Fighting Back to Defend Voting Rights

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CWA and allies are fighting back in the states to repeal restrictive voter ID laws and to safeguard measures that encourage and support citizens in voting: early voting, voting by mail, same day voter registration and broad voter registration efforts.

This year, at least six states introduced legislation imposing severe restrictions on voter registration drives organized by non-partisan groups like the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote. In Florida, the restrictions and penalties are so severe that the League of Women Voters, which has registered voters for 91 years, has ended its drives because volunteers could face fines and penalties. Florida set fines of $500 to $1,000 for each form that contains any mistakes, such as misspellings or typos, or aren’t turned in within 48 hours of collection.

Also under attack: early voting, which is used heavily by working families, voting by mail and same day voter registration.

In Florida, the early voting period was cut in half, to eight days. In Ohio, early voting was cut from 35 days to 11 days. And more states, including West Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee have passed laws restricting early voting.

Some early successes:

In Ohio, voters will have the final say on the restrictions on voting rights that the state legislature adopted. CWA activists have been collecting signatures to make sure this measure gets on the 2012 ballot.