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Proposed Rules Would Harm Democracy in Virginia, Say Voting Rights Advocates
February 28, 2013
RICHMOND, VA - Yesterday, Project Vote and the League of Women Voters of Virginia called on Governor Bob McDonnell to veto SB 1008, a piece of legislation that could have a disastrous impact on community voter registration drives in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“Community groups set up tables at county fairs, grocery stores, and schools in order to connect with people where they live and help them to register to vote. This law will restrict their ability to reach Americans and engage them in democracy,” says Estelle Rogers, legislative director at Project Vote. “The last two years have seen a tidal wave of laws aimed at restricting voting, and SB 1008 is the latest in that trend. We ask Governor Bob McDonnell to support democracy in Virginia and veto this law.”
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Press Statement from League of Women Voters of Virginia and Project Vote
January 28, 2013
RICHMOND, VA -- Introduced earlier this month, Virginia House Bill 1747/Senate Bill 1008 could severely undermine the right of Virginia’s citizens to vote.
In the past few years, there has been a nationwide trend to disenfranchise Americans and reduce participation at the polls; this bill is the latest in that trend. Voting is a fundamental right. Greater participation by voters should be Virginia’s goal – not making registration and voting more difficult and less available.
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January 24, 2013
Public Agency Clients Must Be Offered an Opportunity to Register to Vote
 NEW ORLEANS, LA – On January 23, voting rights advocates won a major legal victory on behalf of Louisiana’s public assistance agency clients, the state’s most vulnerable and most marginalized residents.
In a 36-page ruling, following a trial in October 2012 in the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, Judge Jane Triche Milazzo found that the state of Louisiana violated federal law by failing to offer an opportunity to register to vote to all applicants and recipients of food stamps, TANF, Medicaid, and WIC. The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requires that voter registration be offered to all such individuals, whether they seek benefits in person, or by the internet, telephone, or mail.
“The NVRA’s purpose is to expand voter registration and encourage participation in our great democracy,” said Sarah Brannon, director of the Public Agency Voter Registration Program at Project Vote. “The state of Louisiana spent over two years fighting compliance with the NVRA. Thankfully their efforts were not successful, because the court recognized that a meaningful opportunity to register to vote must be provided to low-income citizens.”
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