Monthly Archives: May 2012

Dispatches From Wang





The latest from the ever-wacky Tova Wang.   This one appears in the soon-to-be-shut-down  American Prospect Magazine.  Wang, you may recall if you read Injustice, is the soothsayer that announced there was no voter fraud in the 2010 November election within 48 hours of the polls closing.  Of course she was later proven spectacularly wrong.

The ominous “black cloud” that is photo ID:

“Americans who care about the right to vote are faced with an ugly reality as the 2012 elections come into view: no matter how many courts rule that voter identification laws will disenfranchise eligible citizens [ELC Note: that would be precisely zero court judgments] and no matter how many states U.S. Department of Justice analysts determine—using data supplied by the states themselves—that strict voter ID laws discriminate against people of color, voter identification laws will be in place in a number of states throughout the country in November.”

California “Candidates Bring Arrest Records to Campaign”



“Within the last 20 months, five state legislators and one former state senator with active campaigns have been arrested on suspicion of crimes including drunk driving, perjury, voter fraud, shoplifting and trying to carry a loaded gun through airport security. . . . Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward), who pleaded no contest in January to shoplifting clothes worth $2,500 from Neiman Marcus in San Francisco. Hayashi must leave the Assembly this year because of term limits but is raising money for a 2014 campaign for the state Senate.”  LA Times.

Perhaps this is one of the side benefits of disenfrancising felons – you prevent felons from serving in the legislature. 


“Determined to Detect Discrimination in Denver”

Denver Post:  “They must be kidding. The lawyers at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund — the folks who helped keep Denver’s schools in court-ordered shackles and a downward spiral into the 1990s — are rattling their sabers at Denver again and solemnly citing the Voting Rights Act over new council districts approved last week.



Never mind that three of Denver’s past four mayors have been minorities, notably including Federico Peña, and that of five at-large City Council candidates last year, the biggest vote-getter was Debbie Ortega.”

Increased Turnout or Increased Chaos? Election Day Registration Passes Connecticut Senate


The bill, which Democrat Governor Malloy says he will sign into law gladly, is set to go into effect November 2013, and also allows for online voter registration.


 


“Democrats hailed the bill as a great method of increasing voter turnout, while Republicans said the chances of voter fraud are high as registrars will scramble to register new voters on the already-chaotic election day. . . Sen. Len Suzio, a conservative Republican from Meriden, said he received an email from the Democratic registrar of voters in Meriden, who said that the bill was “pure insanity.”  From his own informal survey, Suzio said that 58 out of 63 registrars – both Republican and Democrat – were against the bill.”


 


The Hartford Courant Capital Watch has the full story.