In The News

December 18th, 2008
startribune.com by Pat Doyle

Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman each got good news and bad news Thursday, as one of the wildest elections in Minnesota history took yet another pair of startling turns.

The Minnesota Supreme Court said improperly rejected absentee ballots must be counted by the state Canvassing Board, something Coleman tried to prevent. But they won't be counted immediately, and Coleman and Franken must agree on which ones are tallied.  read more »

December 18th, 2008
AU News by Curtis Gans

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 17, 2008)—A major surge in African-American voting, polling data showing 90 percent of citizens seeing the nation on the wrong track, fear of a deep recession with personal implications, and the organizing efforts of college-educated youth, all conspired to produce both a 2008 Obama victory and the highest general election voter turnout since 1960.

For complete report, click here.

December 17th, 2008
Cincinnati Enquirer by Jon Craig

COLUMBUS – Setting up a possible showdown with Gov. Ted Strickland, the Ohio House passed a bill Tuesday that eliminates the “golden week”– a period when voters could register and vote by absentee ballot on the same day.

Proponents of Senate Bill 380, sponsored by Sen. Bill Seitz, a Republican from Green Township, said the overlapping registration period could lead to voter fraud. Opponents said there’s been just a handful of illegal votes in recent years, and that the change will discourage new voters trying to avoid long lines on Election Day.  read more »

December 16th, 2008
New York Times by Stephanie Strom

When Jeanne Levy-Church created the JEHT Foundation in 2002 to promote justice, equality, human dignity and tolerance, she tapped into investments run by Bernard L. Madoff.

Those investments were initially made more than three decades ago by her father, Norman Levy, who entrusted his real estate fortune to Mr. Madoff. Financed solely by regular contributions from Ms. Levy-Church, the foundation gave away more than $75 million over the next few years.  read more »

November 21st, 2008
The Wall Street Journal

The telecommunications industry is bracing for a new era of increased regulation.
New congressional leaders as well as policy makers in the Obama administration are expected to press for fresh limits on media consolidation and require phone and cable firms to open their networks to Internet competitors, lobbyists and industry officials say.  read more »

November 20th, 2008
Democracy NowCalifornia’s state Supreme Court has agreed to decide the legality of Proposition 8, the ballot measure that repealed the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry in California. The passage of Prop 8 has sparked nationwide protests by gay rights activists. Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the past two weeks. The Los Angeles Times reports gay rights advocates argue that the measure was a constitutional revision, instead of a more limited amendment.  read more »

November 14th, 2008
The Columbus Dispatch by Mark Niquette

Ohioans cast a record number of provisional votes in last week's election, sparking renewed debate about the ballots that Congress viewed as a "fail-safe" for voting but that critics contend are being overused to the detriment of voters.

Unofficial results show that more than 193,000 provisional ballots were issued for Ohio's Nov. 4 election, easily topping the 158,642 in the 2004 election despite fewer total votes being cast this year.  read more »

November 13th, 2008
CQPolitics.com by Emily Cadei and Shawn Zeller

Obama’s Operation May Become the Model of Fundraising
By Emily Cadei and Shawn Zeller, CQ Staff

The one thing that can be counted on when it comes to political campaigns is they inevitably cost more with each election.

In 1992, for example, President George H.W. Bush and then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton spent a total of just over $200 million in their race for the presidency. Eight years later, when George W. Bush defeated then Vice President Al Gore, the costs topped out at more than $300 million.  read more »

November 13th, 2008
NY1 by Susan Jhun

For most of the country, Election Day was an historical event, signaling a significant change to our country's political character. But, as NY1's Susan Jhun explains in the following report, for disabled voters who have had trouble voting in the past, Election Day was just more of the same.

Disabled voter T.K. Small describes his experience at the polls on Election Day as "somewhere between dreadful and horrible."  read more »

November 12th, 2008
Capital Times by John Nichols

Appearing on the HBO talk show "Real Time With Bill Maher" a few weeks before last week's election, actor Tim Robbins urged voters to stand their ground when it came to demanding their right to cast ballots: "Refuse provisional ballots. They're throwing those out. They can throw those out. If that's your last resort, take it, but fight in the polling place to vote. It's your right as an American. You have every right to vote if you're registered. And if you're not on the rolls and something went wrong, document it.  read more »