Friday, January 31, 2014

Missouri Will Try Again to Pass a Voter ID Law


Missouri's State Supreme Court has struck down previous versions of Voter ID laws. But Missouri could become the latest state to institute new rules requiring voters to show identification at the polls under a measure being considered by the Republican State Senate.  They believe they have fixed provisions to which the court objected and has proposed a constitutional amendment to allow voter ID laws.

The new version of the law, which was subject to a hearing earlier this week in the State Senate, would allow voters without proper identification to receive new IDs without cost.  Voters who can’t afford an identification and voters born before 1941 would be able to cast a provisional ballot under the new legislation.

That the bill is originating in the Senate is significant, observers said, because the upper chamber has been the hurdle in recent years.

“The fact that our Senate is moving first on the bill this year may be an indication that we might move this year,” said State House Speaker Tim Jones (R), a supporter of voter identification laws. “If the Senate is successful, it will move in the House.”

Republicans control both chambers of the Missouri legislature, but Democrats hope to stand in the bill’s way.  Secretary of State Jason Kander (D) said about 150,000 registered voters don’t have identifications, and another 70,000 have identifications that have expired.

“As the state’s chief elections officer, it is my job to make sure that only eligible voters vote, but also that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote,” Kander said in a statement earlier this week.  “This proposed legislation could keep hundreds of thousands of current Missouri voters from voting, which is not only just wrong, but unconstitutional.”

The legislation before the Senate first would amend Missouri’s constitution to require a photo identification and then a companion bill would lay out the details of which identifications would be acceptable to voting officials.

Gov. Jay Nixon (D) vetoed similar legislation in 2011.  Nixon has not indicated whether he would veto this version of the voter ID legislation.  If he does, the legislature, in which Republicans hold a veto-proof majority, would likely overturn that veto.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Bloomberg Place London



The development in the City of London is for the new European Headquarters for Bloomberg L.P.

The Bloomberg Project includes two office buildings: a headquarters building for Bloomberg LP of approximately 515,000 sq. ft. and a speculative building of approximately 230,000 sq. ft. on a three-acre site located in the City of London.

The site is bounded by Canon, Queen, Queen Victoria, Walbrook and Bucklersbury Streets.  The project completion date is scheduled for Q4 2015.  The project is being designed by Foster & Partners and a team of equally ranked professional engineers and consultants.

It will include retail units at the ground floor level, and a new entrance to the London Underground, Bank Station.

Bloomberg London will also host a permanent public exhibition on the Temple of Mithras which was originally uncovered on the site at Walbrook in the 1950s.

The project will use the internet to communicate with the local area, providing live updates on site activity, monthly newsletters, progress photos and interesting facts and events.

CLICK HERE to view Bloomberg Place.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Cities of Service Organization



Michael Bloomberg is spinning off one of his foundation’s programs into a stand-alone nonprofit that will expand its efforts to help mayors across the nation put volunteers to work on specific challenges, such as fighting obesity or beautifying neighborhoods.

The group, Cities of Service, will be led by one of the former New York City mayor’s government employees and is the second organization focused on cities that Mr. Bloomberg has started since leaving office.  The first, Bloomberg Associates, is a consulting organization that will provide free advice to cities.

Bloomberg Philanthropies is providing a $4.6-million grant to Cities of Service to cover its operating expenses for three years as the new executive director, Myung Lee, hires a staff of six to eight people and finds a new office.

Cities of Service efforts focus on “impact volunteering” — volunteer strategies that target community needs, use best practices, and set clear outcomes and measures to gauge progress.

Cities of Service is leading a multi-year effort to engage mayors across the country by:

•Developing a comprehensive service plan and a coordinated strategy focused on matching volunteers and established community partners to the areas of greatest local need.

•Working with other mayors and elected officials to advance strategies and best practices that accelerate the service movement and produce measurable results.

•Encouraging other mayors to join this national effort to engage our citizens.

•Ensuring that the voice of cities is heard in federal legislative, policy, and program discussions related to service, which will help the country achieve the ambitious goals of the Serve America Act.

CLICK HERE for more information about Cities of Service.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Many Voters Want to Boot Their Own Member of Congress



The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls.

The HuffPost/YouGov poll was conducted Jan. 15 and Jan. 16 among 1,000 U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population.  Factors considered include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time and location of Internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.

According to the poll, 48 percent of Americans said they think their own member of Congress does not deserve reelection, while only 25 percent said their member of Congress does deserve reelection.  By a 70 percent to 9 percent margin, Americans said most members of Congress do not deserve reelection.  The poll shows anger at Congress, which peaked after October's government shutdown, isn't going away.  Another HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted in November had similar findings.

A recent Gallup poll found that the share of Americans saying their own member of Congress deserves reelection (46 percent) and that most members of Congress deserve reelection (17 percent) were both at record lows since Gallup began tracking the measure in 1992.  Thirty-six percent of respondents to that poll said their member of Congress did not deserve reelection.

An Associated Press survey released earlier this month found that only 33 percent of respondents said they'd like their own member of Congress reelected, while 64 percent said they would like to see someone else win their district.

Just because many Americans say they want their member of Congress replaced doesn't mean they will vote to do so in districts that are solidly in the grip of a single party.  But safe congressional districts may shield many politicians from voter anger, the poll suggests.

Much of this anger was concentrated among those who reported a partisan mismatch between themselves and their members of Congress, more than three quarters of whom said the member of Congress did not deserve reelection.  But with most congressional seats firmly in the grip of one party or the other, that sentiment may make little difference.

So we have an opportunity to put forward more independents, but we must give the voters' viable primary challengers.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Friday, January 24, 2014

Taking On Big Money's Power Over the Economy



Last night, I attended an event at Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, New York to hear Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who spoke on the topic of big money in politics and the economy.

The event was sponsored by Citizen Action NY, Common Cause, Fair Elections for New York, and American Family Voices.

It was co-sponsoring by: 32BJ SEIU, American Sustainable Business Council, Brennan Center for Justice, Citizen Action of New York, ColorOfChange, Common Cause/NY, CREDO, CWA District 1, Democracy for America, Demos, Greenpeace, Make the Road NY, UAW, MoveOn.org, New York Communities for Change, Public Campaign Action Fund, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Sierra Club, USAction, and the Working Families Organization.

The topic of the event: How the big money special interests that dominate our politics are part of our economic problems in this country.


The first speaker was Letitia James, the just elected New York City Public Advocate, who spoke about her election and how she was outspent by big money but still won.  She spoke about and introduced the next speaker New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.


The Attorney General talked about his successful effort to fine the banks for their questionable mortgage practices leading up to the financial crisis.  His main talk was about New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's efforts to duplicate New York City's Campaign Finance system for the entire state.  He also spoke about Senator Elizabeth Warren and how she was the first person to visit him when he became New York's Attorney General.  He spoke about how we need to repeal Citizen United decision by the Supreme Court.


The next speaker was Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor, publisher, and part-owner of the magazine, The Nation.  She spoke about some of Senator Warren's issues on how we can create jobs, get student debt under control, reform Wall Street, and stop huge tax breaks for big corporations by taking on big money in politics and giving people a government that works for US, not just campaign contributors.  She then introduced Senator Elizabeth Warren.


After a long audience welcome, Senator Warren spoke about the stagnant economy and rampant inequality across America and how it is directly connected to the growing problem of money-in-politics.  Taking away the influence of campaign cash, and directly taking on Wall Street and the other big money players are the only ways we'll be able to create an economy that works for all of us.  More and more, the top 1% are seeing skyrocketing profits, while the rest of us are left behind.  And instead of creating policies that will help narrow the wealth gap and build prosperity for all, it seems like elected officials are just focused on giving more tax breaks to those who are already well off.  We need our elected officials' priorities to be our priorities.

She then outlined her issues while in Congress:

- Campaign Finance Reform
- Free Pre-School
- Student Loan Debt
- Hedge Fund Carry Interest
- Wall Street Regulations
- Minimum Wage and Equal Pay
- The need to fix Social Security and Medicare and take it off the table of issues



The event ended with a Take Action for Fair Elections effort in New York.

The audience was asked to call State Senator Dean Skelos, 518-455-3171, the Republican Leader and ask him to not block the countless progressive bills from ever getting the vote.

To call Senator Jeff Klein, 518-455-3595, the Leader of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), which has partnered with the Senate Republicans to give them the majority even though the Democrats had the majority. The IDC could use their power to pass public funding of elections.

Finally to sign a petition to ask elected officials to demand that Albany pass Fair Elections legislation.


CLICK HERE if you want to sign the petition.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Thursday, January 23, 2014

Independents Lobbying the President Commission on Election Administration


Independents testified and attended the President Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) hearings in Denver, Colorado (August 8), Philadelphia, PA (September 4) and Ohio (September 20).

We asked and thousand of independent activists signed this letter to the PCEA:

Dear Commissioners,

We, the undersigned, are independent voters from all 50 states.  We are deeply concerned that America’s political process is in a crisis and that serious attention must be paid to it.

We are glad that President Obama has formed a commission to look at some of the defects in the electoral process, though we feel the narrow mandate of the Commission falls short of the public debate we need to have.  One example of these shortcomings is that there are specific defects that affect independent voters which the Commission does not seem prepared to address.  With 40% of Americans now identifying as independent, this should be a Commission priority.

Independents are not accorded the same courtesies and privileges as members of political parties, such as receiving mailed ballots at home or having the right to serve as poll workers on Election Day.  During primary season, where some states permit us to vote, we come face to face with poll workers who do not understand their own rules and frequently misinform us about our voting rights.  We have no representation on the Federal Elections Commission or Boards of Elections, and are often required to register to vote as “unenrolled” or “undeclared” voters, not as the independents that we are.  In many states, we are barred from primary voting altogether, even though we – as taxpayers – finance those closed party primaries.

As you go about your work to identify and recommend improvements to the voting experience, we urge you to recognize that the American people want a more non-partisan form of politics at every level. Please use the power the President has given you to be open and responsive to this need!


They also asked their elected officials to write to the commission.

Here are some of the letters:

CLICK HERE to read the letter from Susan M. Collins, United State Senator from Maine.

CLICK HERE to read the letter from Angus S. King, Jr., United States Senator from Maine.


At the September 20 hearing in Ohio, independents from Ohio and Kentucky made presentations to the President's Commission on Election Administration at their final public hearing in Cincinnati.  Independent Ohio leader Rick Robol reported that when Commission Co-Chairman Ginsberg asked their team to condense their presentations because they had "previously heard from the independents," they made it clear they would be heard!  Rick Robol, Mark Ritter (Independent Kentucky), Sadie Stewart, Jonathan Lippincott and Mary Rook each shared their unique perspectives on the barriers to participation faced by independent voters










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration Report



Today, pursuant to Executive Order 13639, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration has submitted its Report and Recommendations to the President.

The Commission’s key recommendations call for:

• Modernization of the registration process through continued expansion of online voter registration and expanded state collaboration in improving the accuracy of voter lists.

• Measures to improve access to the polls through expansion of the period for voting before the traditional Election Day, and through the selection of suitable, well-equipped polling place facilities.

• The increased use of schools as polling places, since they are the best-equipped facilities in most jurisdictions, with security concerns met by scheduling an in-service training day for students and teachers on Election Day.

• State-of-the-art techniques to assure efficient management of polling places, including tools the Commission is publicizing and recommending for the efficient allocation of polling place resources.

• Reforms of the standard-setting and certification process for new voting technology to address soon-to-be antiquated voting machines and to encourage innovation and the adoption of widely available off-the-shelf technologies.

• Increasing and enhancing training and recruitment of poll workers, in the recognition that volunteer poll workers are voters’ primary source of contact during the actual voting process.

• The commission also called for improving the data collected about election administration and voting machine performance so policymakers can better assess actual election administration performance against ideals.

The bipartisan commission stayed away from the most controversial issue surrounding voting: voter ID law.  But many of these recommendations are an important validation of the work of many voting rights advocates.  They are also an explicit rebuke to some conservative state governments that have taken steps to reduce voting access by decreasing early voting days and restricting the absentee ballot process.

CLICK HERE to read the report.

CLICK HERE to view the C-SPAN event, Members of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration presented their recommendations on ways to decrease voting delays and make the process more efficient.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

NY Will Try to Change the Primary Date in 2014


UPDATE

On January 31 2014, New York Senate Republicans submitted legislation to have New York’s primaries in August instead of September or June.

New York State Senator Thomas O’Mara (R-Elmira) introduced S6519, which would give New York an August primary for congress, state, and local office.  The bill leaves the independent petition deadline in early August.  The bill is supported by all the New York Senate Republicans.

The bill calls for primary elections for federal, state and local offices to be held the third Tuesday in August.

----------

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell announced that legislation to change New York’s primary election date to June passed the Assembly and called on County Legislatures to support the legislation as it moves to the Senate.

“Holding multiple primaries is an unfunded mandate for localities across the state that is not only unnecessary, but harmful to the institution of voting,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “This is a situation in which county governments should get involved and let the legislature know that they support this common sense solution.”

Assembly bill A.8198 consolidates the election calendar so that state and federal primaries are held on the same day, the fourth Tuesday in June.  Holding a single June primary will save taxpayers almost $50 million and ensure that military personnel have ample time to participate in our elections, Assemblywoman Russell noted.

In 2009, the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act was passed, requiring that absentee ballots be in the hands of overseas military personnel 45 days prior to a general election.  Currently, New York’s September state primary election day is not in compliance with this law because it falls too close to the deadline for transmitting military and overseas absentee ballots.  New York State was granted a waiver from the MOVE Act in 2010, however, a similar request was denied in 2012 and a federal court imposed a June primary date in New York for federal offices.*nbsp; The Assembly’s bill would bring primaries for statewide office in line with the act.

“While it’s unacceptable for voting to be made more difficult than it needs to be, it’s unconscionable to hamper our troop’s ability to participate in the very democracy they defend,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “This bill protects our troop’s ability to vote and saves county governments money that they can put to better use maintaining infrastructure and ensuring public safety.”

Senate Republicans and the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), which share control of the chamber, have balked at the proposal.  Senate Republicans said it would be ill advised to have a primary in June which is near the end of the six-month legislative session in Albany.

“We continue to believe that a June primary would mean that many lawmakers, especially New York City Democrats whose primary races are often more competitive than their general elections, will choose politics over governing and disrupt state legislative business during the budget and busy end-of-session activities,” said GOP spokesman Scott Reif.

IDC Leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, agreed.  “Senator Klein does not believe we should hold a primary during one of the busiest and most important stretches of the legislative session,” spokesman Eric Soufer said in a statement.

Statewide seats for governor, attorney general and comptroller are on the November ballot.  So too are all 213 legislative seats and 27 congressional seats.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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