Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tennessee law gives felons
second chance at voting

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Tennessee law gives felons <br> second chance at voting

Nashville, Tenn., resident Allen Jenkins has been unable to vote for nearly 20 years. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21

Thousands of Tennessee felons will have another way to restore their voting rights under a law scheduled to take effect July 1.

Offenders may expunge a single nonviolent misdemeanor or felony from their record under the new law. A nonviolent felony conviction in Tennessee means losing voting rights until fulfilling the terms of the sentence and applying for voting restoration.

Felons whose records are expunged under the new law would no longer be required to submit a separate application to vote.

Nashville, Tenn., resident Allen Jenkins has been unable to vote for nearly 20 years after he was convicted of a felony drug counterfeiting charge. Although Jenkins, 50, said he was aware that a felony conviction meant losing his voting rights, he pleaded guilty.

Jenkins is raising the $350 needed to apply to expunge his record instead of completing the enfranchisement application, because he hopes expunging the conviction will help him find employment.

“I’m a U.S. citizen,” Jenkins said. “I was born in this country. I’m a part of this country… I should not be condemned over something I’ve done in the past when that past is dead.”

By Carl Straumsheim, News21

Latino leader addresses
Arizona immigration and ID laws

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Latino leader addresses <br> Arizona immigration and ID laws

Thomas A. Saenz is the president and general counsel for MALDEF, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Photo by Khara Persad/News21.

The Supreme Court decision on Arizona’s immigration law this week has drawn not only national attention, but was the focus – along with voting law – of leaders who met Tuesday in Phoenix for the first Latino State of the State of Arizona.

Much of the event, presented by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, centered on the high court’s ruling that left in place the most controversial portion of SB 1070, the so-called “show your papers” requirement.

Many attendees also spoke in opposition to Proposition 200, Arizona’s voter-ID law.

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF’s president and general counsel, described the financial barriers faced by eligible Latino voters who would have to obtain an ID to vote as a result of law.

“You have to pay a price to vote,” Saenz said. “That’s not a price that a lot of people in the middle class or maybe even above are cognizant of, but for other communities, it’s quite difficult. It’s a barrier to vote.”

By Jack Fitzpatrick and Khara Persad, News21

Polling stations to reopen in Nebraska’s largest city

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Voting locations in Douglas County, Neb., will reopen in November, following the election commissioner’s order this year to close about half the polling precincts.

Twenty-seven polling places will reopen for Election Day, commissioner Dave Phipps said.

The announcement came after 166 of 353 original polling precincts in Douglas County, which includes Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, were closed before the May 5 primary.

Phipps cited budget constraints and trimming precincts, he said, would save the county $115,000. Many Omaha groups criticized the decision, which is allowable under a Nebraska statute adopted last year.

“It would save money, but the details are that it disproportionately closed polling places in the two strongest Obama voter areas. What a coincidence?” said Preston Love Jr., a community activist who works with the voting rights group North Omaha Voters Call to Action Coalition.

In 2008, North Omaha, a predominantly black community that encompasses Nebraska’s second congressional district, gave then-candidate Barack Obama its electoral vote. The last time a Democrat received one of Nebraska’s electoral votes was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states where electoral college votes are awarded to congressional districts.

By Emily Nohr, News21

Tennessee organization encourages felons to exercise voting rights

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Tennessee organization encourages felons to exercise voting rights

H.U.G.G.S. Inc. was founded by felon Sherri Jackson, center, in Nashville, Tenn., to help felons integrate into society by finding jobs and helping to restore their voting rights. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21

Sherri Jackson is celebrating her fifth year as a re-enfranchised voter. As executive director of the Nashville, Tenn., nonprofit H.U.G.G.S. Inc., she helps felons, like herself, integrate into society.

Jackson and about 35 other volunteers guide felons through a program that teaches time management and life skills while preparing them for education and employment.

“This is the one-stop shop,” Jackson said.

Since 2006, H.U.G.G.S., which stands for Humility, Understanding, God, Grace and Spiritual Strength, has helped about 100 felons restore their voting rights. Jackson said she had to lose that right before realizing its importance.

“Before I was convicted … I didn’t vote … I didn’t care to vote,” Jackson said. “I felt that I did not have a voice.”

Jackson gained a new perspective.

“Once your voting rights are taken, you really don’t have a voice or a citizenship,” she said. “I just got really excited about being a part of something that is major.”

By Carl Straumsheim, News21

Same-day registration could yield high voter turnout in Maine

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Same-sex marriage is returning to the ballot in November, three years after Maine voters rejected the law. Election Day registration, which Maine voters restored last year, could increase turnout among same-sex marriage supporters. And with presidential candidates on the ballot, turnout for both sides is likely to be high.

Marriage rights passed in the spring of 2009 by the Democratic Maine Legislature and governor, then the law was rejected in November 2009 when 53 percent voted to repeal it. The People’s Veto repeated last November when voters restored Election Day registration, which the Republican-controlled Maine Legislature ended five months prior.

Republicans generally oppose Election Day registration, saying that it leaves elections vulnerable to error.

Election Day registration could mean higher turnout for same-sex marriage supporters, said Mike Tipping, a magazine blogger and communications director for the progressive grassroots organization that led the People’s Veto in 2011.

“I think it could affect the vote,” Tipping said. “I think that people who are registering for the first time might be more likely to be young, and might be more likely to support marriage rights.”

The 2011 election was the first in 38 years when Maine residents could not 
register and vote on Election Day. Sixty percent of the 400,000 who voted last November, supported Election Day registration. But the turnout to repeal same-sex marriage was greater, drawing 570,000 voters in 2009.

By Alex Remington, News21

 

Voter ID report by bipartisan commission still at issue, 7 years later

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The bi-partisan Commission on Federal Election Reform issued a 2005 report that recommended 87 changes to the U.S. electoral system. Many of those recommendations have not been implemented, but Robert Pastor, executive director of the commission, said it’s not too late.

“Almost every significant electoral system in the democratic world requires some form
of voter ID for its citizens to vote,” Pastor said. “The United States is one of the very few (that do not) and that’s mainly because our entire electoral administration system is severely lacking and one of the least impartial and professional election administrations in the entire world.”

In recommending that voter ID be required at polls, Pastor said, the commission considered Republican and Democratic views.

“There were two concerns, one by Republicans that an absence of voter ID can lead to
 electoral fraud and, from Democrats, that the inclusion of a voter ID card could lead to
disenfranchisement,” he said, adding that the commission sought a compromise.

Commissioner Spencer Overton, a law professor at George Washington University Law School, dissented, writing that the proposal “would prevent eligible voters from proving their identity with even a valid U.S. passport or a U.S. military photo ID card.”

Overton added that the ID proposal would make “the poor, the disabled, the elderly, students and people of color would bear the greatest burden.”

Overton’s dissent was sharp, but part of the commission’s discussion.

Pastor was disappointed in the reaction from elected officials, he said.

“The people on the commission were eager to listen to each other and to find legitimate areas of agreement,” Pastor said. “Our politicians are not interested in listening to each other and prefer a polarizing political climate. That’s where we are as a country.”

By Caitlin O’Donnell, News21

 

Photo ID opponents struggle to find disenfranchised Tennessee voters

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Tennessee’s photo voter ID law took effect in January, and while no lawsuits have been filed, lawyers are looking for affected voters willing to challenge the law.

The American Civil Liberties Union has been trying to file a lawsuit, but no plaintiffs have come forward.

“They remain silent and their right to vote is chilled, through no fault of their own,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU in Tennessee, “and they’re being labeled as apathetic.”

Many potential clients have been able ultimately to acquire the necessary ID, said attorney George Barrett.

Tennessee is not subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, so officials there do not need federal approval to change state and local election law. States with voter ID challenges such as South Carolina and Texas, which need Section 5 pre-clearance, have lawsuits pending and building a case in these states is easier than in Tennessee, Barrett said, because of the federal requirement.

By Kassondra Cloos, News21

Behind the Scenes: This week in the News21 newsroom

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Today in the News21 newsroom, reporters and editors gathered for a student-led brown bag discussion on investigative journalism.

News21 sent a team of reporters and editors to the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference last week in Boston, and those who attended shared with the newsroom helpful tools for more efficient, in-depth investigative reports.

Here’s a look at what the News21 team was up to today:

Behind the Scenes: This week in the News21 newsroom

A.J. Vicens gives a presentation to the newsroom on how use data for better storytelling. Vicens and several other News21 fellows traveled June 13-17 to Boston to attend seminars at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21

Behind the Scenes: This week in the News21 newsroom

News21 fellow Emily Nohr presents a lesson on Google Fusion Tables to the newsroom after returning from five days at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Boston. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21

Florida officials will not release list of non-citizens on voter rolls

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In early May, Florida officials suggested that as many as 180,000 potential non-citizens could be on the state’s voter rolls.

The estimate gained publicity for Gov. Rick Scott’s effort to eliminate illegally registered voters, but the list was thereafter slimmed to 2,700 and made public.

The list of 2,700 later turned up many false positives, with frustrated voters wondering why they were targeted. More than 100 on the list were, however, non-citizens, according to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner.

But with the list’s accuracy questioned, the larger list of 180,000 has not been released, despite repeated public records requests from news organizations.

Courtney Heidelberg, communications director at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), said in an email that the Department of State submitted to them a list of voters, her agency provided the citizenship status for each and sent the matched list of 180,000 back to the Department of State.

But the department will not release it, and the state attorney general’s office does not have a copy, nor does the governor’s office. And the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the original custodian of records, will not release it.

“Please be advised that DHSMV is not authorized to release information protected by the Driver Privacy Protection Act,” Heidelberg said.

Chris Cate, spokesman for Detzner, said his agency is still reviewing the 180,000 names and will make them available if he and other officials deem it a public record.

By Ethan Magoc, News21

Florida prepares for fewer early voting hours

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Florida’s early, in-person voting period will almost certainly shrink this fall. Prior to 2011, when the Republican Legislature altered state voting laws, county election officials were required to allow early voting for a minimum 14 days, which totaled 96 hours, including limited weekend hours.

Beginning this year counties have the option of matching those 96 hours, but the Legislature lowered the minimum requirement to eight days. The law, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley, a Republican from Ocala, Fla., also eliminated voting on the Sunday before the election. African-American churches traditionally reserved that day for “Souls to the Polls” campaigns.

In his first interview since the end of litigation over the law, Baxley said that eliminating the Sunday hours was all about timing.
“It seems like we had too tight a squeeze there (before Tuesday),” he said. “You had to count the early votes and be all set up in the counties for a general election in two days.”

His rationale does not sit well with Rodney Long, a retired Democratic politician in northern Florida’s Alachua County.

“If you tell me that there’s a problem with that Sunday, there should be some evidence. There’s 67 people in Florida who could provide it. (Lawmakers) did not receive any testimony from the 67 county officials about Sunday processing. Everyone’s voting electronically – no more chads, no delays,” Long said.

Long’s Gainesville-based group, the African American Accountability Alliance, will work with church and political leaders to mobilize early voting for alternative days, he said.

By Ethan Magoc, News21