voting rights

Faith based supply-side ‘trickle down’ economics has made Arizona one of the poorest states in the country

by

Follow up to So how’s that faith based supply-side ‘trickle down’ economics working out for you, Arizona?

That faith based supply-side “trickle down” economics has made Arizona one of the poorest states in the country. Arizona remains among worst in poverty:

trickle downStarting from the top, an estimated 21.2 percent of all Arizonans in 2014 were at or below the federal poverty line.

Nationally, it was 14.8 percent.

That was bad enough to rank third-worst in the nation. Only Louisiana and Mississippi had higher rates.

Perhaps more worrisome, Arizona’s poverty rate went up in 2014 while the nation stayed the same.

The last time Arizona’s rate looked like the nation as a whole currently does was 2007, when Arizona ranked 10th-worst in the nation with 14.3 percent of its residents in poverty.

Read more

(Update) California’s minor political parties appeal ‘top-two’ electoral system to U.S. Supreme Court

by

Earlier this year I posted about California’s minor political parties appeal ‘top-two’ system to U.S. Supreme Court:

In January of this year, the Court of Appeal of the State of California (1st District, Division 1) upheld California’s “top-two” primary electoral system in the case of Rubin v. Padilla (.pdf):

StopTop2We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the action. Given the structure of California’s “top-two” electoral system, minor-party candidates have no right to appear on the general election ballot merely because they have made a showing of significant public support. The role played by the general election under the former partisan system is fulfilled by the primary election in the top-two system, and there is no material barrier to minor-party participation in the primary election. Further, the failure of minor-party candidates to appear on the general election ballot does not substantially burden their members’ rights of political association and expression, and California’s interest in expanding participation in the electoral process is adequate to justify any burden that may occur. Lastly, because California’s electoral system treats all political parties identically, plaintiffs’ claim that they are denied equal protection of the laws is groundless.

This is a sweeping dismissal of minor political party rights and limiting the choices of voters in a general election.

Read more

California passes universal (automatic) voter registration bill, awaits governor’s signature

by

The California legislature just passed a bill for universal (automatic) voter registration that has the potential to add millions of new voters to the voter rolls. Governor Jerry Brown has 30 days to decide whether to sign the bill.

The Brennan Center for Justice reports, A Watershed Moment for Voter Registration:

Voting-RightsIf Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs the bill into law, the plan would dramatically modernize voter registration in the Golden State by replacing old-fashioned, ink-and-paper cards with a system that automatically registers eligible citizens when they visit the DMV. Automatic registration in the most populous state in the country is a watershed moment in the effort to fix our broken election system: California will be putting the responsibility for ensuring eligible citizens can vote where it should be — on the government, not the individual.

The Brennan Center explains why California’s automatic registration bill is so important, as the bill makes two very small but transformative changes. California’s legislature is one of many that have considered automatic registration, based on a Brennan Center proposal, and is the third state legislature to pass such monumental reform.

Read more

The Times and Post editorialize in favor of universal (automatic) voter registration

by

While we’re still waiting on the California Assembly to complete passage of universal (automatic) voter registration and send the bill to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature, both the New York Times and the Washington Post editorial boards weighed in this week in support of a expanding universal voter registration to all states.

The Times writes, Entwining Two Rights in California: Voting and Driving:

Voting-RightsFor all the early excitement stirred by the presidential primary contests, a greater test of democracy than the candidates’ cut-and-thrust will be voter participation, a vital statistic which dropped from 62.3 percent in 2008 to 57.5 percent in the last presidential election. In part because of a welter of obstructionist state laws, more than 90 million Americans did not bother or care to vote in 2012.

The Democratic-majority Legislature in California, the most populous state, has just taken a major step toward resisting this alarming trend by approving a system of automatic voter registration for any citizen who obtains or updates a California driver’s license. Modeled on Oregon’s excellent “motor-voter” program, the new system cannot help but increase democratic participation.

Read more

California on verge of enacting universal (automatic) voter registration

by

Update to California following Oregon’s lead on universal (automatic) voter registration.

Screenshot from 2015-09-13 13:49:14The California Senate approved a universal (automatic) voter registration bill last week with some minor amendments that will require the Assembly to vote on the amended version of the bill. Final approval of the bill could come as early as this week. California moving toward automatic voter registration:

The nation’s largest state may be about to make it much easier to register and vote.

California’s Senate passed a bill Thursday by a 24-15 vote that would automatically register to vote anyone who gets or renews a driver’s license, unless they chose to opt out. The state Assembly already passed a similar bill in June. If the Senate version passes an Assembly vote, as expected, the measure would head to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown, a Democrat, hasn’t taken a public position on the bill, and a spokesman for his office declined to comment on pending legislation. But in 2012 he signed legislation allowing Californians to register and vote on the same day.

Another provision that Arizona should enact to eliminate the use of provisional and conditional provisional ballots, thousands of which are never counted.

Read more