What is the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)? (Blog) 4/20/2023 This blog was written by LWV employees Lilly McGee, Jeanette Senecal, and Adam Ambrogi Ensuring elections are fair and equitable includes…
Voting Local Matters: Why Vote for City Council? (Blog) 4/4/2023 You may have heard that voting for local elected officials matters, but we want to simplify it. What does voting for mayor, city council, and school…, Each city council looks different in the scope of its powers, but these are a few responsibilities they might fulfill: Making City Policy: A major…, Voting For City Council Members So, why should you vote for your city council members? City councils can promote pro-voter initiatives. The…
Selma and Current Threats to the Voting Rights Act (Blog) 3/7/2023 This blog was updated June 20, 2023. Today marks the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when state and local police attacked hundreds of civil…, The VRA also put in place an affirmative process for voters to sue any jurisdiction for racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 of the VRA, among…, Alabama is home to a government that is currently asking the Supreme Court to eliminate key protections of Section 2 of the VRA, but it is also home…
Voting Local Matters: Why You Should Vote for Mayor (Blog) 2/23/2023 Two months after my 18th birthday, I voted in my first US election. I was certain of my choice for the highest office. I brought my ballot into the…, What Does a Mayor Do? Many city governments are modeled after the United States federal government; they have an executive branch (the mayor and the…, Voting For Mayor So, why should you vote for the mayor? Mayors influence democracy. Mayors can increase the city’s budget for voter…
State of the Union Bingo! 2023 Edition (Blog) 2/7/2023 Democracy is not a game — but hey, we might as well have fun where we can! Join us in tracking the anticipated buzzwords for 2023's State of…
Quiz: How Much Do You Know About American Voting Rights? (Blog) 1/18/2023 The fight for voting rights is ongoing. One way to fight for a stronger future is to make sure we're up to date on our history. How well will you do…, 3. The following are forms of legalized racial discrimination that effectively barred Black people from the polls... a. Poll taxes b. Literacy…, 7. Women had the right to vote in this territory as early as 1869... a. Wyoming b. New Mexico c. Nevada d. Washington 8. The following voting…
11 Ways You Protected Democracy in 2022! (Blog) 12/15/2022 2022 was a groundbreaking year in our democracy. We witnessed: a midterm election where voters came out in droves to take a stand against…, 1. You Protected 17.7 Million Voters with Legal Action With anti-voter laws on the rise in the wake of the 2020 election, you supported our work on…, 4. You Implemented Fair Congressional Maps 2022 marked the end of the most recent redistricting cycle, during which congressional maps were drawn…, 8. You Learned More About SCOTUS Rulings, Election Laws, and More In a year filled with legal-ese and complex political strategy, you stayed…
Voter Challenge Laws as a Suppression Tactic (Blog) 12/13/2022 This blog was written by legal intern Clay Goetz. “You can’t vote here.” In some states, a verbal accusation like that is all it takes to challenge…, Pre-election challenges question a voter’s eligibility to be registered to vote. They strain the resources of the officials preparing for an election…, The Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections was forced to go through each of the 37,500 claims to assess its merits just months before…, In May 2011, in Southbridge, Massachusetts, baseless challenges were filed against Latino/a voters by partisan poll watchers, leading to emergency…
The Latest Threat to the Voting Rights Act: Merrill v. Milligan (now Allen v. Milligan) (Blog) 12/8/2022 *On June 8, 2023, SCOTUS reached a positive ruling in this case, upholding a lower court ruling that Alabama must create a second majority Black…, The VRA created remarkable remedies and protections to ensure that no one is prevented from participating in the political process because of their…, Cases brought under Section 2 have historically involved two types of violations: 1) Vote dilution; and 2) Vote denial…, Merrill v. Milligan is a straightforward vote dilution case, with an outcome dictated by Supreme Court precedent. As Justice Kagan noted during oral…
What is a Runoff Election? (Blog) 11/16/2022 On December 6, 2022, Georgians will cast their votes in a runoff election for the position of US Senator. A similar event occurred in 2021, when…, The Racist History of Runoffs Georgia's runoff system has unfortunately been associated with a history of racist voter suppression. The…