1964, the state or a political subdivision of the state maintained a "test or device" restricting the opportunity to register and vote. The Act's definition of a "test or device" included such requirements as the applicant being able to pass a literacy test, establish that he or she had good moral character, or have another registered voter vouch for his or her qualifications.

The second element of the formula would be satisfied if the Director of the Census determined that less than 50 percent of persons of voting age were registered to vote on November 1, 1964, or that less than 50 percent of persons of voting age voted in the presidential election of November 1964.

In 1970, Congress recognized the continuing need for the special provisions of the Act, which were due to expire that year, and renewed them for another five years. It added a second prong to the coverage formula, identical to the original formula except that it referenced November 1968 as the relevant date for the maintenance of a test or device and the levels of voter registration and electoral participation.

In 1975, the Act's special provisions were extended for another seven years, and were broadened to address voting discrimination against members of "language minority groups," which were defined as persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives or of Spanish heritage." As before, Congress expanded the coverage formula, based on the presence of tests or devices and levels of voter registration and participation as of November 1972. In addition, the 1965 definition of "test or device" was expanded to include the practice of providing any election information, including ballots, only in English in states or political subdivisions where members of a single language minority constituted more than five percent of the citizens of voting age.

In 1982, the coverage formula was extended again, this time for 25 years, but no changes were made to it. In 2006, the coverage formula was again extended for 25 years. Section 4, along with those other sections that are dependent upon it, such as Section 5 and 8, will expire in 2031.

So Section 4 is in suspension until a new formula is established.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Adolfo Carrion Jr. Filed His Petition for Mayor of NYC

On Wednesday morning, July 10, 2013, Adolfo Carrion, Jr. helped Independence Party leaders carry more than 25 volumes of petitions into the New York City Board of Elections making him the first mayoral candidate assured a place on the November ballot.

He said “New Yorkers want more choices than what the political establishment is giving them. We will give them that independent choice."


Having pledged to up-end the political landscape and give New Yorkers a truly independent choice for Mayor, Adolfo Carrión, Jr. filed more than 5,000 Independence Party signatures.

I collected over 100 signatures on the Eastside of Manhattan and on July 8th, collected the 5,000th signature.

CLICK HERE to view Adolfo's website for Mayor.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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