Get Out The Vote

» Get Out The Vote

Huffington Post: Report Outlines Plan To Fix Long Lines On Election Day

-By Chelsea Kiene

February 4, 2013- As the federal government works to address the long lines and administrative problems voters nationwide faced on Election Day, a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice argues that the first steps should be modernizing voter registration, providing a national period for early voting and setting minimum standards for polling place access.

During his victory speech on Nov. 6, President Barack Obama thanked Americans for turning out to vote, noting many people had waited in line for hours to do so. He made clear that voting reform would be a priority in his second term, when he said that the country needed to "fix" those long lines so that all Americans are able to carry out their constitutional right.

… Read More

Boxer Introduces Bill on Day One of the 113th Congress to Fight Long Election Lines

Press Release of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer

For Immediate Release:
January 22, 2013

Contact:
Washington D.C. Office (202) 224-3553

The “LINE Act” Would Set National Standards and Require Action by States Where Voters Waited in Line for Hours

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), on the first day of the 113th Congress, reintroduced her election reform bill – the LINE Act – which would help ensure that all American voters can cast a ballot in federal elections without enduring hours-long delays at their polling places.

President Obama signaled his commitment to this important election reform yesterday in his Second Inaugural Address when he said, “Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.”

… Read More

Huffington Post: Colin Powell: Republican Party Should Say ‘We Want Everybody To Vote’

-By Chris Gentilviso

January 21, 2013- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell doubled down on his criticism of the Republican Party on Monday, questioning the GOP's efforts to institute voter ID laws.

In an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Powell stressed that the party needs to be inclusive when it comes to the polls.

“Should we really have gone after reducing the turnout of voters in those places where we thought it would make a difference?" he asked. "The Republican Party should be a party that says, ‘We want everybody to vote,’ and make it easier for people to vote and give them a reason to vote for the party, and not to find ways to keep them from voting at all."

… Read More

Boxer Introduces Bill to Help Voters Avoid Long Lines on Election Day

The “LINE Act” Would Set National Standards and Require Action by States Where Voters Waited in Line for Hours

For Immediate Release:
December 5, 2012
Contact: Washington D.C. Office (202) 224-3553

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today introduced the LINE Act, election reform legislation designed to guarantee that all American voters can cast a ballot in federal elections without facing hours-long delays at their polling places.

Senator Boxer said, “It is unacceptable that many Americans had to wait in line for five, six or seven hours to cast their ballots. The LINE Act will help ensure that every American has an equal chance to vote without enduring hours-long delays at their polling places.”

… Read More

Voter Suppression Hotlines

If you are having problems at the polls, please report it!

As of 10:00 EST, voter suppression reports are already in the tens of thousands. 

Ohio: 1-855-VOTING HELP (1-855-868-4644) or email your report to truth@freepress.org

National: 1-866-OUR VOTE (1-866-687-8683)

Voter Abuse Hotline: If an electronic voting machine flips your vote, or you are subjected to intimidation tactics, call 1-800-311-8683

Washington State: If an alleged "poll watcher" tries to impede you at the voting booth, take his picture and call the FBI. FBI agents will be standing by at 412-432-4000

Federal: Dept of Justice, Civil Rights Div. Voting Section: 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767

… Read More

Charlotte Observer: Long lines as N.C. early voting begins

First day surpassed the 2008 election with about 120,000 voters

-By April Bethea

October 18, 2012- Thousands of residents across the Charlotte region headed to early voting sites on Thursday, waiting in line for the chance to be among the first in the state to cast ballots for the Nov. 6 election.

In Charlotte, about 150 people stood in line at the Hal Marshall Annex before that voting center opened at 8 a.m. An even bigger crowd was reported outside a polling site on the UNC Charlotte campus.

And late Thursday afternoon, the number of people waiting at Independence Regional Library still stretched around the building.

In Mecklenburg County, 15,009 residents cast votes on Thursday, easily surpassing the first-day early voting totals from 2008, according to board of elections website.

… Read More

NY Times: Obama’s Lead Looks Stronger in Polls That Include Cellphones

-By Nate Silver

September 19, 2012- As I observed on Tuesday, and as The New Republic’s Nate Cohn also found, Barack Obama seems to have received a much clearer bounce in some types of polls than others.

Although there are exceptions on either side, like the Gallup national tracking poll, for the most part Mr. Obama seems to be getting stronger results in polls that use live interviewers and that include cellphones in their samples — enough to suggest that he has a clear advantage in the race.

… Read More

Talking Points Memo: Federal Judge Restores Early Voting In Ohio After Obama Suit

-By Ryan J. Reilly

August 31, 2012- A federal judge in Ohio on Friday restored early voting rights in the three days before the election, ruling in favor of the Obama campaign.

U.S. District judge Peter C. Economus ruled that "restoring in-person early voting to all Ohio voters through the Monday before Election Day does not deprive UOCAVA voters from early voting."

"Instead, and more importantly, it places all Ohio voters on equal standing," Economus ruled. He said the state "fails to articulate a precise, compelling interest in establishing the 6 p.m. Friday deadline as applied to non-UOCAVA voters and has failed to evidence any commitment to the 'exception' it rhetorically extended to UOCAVA voters."

… Read More

Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire: Obama Team Revolutionizing Voter Records

Sasha Issenberg: "From a technological perspective, the 2012 campaign will look to many voters much the same as 2008 did. There will not be a major innovation that seems to herald a new era in electioneering, like 1996's debut of candidate Web pages or their use in fundraising four years later; like online organizing for campaign events in 2004 or the subsequent emergence of social media as a mass-communication tool in 2008. This year's looming innovations in campaign mechanics will be imperceptible to the electorate, and the engineers at Obama's Chicago headquarters…may be at work at one of the most important. If successful, Narwhal would fuse the multiple identities of the engaged citizen–the online activist, the offline voter, the donor, the volunteer–into a single, unified political profile."

… Read More

1 2