Tag Archives: wisconsin recall

Coffee Break Ballot, June 4: Current Trends in Voting Rights

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This has been a busy day following a busy weekend in Voting Rights news.

As the recall election in Wisconsin inches closer, the Department of Justice announced this morning that it will send monitors to Milwaukee. On Twitter, progressive supporters have been reminding voters that the state’s voter ID bill is stalled in the courts, so ID is not yet required at the polls.

Florida attracted national attention this weekend for court-ordered holds on its voter registration laws, with press mentions including The New York Times, NPR and The Wall Street Journal.

Here are some stories we’ve been reading in the News21 newsroom.

What We’ve Been Reading

“Justice Department to Monitor Elections in California, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wisconsin,” (Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, 06/04, Justice.gov)

“Voter ID Opponents Shift Focus to Education, Rallying Democrat Voters,” (Andrea Zelinski, 06/04, TNReporter)

“Insight: From Alabama, en epic challenge to voting rights,” (Joan Biskupic, 06/04, Reuters)

“Heritage Foundation ‘Expert’ Cannot Cite Any Examples of Actual Voter Fraud,” (Josh Israel, 06/04, ThinkProgressJustice)

“Watch Out for Voter Registration Cancellations,” (Lise Olsen, 06/04, Houston Chronicle)

Twitter Trends

On the social media search engine Topsy.com, mentions of voting rights, voter ID and voter fraud are tied up with mentions of the Wisconsin recall election.

In particular, a tweet from progressive voting rights group EPWIsco has seen dozens of retweets this morning:

You DO NOT NEED ID to vote in WI tmrw. If you get asked, give us a call immediately @866OURVOTE#wirecall#wivote#voterid#votingrights

We’ll have our own tweets from the Wisconsin election Tuesday from reporters @AJVicens and @khantasha. Follow them and @WhoCanVote for more from the field.

 

Coffee Break Ballot, June 1: Trends and Topics in Voting Rights News

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News21’s investigation of national voting rights is ongoing, and the rest of the country is contributing to the dialogue.

Voting Rights, voter ID and the messy politics of redistricting likely will be major issues in the November election, and other media outlets and the Twittersphere seem to agree.

So every weekday at about this time — noon PDT, 3 p.m. EDT — News21 reporters will post links to articles, opinion pieces and trends that catch our eye here in the Phoenix newsroom at ASU’s Cronkite School.

It’s far from an exhaustive survey of current journalism on voting and elections, but it’s our  way of staying current.

For more of what we’re reading, be sure to follow us @WhoCanVote.

What We’ve Been Reading

“Holder’s Racial Incitement,” (editorial, 06/01, Wall Street Journal)

“Florida GOP Takes Voter Suppression to a Brazen New Extreme,” (Ari Berman, 05/30, Rolling Stone)

“Former attorney general: Economic policies will discourage Hispanics, not voter ID laws,” (Alberto R. Gonzales, 05/31, CNN.com)

“League of Women Voters of Florida v. Kurt S. Browning,” (U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinckle, Ruling, 05/31, via Brennan Center for Justice)

Twitter Trends

According to Twitter search engine Topsy.com, mentions of the phrases “Voting Rights” and/or “#VotingRights” peaked for the month on May 31, with more than 1,300 mentions in a 24-hour period.

Among those mentioning voting rights in their tweets were dozens of opponents of the state of Florida’s removal of voters from registration lists, many urging people to sign an online petition.

Looking ahead, Twitter trends for the weekend reflect interest in Tuesday’s recall election in Wisconsin, as supporters and opponents of Gov. Scott Walker and his opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, chatter about the dramatic finale of that state’s year-long political debate. #WIRecall isn’t trending worldwide — it isn’t even trending in Milwaukee — but we’ll have an update as Tuesday’s election nears.

News21 reporters, @AJVicens and @khantasha, will file from Wisconsin Tuesday. Follow them for more updates.