Beyond The Network - Political reform news from around the country
Below are some highlights for what is happening on the political reform front outside the Midwest Democracy Network region…with a focus on election law.
State senator pushing for voter photo ID law
Tennessee Senator Bill Ketron said he will introduce a bill requring voters to provide photo identification before they cast their ballot, according to News Channel 5 in Tennessee.
“Being able to identify that picture, it just means so much to me. But they keep killing it in the house. So I am going to continue to bring it back this year,” said Ketron.
Tennessee residents are currently only required to provide county identification when voting.
Walter Searcy, who handles legal redress for the Tennessee NAACP, said there is a legitimate group of voters who simply do not have photo identification.
“I hear the clap trap about, well we have all these illegal voters. That is simply not the case, statistics don’t support that. Just a straw man and it doesn’t reflect the true reality of what’s going on,” Searcy said.
California’s online voter registration plan on hold
Two years after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger authorized online voter registration residents may have to wait another four years until a separate $53.4 million computer system modernization is completed, according to The Los Angeles Times.
“It’s hard to understand why we are having so much difficulty doing something that other states have been able to accomplish,” said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen ended a contract in May with the consultant who had been hired to develop the updated system, claiming it was an effort to keep costs down when the project looked to be in trouble early.
Voter fraud hot line proposed
State Sen. Jason Gant, R-Sioux Falls, is proposing a oll-free voter fraud hot line, citing issues arising in Forida during the 2000 presidential election or in Minnesota in 2008.
“What’s taken place in Minnesota two years ago is a perfect example. They were counting ballots out of trunks of cars.” Gant said referring to the U.S. Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. It took seven months and a Minnesota Supreme Court decision in favor of Franken to end the legal battle over allegations of improper ballot counting.
According to The Argus Leader, the hotline would allow anyone who suspects voter fraud to notify the secretary of state from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day and during the early voting period.
Fla. launches new website for election results
Florida will launch a new website, www.Enight.elections.myflorida.com, offering election results and tools to track specific election races, according to The Miami Herald.
Results will not be posted until after 8 p.m. EDT.
