Will Dress Code Affect Your Right To Vote?

Battles Over Voter Signups, Residency And Polling Place Etiquette May Block Your Ballot

(CBS/AP)  Much of the confusion has since been cleared up, with a consensus by the state's elections offices that most students will be able to register and vote in Virginia as they wish.

While Obama is leading among young voters - hence the Democratic Party's interest in bolstering the roles of new voters among students in this battleground state - backers of McCain are also supporting registration of students.

The chancellor of Liberty University told the Associated Press he wanted to get the 10,500 students at the evangelical Christian college registered to vote in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Jerry Falwell Jr., whose father founded the college in 1971, supports Republican John McCain and says, "If they register here, they're more likely to vote."

But it's not just up to election officials whether you can vote; in some states, citizens can challenge the voting status of others. A report by Common Cause and the Century Foundation recounted an effort last year in Statesboro, Ga., to block hundreds of newly-registered students at Georgia Southern University from voting. The Statesboro Citizens for Good Government (composed of four residents) challenged the eligibility of approximately 900 students. City council members, claiming the students' registration could impact their parents' taxes, supported the effort.

Even though voting rights advocates successfully fought back the challenges, the ugly led to over 60 percent of the registered voters not showing up at the polls, according to the Associated Press.


Reentering Society

Nationally, there are roughly 4 million released felons whose convictions have cost them the right to vote at least temporarily, if not permanently. To return to the ballot box, felons must negotiate suffrage laws that vary from state to state, in many cases working with election officials who can be both unfamiliar with the law and hostile to former convicts seeking to register.

Nonprofit groups and individual activists making the push on felons' behalf agree the effort is broader this year than in previous elections, even if they aren't necessarily making a coordinated push. They expect that effort to benefit Barack Obama more than John McCain, given that the population of former felons is disproportionately black.

Roughly 13 percent of black men nationwide have lost the right to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law, which advocates the reform of felon voting rights. Black ministers, civic leaders and activists believe they are a rich source of votes for Obama.

In Florida, where a new rule means more than 115,000 former felons who completed their sentences are now able to vote, civil rights attorney Reggie Mitchell said he's nonpartisan when he calls felons at home to give them information about registering to vote. But he also acknowledges the obvious.

Blacks represent "about 40 percent of the people who've gotten their rights lost and restored," Mitchell said. "With an African-American running, and such a critical mass, this could have a tremendous impact."

Kenneth Glasgow served 14 years on robbery and drug charges in Alabama. Now a pastor, Glasgow launched a voter registration drive inside the prisons in Alabama, where state law allows voting by felons convicted of lesser crimes such as possession of small amounts of drugs, battery or attempted burglary - even while still serving a sentence.

Glasgow, a Democrat, estimates as many as 70,000 felons in Alabama might be eligible to vote but haven't registered. Bringing them to the polls, he said, has the potential to alter the state's
political landscape.

"It's not a black-white thing," Glasgow said. "It's that people will see Republicans standing against having people's rights restored while the Democrats aren't."

The state Department of Corrections halted Glasgow's registration drive after two days because of complaints from the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party that registering inmates without adequate monitoring could lead to voter fraud. Fewer than 80 inmates filled out registration forms. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has filed suit challenging the prison commissioner's decision to stop the registration drive.

Only two states - Maine and Vermont - place no limits on voting due to a criminal conviction; even prison inmates can cast a ballot. Kentucky and Virginia are the only two states that permanently bar felons from voting, although the governors of those states can restore voting rights to individuals.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear streamlined the process in March, and has since restored the rights of more than 740 released convicts. Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine promised to fast-track applications for voter restoration that his office received by Aug. 1, adding three people to his staff to process applications before Monday's registration deadline.

Applications in Virginia jumped from 76 for all of July 2007 to 138 in a single week this summer. Kaine, the governor for nearly three years, had restored the rights of 2,633 felons as of Monday, according to his spokesman, Gordon Hickey.

Laws in the other 46 states are varied, according to the Brennan Center. Eight states permanently bar felons convicted of certain crimes from voting, while the others restore the right after a sentence is completed, including parole, or as soon as an inmate is released from prison.

The ACLU, the NAACP and others support a nationwide standard that would restore voting rights to all inmates once they leave prison.

"Once a single local election official misinforms a citizen that he is not eligible to vote because of a past conviction, it is unlikely that citizen will ever follow up or make a second inquiry," the ACLU and Brennan Center report said. "The citizen will mistakenly believe that he is ineligible to vote for years, decades, or maybe the rest of his life."

[tallyman2008]

dicktracy200


''Fox'' and ''journalism'' in the same sentence ?


Only if trying to create an oxymoron ;-)



The ''stand'' you or anyone can take against them, and what they symbolize, is simple.

Was a great book about it many years ago.

''All We Need to Know We Learned in Kindergarten''

The trick is DOING it ;-)

And encourage others to do the same.

Oh, and change the TV channel.

[dicktracy200]

The fact that Fox News Network is taking the position of launching a series of all out assaults against senator Obama%u2019s character is a sad day in journalism. They should be ashamed of the immoral and unethical standards that their network displays on a continual basis. What they must be made to understand is that as citizens we rely upon networks for their fair and accurate reporting of events and we will not tolerate anything less, especially when its over the top or maybe I should say as far right as Fox News Network is. If your views are the same share this message with others. It is time to take a stand against Fox and look to other networks for fair and accurate news coverage.

[harbinger09]

There is a new Poll on PBS about Palin being qualified for VP. The RNC got word of it and has had supporters inundate the site with yes votes for Palin. This poll is to be broadcast on the major networks later. it is not a scientific poll but an electronic poll--if you have an opinion about whether Palin is fit to be President or not--go to this link, also email this link to anyone who you think has an opinion on Palin.

1) Click on link and vote yourself. Here''''''''s the link:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll

-435.html

and cast your vote

[mccainisevil]

MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN

http://myblogthebword.blogspot
.com/2008/09/my-holiday-with-john-mccain
-it-was-just.html

A MUST READ - THIS GUY IS AS SICK AND CREEPY AS IT GETS!!!!

"McCain''s appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her. Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day, and his response was shocking: "Oh, that was Cindy''s idea - I didn''t have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can''t imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona .

[nottellin1]

In 2000 my polling place was the lifegaurd tower so I voted on rollerbldes!!!

[erasmus81]

oops, did the "posted thing" twice.:)

[erasmus81]

Well, then you would fit right in with American voters!!!Posted by tuckerndfw at 06:07 AM : Oct 05, 2008

Posted by tuckerndfw at 06:07 AM : Oct 05, 2008

I''m not that bad!

You need your mouth washed out with soap!

[babooph]

Wow -the rich have their tuxes& the whaco Christians all have suits to wear once a week when they take off their bib ovralls-the dems are in trouble !!

[goyeau]

If they make an issue about clothing, TURN SHIRIT INSIDE out and vote. The point is not to give them a reason to deny you the vote. The point is to have your vote count. VOTE!

[owlwomanxxxx]

Gee, and I was going to the polls naked

[obbcbs]

vote absentee. use your same signature as on your driver''s license, which you should use on your application to vote.

No computer fraud. no harassment. and you dont have to worry about weather or traffic or long lines or running out of ballots.

[tallyman2008]

Impeach_W wrote:

''Correction: No concealed carry is allowed in Polling places in FL.''



Good Correction :-)

Plus, even if not concealed is not allowed.

And, in case you did not read below that for many years I was a Poll Deputy in Florida, here is another part that Law.

A Law Enforcement Officer in Uniform - Police, Deputy Sheriff, etc - may not wear their weapon in the Polling Area.

''Sorry Sir, you have to leave you gun in your car.''


But, again, that is just in Florida.

Your State, and milage, may vary.

[lochlan-2009]

So what''s the penalty for trying to manipulate, deny and lie to the voters? Maybe we should start there, extensive prison time for misleading information should help these people who have such difficulty looking a little more closely at the definition of ethics.

[tbuckl]

WOW, how many liberties will the citizens of the United States lose each time a elected agent open their mouth. I have lost count, or perhaps they canceled out our liberties without telling the population. I will wear where ever I choose and no lawless member of congress is going to violate my liberty. If these congress agent would do their job for the people instead of having their head up their you know what.

[jjp735i]

If the GOP had it''s way, the only ones that may vote are members of it''s own broken party.

[michael0004]

Setting aside the merits or lack of merits to wearing an Obama or McCain T-shirt to the polling stations, why is it when it comes to all voting questions that the Republicans ALWAYS come down on the side of not allowing the vote?

[slim1h2o]

A dress code?

I think it should be called a clothes code.

And everbody over the age of thirty, should wear them.

Optional for anyone younger.

(sarcasm)

[erasmus81]

Tucker

"I should pay more attention." Posted by ME

I do pay attention to the candidates that are running.

We are also having an election now. We vote on Oct. 14. Our Prime Minister called the election.

[erasmus81]

So it''''s already begun--efforts by every local yahoo to make sure that likely Obama voters are intimidated into not voting. If you don''''t think that telling students that registration will affect their parents'''' taxes is not an attempt to supress the Obama vote, you''''re living in la-la land.

Posted by tucson23 at 05:38 AM : Oct 05, 2008

It does sound like they are trying to manipulate things. After I read the article, I thought with all this bullcr*p going on, who the heck would want to be bothered to vote.

[tucson23]

So it''s already begun--efforts by every local yahoo to make sure that likely Obama voters are intimidated into not voting. If you don''t think that telling students that registration will affect their parents'' taxes is not an attempt to supress the Obama vote, you''re living in la-la land.