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Statement in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act which will restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, repairing damage done by the Supreme Court and modernizing the most successful civil rights law in history.
Testimonies in support Minnesota HF 3447/SF 3616, which would require county auditors to establish temporary polling locations on postsecondary instituion campuses when requested by the institution’s administration or the student government, making voting before election day more accessible to college students in Minnesota (2024).
Testimony in support of Maryland HB 436 which would reduce the age at which an individual may preregister to vote, from sixteen years to fifteen years and nine months. Preregistration permits otherwise-eligible citizens who are not yet of voting age to complete a voter registration application and automatically be added to the state’s voter rolls when they turn 18. Such laws have been shown in other states to improve registration rates and to increase the likelihood that these young citizens will vote upon reaching voting age. These laws prepare our young people for a future with fewer barriers to vote, expand opportunities for teens to organize in their communities, and assist students in developing early voting habits that will last a lifetime. Michigan passed such a law last year. (2024)
Testimony in support of Virginia HB 1490 which would give local governments more flexibility to establish additional voter satellite offices while protecting existing in-person voting access set out by the Virginia Code. The bill also provides that reductions in dates or hours cannot be enacted within 60 days of a general election. (2024)
Testimony in support of Maryland House Bill 563 which aims to widen the tent to cover more language-minority communities: HB 563 would lower the translation threshold for election materials from 5% to 2% (with at least 100 individuals) of the voting age population in a county or less than 2% but with at least 4,000 individuals. HB 563 also would correct for a gap in the federal language assistance coverage formula by not limiting its coverage to only the few language-minority groups identified in the Voting Rights Act coverage formula (American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage). (2024)
In June 2024, the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, represented by Fair Elections Center and LeVan Stapleton Segal Cochran LLC, filed a lawsuit against the Lancaster County Board of Elections to challenge the rejection of mail-in and absentee ballots that are missing the last two digits of the year from the handwritten date on the outer return envelope.
A month later, as part of a mandatory directive to all 67 county Boards of Elections, the Pennsylvania Department of State has instructed the full year to be pre-printed on the return envelope for mail-in and absentee ballots, instead of requiring voters to complete the last two digits of the year by hand. Having achieved what it set out to accomplish, PARA voluntarily discontinued its lawsuit.
Testimony Supporting Maryland House Bill 627, which would designate the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services as an automatic voter registration agency. Expanding automatic voter registration to state correctional facilities would simplify the registration process for newly re-enfranchised citizens and emphasize the importance of their participation in democracy. In 2016, Maryland law established that as soon as an individual with a felony conviction was released from incarceration, they automatically retained the right to vote. In 2018, the Maryland General Assembly established automatic voter registration, seeking to streamline the process at the MVA and other government offices. HB 627 is an opportunity to realize the full potential of these two policies and expand automatic voter registration to ensure that returning citizens face no barriers in exercising their right under Maryland law to have a voice in our elections. (2024)
Testimony opposing Tennessee HB 1955, which inhibits third-party voter registration drives by imposing civil liability on third-party organizations for unintentionally permitting someone with certain felony convictions from handling voter registration applications and prohibits prefilling voter registration applications for prospective voters. (2024)
Testimony opposing Louisiana HB 506, which would require any individual or entity that is not an election official or voter registration agency to register with the Secretary of State’s office prior to hosting community voter registration assistance events. (2024)
