skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

PA group works to educate voters on deadlines, registration, mail-in ballots; Suspect in Apparent Trump Assassination Plot Crusaded for Many Causes; Court's 'home equity theft' ruling helps homeowners in NE, nationwide; Local leaders revive Toledo's historic 'Black Wall Street.'

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Washington considers the need to tone down anti-Trump rhetoric. Senate Democrats are likely to force a second vote on a national right to in-vitro fertilization, and Trump allies repeat falsehoods about migrants amid bomb threats in OH.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural voters weigh competing visions about agriculture's future ahead of the Presidential election, counties where economic growth has lagged in rural America are booming post-pandemic, and farmers get financial help to protect their land's natural habitat.

Civic Groups Unite to Fight Against Voter Suppression Tactics in the South

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 25, 2023   

Civic groups are taking action against what they call voter suppression tactics in the South.

This week Alabama Values, Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement (SOLVE), and Groundwork Project joined forces with other organizations to discuss recent legislation such as Alabama House Bill 209.

The bill's provisions would forbid individuals from aiding in the distribution, ordering, requesting, collecting, obtaining, or delivering of an absentee ballot application or absentee ballot on behalf of someone else.

During the briefing, Dillion Nettles - policy and advocacy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama - said the bill also criminalizes civic organizations and individuals wanting to assist others in exercising their right to vote by limiting who can help get the ballots or applications.

"But that is a very narrow group of individuals," said Nettles. "You essentially have to be someone who works as an election official or works in the absentee election managers office, you have to be a next of kin of that individual, or someone who lives with them. "

If it passes, HB 209 would establish felony charges for people who break the law.

According to Kiana Jackson - research and coalition organizing manager at New Disabled South - this bill not only hinders organizations that facilitate voting accessibility, but also creates greater hurdles for older adults and individuals with disabilities.

"We know that about 7.5% of disabled people are not able to have a voter ID, compared to able bodied people at 4%," said Jackson. "So there are huge gaps in even how we vote but then particularly when we talk about accessibility and you're putting more and more barriers in place."

HB 209 is through the House and awaits action by the State Governmental Affairs Committee.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Toledo's Dorr Street once boasted more than 130 businesses between Collingwood Blvd. and Detroit Ave., including retail shops, restaurants, lodging, medical offices, entertainment venues, and services like auto repair, laundry and beauty salons. (Wikimedia Commons)

play sound

Toledo's historic Dorr Street Corridor was once the beating heart of Black culture, wealth and business in the city. Now, community leaders and local …


Environment

play sound

Colorado's second-largest electricity provider, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, projects new federal clean energy funding will …

Social Issues

play sound

Today is National Voter Registration Day, and volunteers with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters are holding voter registration events across the …


According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, up to $31 trillion in U.S. economic activity hinges on helping young people complete learning delayed by the pandemic. (Pixabay)

Social Issues

play sound

Palm Beach County schools are working to curb chronic absenteeism, which has surged since the pandemic. Nearly 39% of Palm Beach County students …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Gaps in mental health care are a common research topic right now and for Minnesota youth in rural areas, a new report showed their families face big …

In the past decade, the U.S. Energy Department said 2,555 North Dakota homes, occupied by people with limited incomes, have been weatherized. The free upgrades include furnace repairs, insulation and sealing drafty windows. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

September is Workforce Development Month and North Dakota offices managing energy assistance programs hope people in need of a fresh career start will…

Social Issues

play sound

In observance of Hunger Action Month, a new statewide collaborative has launched to address food insecurity in South Dakota. Nearly 14% of U.S…

Social Issues

play sound

Today is National Voter Registration Day, and some young people in Washington state are encouraging people in their age group to ensure they're …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021