If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
In using his annual address to call for automatic rights restoration, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell joins other Republican politicians who recognize automatic voting rights restoration is a smart-on-crime reform that it is consistent with American values and ideals.
Early this week when the television commentariat went into overdrive with observations about the largely white and male Obama second term cabinet that appears to be taking shape, there was lots of talk about the fact that Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor and one of the highest ranking Latinas in the federal government, Attorney General Eric Holder, the first African American to lead the Justice Department, and others would likely remain in place. On Wednesday, the prognosticators were proved at least partially wrong. Solis announced plans to step down.
Just as the Bill of Rights applies equally in every corner of the U.S., the right to vote must be equally easy to exercise as an integral part of being a U.S. citizen no matter where you live.
While the Earth didn't end on December 21, 2012, the year's end was marked by a new awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis. Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the preciousness and fragility of life on Earth.
Largely driven by a spate of new laws and policies, including new restrictions on the type of ID that voters can use and flawed voter purges, conservative legislatures stopped at nothing to make it harder to register to vote, harder to cast a ballot, and harder to have a vote counted.
Whether it was draconian voter ID laws, the shooting death of young Travyon Martin, or the attacks on women and the workers of America, I went into each challenge concerned that they had outmaneuvered us financially. But in the end, I left convinced that money could not buy genuine commitment.
This nation still has a way to go before state disfranchisement is truly a thing of the past. Gutting the most important provision of this landmark law is not just unwarranted but harmful to the government's ability to eradicate voter suppression.
Whether the conservative majority on the Roberts Court will follow the political winds on the right, or hew to the legal analysis of conservative judges on the lower courts, is one of the critical backstories in Shelby County v. Holder, a blockbuster challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
As more and more Americans use the Internet for daily tasks like paying bills and banking, states must develop online voter registration programs to modernize registration and make it more efficient.
Two Alaska Native legislators were at the peak of power during the last legislative session in Juneau. Even though they weren't serving as Senate Pre...
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly famously opined during his post election analysis: "It's not a traditional America anymore. People want stuff." Though a sophomoric conclusion, O'Reilly is simultaneously right and wrong.
Nothing I do is altruistic the way I look at things; it just feels right. A nerd's gotta do what a nerd's gotta do.
It's a shame. Voting is sacred; it's the only way we ensure we have a government that represents our interests. Of course, we've learned there are some who don't want all Americans to participate and have a say. The jig is up.
As we mark the passing of a civil rights warrior who wore his scars proudly, Lawrence Guyot's story should serve as a reminder of the truly heroic efforts that were necessary to win passage of iconic laws such as the Voting Rights Act.
Widespread efforts to suppress voting by people of color and the poor through a rash of voter ID laws make it clear that we still need the landmark 1965 legislation today.
Most Popular
