One of the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) is that state records relating to voter registration and... Read more
The Virginia General Assembly is busily grinding out bills that will make it considerably more difficult for Virginians to cast ballots that count. In recent years, voter ID laws have cropped up in states across the country, aimed to stymie a source of fraud that simply does not exist, and Virginia is no different. Under current law, if a voter does not or cannot produce appropriate identification at the polls, the voter can simply sign a sworn document attesting his or her identity, then cast a regular ballot. Proposed legislation in both the House of Delegates and the Senate aims to take this option away from Virginia voters and place still more stringent restrictions on the kinds of ID that are accepted. Read more
In light of a Washington ruling that struck down the state voting rights restoration procedure for felons as “racially discriminatory,” advocates continue to push Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to use his last days of executive power to overturn the state’s “relic of Virginia's Jim Crow era.” Read more
In preparation for the 2010 legislative season, Project Vote’s Election Administration (EA) Program is releasing a series of election administration... Read more
Last month, we reported that citizens are becoming more sympathetic to voting rights restoration as they realize disenfranchisement of released felons does not just unnecessarily punish the ex-offender, but also the voice of their communities. This news resonated recently in the states of Wisconsin and Virginia – one of which has hopes of restoring the rights of some 40,000 ex-offenders while the other is criticized for “lagging” in restoration of civil rights. Read more