ONE WEEK LEFT - REGISTER ONLINE TO VOTE

MERRILL: JUST ONE WEEK TO REGISTER ONLINE TO VOTE BEFORE NOVEMBER 4, 2014 GENERAL ELECTION

SECRETARY OF THE STATE REMINDS VOTERS THAT ONLINE AND MAIL-IN REGISTRATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED BY OCTOBER 21ST; MORE THAN 23,000 CT VOTERS HAVE USED ONLINE REGISTRATION SYSTEM SINCE FEBRUARY

HARTFORD: Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today reminded eligible voters in Connecticut with driver’s license that they have just one more week to go online to register to vote if they wish to cast a ballot in the November 4, 2014 general election.   Secretary Merrill is encouraging every eligible Connecticut voter with a driver’s license to go online at htpps://voterregistration.ct.gov to register to vote securely and quickly. Since online voter registration in Connecticut launched in February of 2014, more than 23,000 voters have used the system to either become new voters or change their voter registration.  The online voter registration processed can also be accessed through mobile apps available on either Google Play or the Apple app store.  For any eligible voters in Connecticut, the deadline to register either online or through the mail is Tuesday October 21st; and the final deadline to register to vote in-person at town or city offices is Tuesday October 28th. 

“We are now approaching some key voter registration deadlines, and I want to encourage any eligible voter in our state with a driver’s license to go online and register to vote,” said Secretary Merrill, Connecticut’s top elections official.  “Online voter registration is so easy and convenient, you can even do it from your smartphone or tablet.  But anyone who wants to register online to vote must sign up by Tuesday October 21st in order to vote November 4th.  I urge every eligible voter: don’t sit on the sidelines.  Critical decisions about our state and federal government will be made by the people we elect to represent us Election Day.  Make sure your voice is heard and register to vote!”

Since online voter registration in Connecticut launched in February of this year, some 23,438 state voters have used the system, including 18,017 new voter registrations and another 5,421 voters who have changed or updated their voter registration status.  Secretary Merrill urges any U.S. citizen aged 18 or over to go online at www.sots.ct.gov/votewww.sots.ct.gov/vote to find out if they are registered to vote, register to vote, find out where their polling place is located, or download an application for an absentee ballot if they will be out of town or physically unable to be in their polling place on Election Day Tuesday November 4, 2014.  Polls will be open that day from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. statewide for the general election.

Putting the "You" in "Union"

Machinists Union Endorses Malloy & Wyman

“The Best Choice for Manufacturing Workers”

Groton, CT  June 23, 2014 – Delegates of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists, representing more than 10,000 active and retired Connecticut workers, voted unanimously on Sunday, June 22, to endorse Dannel Malloy and Nancy Wyman for re-election as leaders of Connecticut’s state government.

The delegates, elected by co-workers from industrial sites around the state, including Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand, Electric Boat, Stanley Works and other IAM-represented workplaces around the state, heard from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman on Saturday.  Lt. Governor Wyman stressed her and Governor Malloy’s commitment to sustaining and expanding manufacturing jobs in the state.  She cited the state’s Step-Up program, the new Innovative Manufacturing Fund, and successes like the re-opening of the Warren Corp.’s Stafford textile mill as examples of the commitment the Malloy Administration to manufacturing.

CT State Council President John Harrity said: “Five years ago, UTC told financial analysts, ‘we’ll expand anyplace but Connecticut.’  Earlier this year, Governor Malloy negotiated $400 million in tax credits to UTC in exchange for a new Pratt & Whitney World Headquarters and Engineering Center and $4.5 billion in UTC investments in the state.  I challenge anyone to find a better economic development deal in the country.  And that means jobs for us and for the next generation of workers.”

Harrity continued, “When Winchester was closing in New Haven, we could not get the Republican Administration at the time to even meet with us.  We’re not going to go back to those days.  Governor Malloy and Lt. Governor Wyman can work with both workers and their Unions, and business.  As a result, jobs are growing.  Let’s keep that going.”

CSCM Executive Vice President and IAM District 26 Directing Business Representative Everett Corey said: “Our endorsement is more than words.  Our activists volunteer in big numbers and get out to communicate with the members and their families.  We will be phone banking, door knocking, getting out mailings and handbills and giving our members the information they need to make an informed choice.  If workers, including our members, get the facts about the candidates, we’re sure they will choose Malloy.  We’re in it to win it.”

Your Right to Vote in America

Voting Rights Act must be restored

Letter to the Editor from Devon Pfeifer of Weston Connecticut
Published in the Connecticut Post Friday, July 5, 2013
[Editorial comment: Shared In Its Entirety except for the removal of ridiculous, self-referential links inserted by CT Post. Large Print used for ease of readership's aging eyes. People died for the Right to Vote.]

----------------------------------------------------

The Voting Rights Act, frequently hailed as the single most effective civil rights legislation, was gutted recently by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts cited voter registration in Mississippi had grown from 7 percent in 1965 to 76 percent of the African-American population. He shared additional anecdotal information by citing the fact that Selma, Ala., where future Congressman John Lewis was brutally beaten in 1965, has a black mayor. The chief justice also wrote "African-American voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in five of the six states originally covered by Section 5." Ultimately, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) tossed the Voting Rights Act back to the polarized Congress, telling legislators to fix it. Roberts wrote, "Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions." The decision declared Section 4 unconstitutional because it was based on old voting data that had not been updated since 1975.

The Voting Rights Act was passed by Congress in 1965. It was enacted to restore and protect the right to vote as provided in the 14th and 15th Amendments and was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.

SCOTUS struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which had identified nine states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia, in addition to counties and municipalities including Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

These states, counties and municipalities were required under Section 5 (which remains intact, but toothless because of the court's finding on Section 4) "preclearance" by the Department of Justice or a federal court for any/all changes to election law.

In reference to the case of Selma having a black mayor, Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen points out: "In the history of voting in Alabama, not a single black candidate has been able to defeat a white incumbent or win an open seat in a statewide race. Black office holders in Alabama are confined almost exclusively to minority districts." He added, "While 40 percent of the white voting public cast their ballots for a black president nationwide, only 15 percent of white voters did so in Alabama ... There are still Alabama legislators who talk openly about suppressing the black vote and refer to black voters as `aborigines.'"

Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, renewed it in 1975 and in 1982, and adopted a new standard for 1985 that provided a way for jurisdictions to get out from under Section 4. In 2006, Congress eliminated the provision for voting examiners. That year Congress held 20 hearings and accumulated 15,000 pages of documents supporting Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. In 2006, "Congress voted nearly unanimously to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. The vote in the U.S. Senate was 98 to 0 and 390 to 33 in the House of Representatives." -- The Christian Science Monitor.

Between 1999 and 2005, 153 proposed voting changes were withdrawn when the Department of Justice questioned them.
The Voting Rights Act was repeatedly challenged and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States, until this year.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice (and most news sources) the very same day that the SCOTUS decision was handed down Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said his state would go forward with its plan to redistrict because it no longer needed federal approval. In addition, Texas would implement a voter identification law that had been blocked because it did not meet federal approval. North Carolina announced it would go ahead with a photo ID requirement for voting and eliminate early voting.

A study in 2011 by Paul Gronke of Reed College and Charles Stewart of Massachusetts Institute of Technology titled "Early Voting in Florida" showed that a reduction in the number of early hours for voting lessened the turnout of black voters.

Teaching Tolerance graphed data from The Brennan Center for Justice depicting the percentage of people who lack a government-issued photo ID; the data revealed:

• 11 percent of all citizens lack a government issued photo ID;
• 15 percent of low-income voters lack a government issued photo ID;
• 18 percent of young voters lack a government issued photo ID; and
• 25 percent of African-American voters lack a government issued photo ID.

The court decision was best summarized by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who took the unusual step of dissenting not just in writing, but from the bench, espousing "For a half century, a concerted effort has been made to end racial discrimination in voting. Thanks to the Voting Rights Act, progress once the subject of a dream has been achieved and continues to be made. The court errs egregiously, by overriding Congress's decision." 
The Voting Right Act must be restored. It is the cornerstone to the home in which our democracy resides.

I look to our delegation of federal legislators, Sens. Blumenthal and Murphy, Reps. Himes, DeLauro and the rest of the Connecticut delegation to champion reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act and bury Jim Crow once more.

[Ed.: OK Readers. Do something about this!]

Election in Woodbridge TODAY

It is a little bit baffling to look at the New Haven Register online and see no mention of the election happening today in our area. I am in Chicago today so can't run down to Howe's Drugstore or out to a street newsbox to see if the dead tree version rectifies this with a banner declaring

VOTE TODAY IN WOODBRIDGE! POLLS ARE OPEN! IT IS FREE!!!

PS: Vote for Ellen Scalletar for First Selectman, and the entire Democratic Team on Row B

The Integrity of the Vote

I went to 2 Audits of the Voting Machines last week, as a volunteer for the Connecticut Citizens Election Audit Coalition.

This is a group effort of Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Connecticut Citizen Action Group, and CT Voters Count.

That's a lot of links. Here's the story:

After every election the Secretary of the State (now the truly wonderful Denise Merrill) has volunteers select 10% of the polling places in Connecticut for an Audit. Contrary to the concerns of Registrars of Voters, this is totally random. I even assisted in the selection this year, to guarantee that I could truly witness the randomness of the selection process.

There are people (you could be one!) who volunteer to observe the  machine audits after every election in CT. It is only an investment of time. I have volunteered 10 times, with only one repeat town.

The Audit involves a review of the Chain of Custody for the ballots from the election, followed by a hand count of the ballots in order to confirm that the scanners and memory cards for the voting machines are operating accurately. There is a section of the report where we record concerns of the Registrars of Voters, so that their voice can be heard.

Luther Weeks, an actuary, collates all town audit reports from the volunteers and then writes a final report ( here is the report from November 2011 - .pdf) which he submits - with recommendations - to the Secretary of the State and the Government Administration and Elections Committee.

So I volunteer. I go spend a few hours in a town where I don't live, checking boxes on a form, ensuring that the Registrars have all the information they need to conduct a fair election, finding out if the ballots or machines were tampered with (has not happened in Connecticut to my knowledge), and fulfilling a civic obligation.

Volunteer now for the post-election Audit which will follow our Presidential election in November!

(Brownie Points are self-assigned.)

Time is our Most Precious Thing

How are you going to spend your time over the next 2 months?
 

• Taking care of your family's health and home and well being.Cooking, Cleaning, Feeding, Washing, Driving.
• Working at your job and not pissing anyone off.
• Helping Pro-Choice candidates get elected.

Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, was introduced at the first meeting of the Women's Caucus by a young woman who is the first Latina President of the College Democrats. Keenan looked over the crowd at the Women's Caucus and noted all the grey hair in the audience. Hey, she said, The Menopausal Militia!

She noted that these are the women who marched, argued, wrote, and worked for women's reproductive rights - not just for themselves but also for their daughters, nieces, granddaughters and all the women who come after us.

"In the next 63 days we need to Connect the Personal to the Political"

• Reach out to neighbors -  Door to Door & Vote by Vote
• Post on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• You need to take them to the polls.

Women need to show up at the polls!