Clipmarks | dulios's 'disenfranchisement' clips

Help our Veterans Vote

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:20:16 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks: Secretary of Veterans Affairs bans non-partisan voter registration drives at VA institutions.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Help Our Veterans Vote

WHAT is the secretary of Veterans Affairs thinking? On May 5, the department led by James B. Peake issued a directive that bans nonpartisan voter registration drives at federally financed nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and shelters for homeless veterans. As a result, too many of our most patriotic American citizens — our injured and ill military veterans — may not be able to vote this November.

There are thousands of veterans of wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan who are isolated behind the walls of V.A. hospitals and nursing homes across the country. We have an obligation to make sure that every veteran has the opportunity to make his or her voice heard at the ballot box.

Bills that would require the department to repeal the ban have been filed in both houses of Congress.

Tags: veterans, voting rights, voter registration, veterans affairs, james b. peake, disenfranchisement

Felony Disenfranchisement Aids Republicans

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:28:38 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks: I can think of no logical reason why someone should have their right to vote taken away after they've served their time.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Felony Disenfranchisement Aids Republicans

Restoring the right to vote for felons is essential to our democracy and could dramatically change election results.

Since felony disenfranchisement disproportionately affects African-American and Latino men in the U.S., and since these groups overwhelmingly vote Democratic, the laws bolster the position of the Republican Party. The statistics are shocking. Ryan King, policy analyst with The Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C., summarized the latest:

About 5.3 million U.S. citizens are ineligible to vote due to felony disenfranchisement; 2 million of them are African-American. Of these, 1.4 million are African-American men, which translates into an incredible 13 percent of that population, a rate seven times higher than in the overall population.

Tags: disenfranchisement, felons, republicans, democrats

A Mexican Village where Women are not Citizens

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:01:07 GMT

clipped by: dulios

Clip Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

A Mexico village where women are not citizens

SANTA MARIA QUIEGOLANI: Women in this Indian village high in the pine-clad mountains of Oaxaca rise each morning at 4am to gather firewood, grind corn, prepare the day's food, care for the children and clean the house.

But they aren't allowed to vote in local elections, because — the men say — they don't do enough work.

It was here, in a village that has struggled for centuries to preserve its Zapotec traditions, that Eufrosina Cruz, 27, decided to become the first woman to run for mayor — despite the fact that women aren't allowed to attend town assemblies, much less run for office.

Tags: mexico, disenfranchisement