Good News For Protecting the Rights of Voters

A Wisconsin judge has struck down the State law requiring the showing of identification in order to vote.  This is tremendous news for those who believe that voter ID laws are ways to restrict access to the ballot box.  We discuss this in more detail in our voting blog.  We appreciate that the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty were a part of the legal team on this important victory. 

In Ohio, the ACLU is leading a group to overturn new restrictions on voting. With plaintiffs representing minority voters including the NAACP, League of Women Voters and a group of churches have sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to overturn the new rules limiting the hours for voting.  This suit attacks the new restrictions on in person voting on the weekend and the evenings.  It also questions the validity of canceling "Golden Week" when voters can register and change their registration at the same time.  The suit says that these limitations violate the federal voting rights act and have no purpose except to limit minority participation in the November election.  Unfortunately, the group drew one of the most conservative judges in the federal system, Gregory Frost.  He was appointed by President George W. Bush and is extremely conservative.  Despite the judicial system being advertised as blind, many judges are peeking out of the blind fold looking at which way the political wind are blowing.  Frost has refused to stop the execution in January when Ohio wanted to use an untested drug combination that eventually did not go well and he ruled against the Green Party over election machine software issues.  This is going to be a huge mountain to overcome, and we should plan on long lines on the two Saturdays that are left for early in person voting. 

Brian Davis

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