Instead of addressing real problems with Michigan’s election system, these bills address phantom problems that will only serve to create further confusion and needlessly erect barriers to the ballot box. We urge this committee to reject these bills and work on bi-partisan reforms that will ensure all Michigan voters have true access to our most fundamental right, the right to vote.
The assault on the right to vote witnessed in 2011 is historic in terms of its geographic scope and intensity. Legislation enacted in states across the country to require government-issued photo identification and/or prove citizenship to register to vote, make voter registration more difficult, and curtail early voting is nothing short of blatant vote suppression, the likes of which has not been seen in generations.
Thank you, Chairperson Alexander and members of the Committee for providing the opportunity to present testimony this morning. I am a Senior Policy Analyst in the Economic Opportunity Program at Dēmos, a national, non-profit, non-partisan policy research and advocacy organization, established in 2000, with offices in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas. The Dēmos Economic Opportunity Program works to achieve a more equitable economy with opportunity for all.
These stories are a cross section of the experiences of young people entering adulthood in a time of uncertainty, as relayed to Young Invincibles by the young people themselves.
These stories reach through the data to reveal the real, human impact of recent economic trends. Their voices express both the challenges faced by this generation and their opportunities and constraints for facing these challenges head-on to build a solid foundation for their adult lives.
Almost half of single women over the age of 65 face the real crisis of outliving their financial resources. Most have very limited resources and are forced to make daily trade- offs between paying bills, forgoing home maintenance or medical needs. New research shows that economic insecurity among single senior women is on the rise. Between 2004 and 2008—even before the full impact of the Great Recession had been felt—economic insecurity among this population subgroup increased by one-third, from 35 percent to 47 percent.
Thank you, Members of the Minnesota Judicial Special Redistricting Panel, for providing the opportunity to submit written testimony. Dēmos is a national, non-profit, non-partisan research and policy organization. The Dēmos Democracy Program works to ensure high levels of voting and civic engagement, and supports reforms to achieve a more inclusive and representative democracy.
Even before the full impact of the Great Recession hit, seniors were seeing their retirement security steadily and rapidly destroyed. The elimination of secure pensions for most Americans combined with rising costs of basic expenses has resulted in a dramatic rise in senior economic insecurity.
Demos urges New York State to consider the home addresses of incarcerated persons in reapportionment so that the state can be free of the undemocratic practice of prison-based gerrymandering.
We, the undersigned -- non-partisan, not-for-profit organizations that work across the country and in Texas to protect the voting rights of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans -- write to oppose the preclearance of Texas’s Senate Photo Voter Identification law, Bill 14 (“SB14” or “Act”). The State of Texas has failed to meet the dual burden of proving (1) that SB14 was enacted for a non-discriminatory purpose, and (2) that SB14 does not have a discriminatory effect on minority voting strength. Accordingly, the Attorney General should interpose an objection
The American Dream used to mean that if you put in a hard day's work, you could expect good wages, benefits, and a better life for your kids. Today, the kinds of jobs that can provide a solid middle-class life in return for hard work are in short supply - unemployment is high, earnings are flat, and hard-won benefits are being lost. The future of Oregon's middle class, the backbone of the state's economy for more than half a century, is at risk.
Oregon's strong and vibrant middle class didn't just happen.
The changes to the Board’s procedures contained in this Notice of Proposed Rule Making will make a modest but not insignificant contribution to addressing current barriers to the American right of collective bargaining. The proposal contains significant changes in two areas. First, it updates the board’s requirement for employers to make available a list of all workers eligible to vote in a union election. Second, it eliminates unnecessary delays in the holding of NLRB supervised union elections.
The American Dream is about working hard in return for decent wages, economic stability, and being able to provide a better life for your kids. But the kinds of jobs that can provide a solid middle-class life in return for hard work are in short supply in Texas. Unemployment is still high, earnings have been stagnant for a decade, and many workers lack health insurance and retirement savings to protect them financially during a serious illness or when they can no longer work.
A mandatory government-issued photo identification requirement would clearly substantially burden the voting rights of the young, the elderly, renters, non-drivers, racial minorities, and the poor. It would also be used as a tool by groups hoping to intimidate voters away from the polls due to uncertainty about having the proper documentation.