Lawful Use of Same-Day Registration No Basis for Voter Witch-Hunt
XENIA, OH — Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Stephan Haller and Sheriff Gene Fischer abruptly announced they were dropping an investigation into same-day registrants last week, after Demos and other voting rights advocates warned that their actions appeared to violate federal voting rights protections.
Columbus, OH — Demos and other voting rights advocates filed a brief in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio today urging the court to protect Ohio voters against unlawful purges on the eve of the presidential election. The Ohio GOP has asked the court to require mass purges of voters who have registered since January 1, 2008, if last-minute "matching" process shows any discrepancy between voter registration and motor vehicle records.
New York, NY — With the nation's attention focused on the presidential campaign, and the upcoming first presidential debate this week, award-winning political scientist and author Deborah Stone argues that there is a critical component missing in our national dialogue: what is the proper role of government in the everyday lives of its citizens?
New Report by Demos Underscores Survey Findings, Showing Sharp Rise in College-Related Costs and Debt; Access for Minorities
WASHINGTON, DC — The rising cost of college is a critical, yet largely overlooked concern of voters this election year, according to a new National Education Association (NEA)/ Project New West survey. It finds that a majority of voters believe a college education is necessary to make ends meet in today's global economy but feel that struggling middle class families don't get the help they need to pay for it.
Groups Call for Senate to Quickly Pass "Veterans Voting Support Act"
Washington, DC — Hundreds of thousands of veterans would have widespread and direct access to voter registration services through Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offices under a landmark bill that was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday, the Veterans Voting Support Act (H.R. 6625), introduced by Rep. Robert Brady. A companion bill sponsored by Senators Diane Feinstein and John Kerry (S. 3308) may be acted on by the Senate in coming days.
Advocates Call for Passage of Feinstein and Kerry's "Veterans Voting Support Act"
New York — In response to the Department of Veterans Affairs' decision to modify its policy barring voter registration activity in VA facilities, today the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Brennan Center for Justice, Common Cause, Demos and the League of Women Voters submitted a letter to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein calling the VA's directive an important but still inadequate step towards protecting the voting rights of veterans.
All over America, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate women last month: August marked the 88th anniversary of the 19th Amendment's ratification, which gave women the right to vote. Women's Equality Day, which was on August 26, commemorated that victory. There are now more women in the U.S. Congress than ever (88) and 2008 was a year when a woman came within a hair's breadth of becoming a major ticket presidential nominee.
New York, NY--Demos, a national public policy and research organization, is making a wide array of research and experts available to the media for interviews on issues central to Election 2008--from the mechanical challenges of the election process to economic and social issues driving voters' choices at the polls.
In remarks recently delivered at a community ministry in Zanesville, Ohio, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged to revive George W. Bush’s “faith-based initiative.” It was to be Bush’s signature domestic policy, increasing the role of smaller faith-based providers in government social service programs. The surprising announcement strengthened Obama’s claim to a new kind of politics, even as he sharply contrasted his own faith-based vision with Bush’s “photo-op” version.