Massachusetts residents yesterday voted to uphold a law passed in 2016 that prohibited discrimination against gender identity in public spaces. This is the first state-wide vote to protect transgender individuals and the measure was upheld with over 67 percent of the vote. In 2016, an emergency law passed that immediately went into effect to outlaw […]
Women Win Across the Country in 2018 Midterms
Women won more seats in Congress yesterday than ever before, with over 110 women elected, including the first Muslim women, first Native American women, and two women in their twenties. The women who were elected include the former Teacher of the Year, small business owners, former military helicopter pilots, activists, a former CIA officer, and […]
Election Day 2018
Today is Election Day in the United States and the first nationwide election since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. Voters heading to the polls will be able to cast their ballots for their House Representative, ballot measures, local elections and, in some states, their Senator or governor. Early voting numbers predict that the […]
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Five Students are Challenging Alleged Early Voter Suppression in Prairie View, Texas
Five Prairie View A&M students, with the aid of the NAACP, are suing Waller County, Texas, arguing that the county’s decision not to allow early voting at the HBCU is suppressing the majority black and student populations’ ability to vote. While early voting officially began this past Monday in Texas, early voting at the Prairie […]
Record Numbers of Afghan Women Vote and Run for Office in Afghan Elections Amid Violence
Despite Taliban threats of violence on Election Day, record numbers of Afghan women and men turned out to vote in the Afghan parliamentary elections on October 20th and 21st. In total, some 45% of Afghan registered voters cast a ballot including at least 33% of Afghan women voters. In some areas almost 50% of the […]
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North Dakota’s Voter ID Law Aims to Disenfranchise Native Americans
Last week, the Supreme Court upheld North Dakota’s most recent controversial voter identification law, which many argue was purposely designed to discriminate against the state’s Native American population. That means a voter ID law that disenfranchises thousands of Native voters will be in effect for the November elections.
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Major Voter Suppression Efforts Surface in Georgia
As early voting kicks off, allegations of voter suppression are rising out of Georgia as voters choose between former-state house Minority Leader Stacey Abrams and Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp in the tight race for governor. As Secretary of State, Kemp is responsible for crafting and carrying out voting policies in the state.
Voters Are Choosing Progressive Women of Color
Last week, near the end of a primary season marked by an unprecedented numbers of victories for progressive women of color, Ayanna Pressley won the Democratic primary for the 7th district of Massachusetts, unseating ten term incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano.
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Again, Judges Rule North Carolina’s Congressional District Map Unconstitutional
On Monday, a three-judge panel on the Circuit Court of Appeals ruled North Carolina’s congressional district map as unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
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Today is the 53rd Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
August 6, 2018 marks the 53rd anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing into law the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. Politicians and organizations alike are recognizing the milestone on social media, highlighting how the VRA continues to influence American elections and politics today.
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Remembering the Legacy of Seneca Falls
On this day 170 years ago, a group of women gathered in Seneca Falls for the first women’s rights convention in the United States. The Convention, which propelled the long fight to pass the 19th Amendment, revealed the Declaration of Sentiments, a list of women’s grievances modeled after the Declaration of Independence. In the years following the convention, women fought, across the country, for the right to vote.
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New Hampshire Passes Voter Suppression Law
Last week, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a law that would prevent most out-of-state students from voting in the state.
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Supreme Court Rules on Major Gerrymandering Cases
The Supreme Court ruled on two major cases regarding gerrymandering on Monday. The decisions, a victory for Republican lawmakers in Texas and North Carolina, allow for the majority of the states’ voting districts to remain in their current design ahead of the 2018 elections.
Supreme Court Upholds Ohio Voter Suppression Law
In a 5-4 decision last week, the Supreme Court upheld an Ohio law that removes voters from voter rolls after four years of inactivity. This reversed the 6th Circuit Appeals Court’s decision finding that the Ohio policy violated the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, a law that bans removing voters from voter rolls for failing to vote. The decision fell along ideological lines.
2018 Women’s March–Reflecting on Challenges and Victories
This past weekend, thousands of feminist activists once again took the streets of cities and towns across the country for the Women’s Marches to protest a number of the policies and positions of the Trump administration and Republican controlled Congress including the dismantling of Title IX, the rollback of birth control coverage, the failure to protect Dreamers, and more.
Judges Rule Two Congressional District Maps Unconstitutional
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state’s Republican drawn congressional districts were unconstitutional and ordered they be redrawn in the next several weeks.
Today is National Voter Registration Day
Today, September 26, is National Voter Registration Day. First celebrated in 2012, National Voter Registration Day serves to raise awareness about voter registration deadlines so that all eligible voters are able to participate in upcoming elections.
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Reflecting on the 19th Amendment: The Right to Vote and Women’s Equality
August 26 is Women’s Equality Day, the 97th anniversary celebrating the day when the 19th Amendment went into effect mandating that the vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
US District Court Strikes Down Texas’s Revised Voter ID Law
United States District Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos handed down a decision to strike down Texas’s revised voter ID law (Senate Bill 5) on the basis that it continues to discriminate against African American and Latino voters. Judge Gonzalez Ramos issued a 27 page decision on the 23rd of August stating that the voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and is unconstitutional.
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Supreme Court to Hear Case Regarding Constitutionality of Partisan Gerrymandering
The term “gerrymandering” refers to the redrawing of legislative districts in order to achieve a balance of voters that will elect a specific kind of candidate.