News from Missouri's state house tonight is that the Senate failed to even consider the very restrictive voter ID law before adjournment. This is a big victory for fair elections and insuring that all voters get to vote -- in a key swing state. Here's the statement from the very savvy Secretary of State in Missouri, Robin Carnahan, who helped lead the charge to kill the legislation:
Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan released the following statement on the legislative session ending without the passage of a restrictive proposal requiring voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls:
“This proposal not passing is a victory for voter’s rights. This debate has not been about having Missouri voters identify themselves at the polls. In Missouri, we already have common sense identification requirements in place. This debate has been about ensuring fair elections, and elections can not be fair if eligible voters are not allowed to make their voice heard on Election Day.
These past two weeks we heard from Missouri voters across the state that feared they would lose their right to vote because they don’t have a government-issued photo ID or a birth certificate, and I am glad the legislature didn’t put their right to vote at risk. The hard work of citizens and groups around this state who opposed this proposal played a key role in making sure this legislation was not passed.”
The Missouri Supreme Court stuck down a 2006 Voter Photo ID law in October of that year, citing that it placed too much of a burden on eligible Missourian’s constitutional right to vote.
The whole country saw the real world implications of Indiana's tough new voter ID law on Tuesday. A group of 80 and 90 year old nuns were stopped from voting.
A similar bill is under consideration in Missouri -- again. That state's Supreme Court already struck down a previous effort to restrict voters in 2006. But the Republicans never stop.
This time, the nuns in Missouri aren't sitting back. Today, several sisters joined other voters who will be disenfranchised and Missouri's kick ass Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, to oppose the legislation -- just as the Missouri House was passing its discriminatory bill:
The measure passed the house 88 to 69 after about an hour of highly partisan debate. No Democrats voted yes; only Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, crossed party lines.
One of the most vocal critics of the idea, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a Democrat, held a press conference at the same time in St. Louis to stress her opposition. Carnahan said it was her job “to protect every voter’s right to vote, not 95 percent of voters.”
“These laws are detrimental and harmful to these people who want to exercise their right to vote,” Carnahan said.
Other local residents also spoke out against the measure. Two nuns said elderly sisters of their orders typically don’t have drivers licenses. A woman originally from Mississippi said her birth certificate, once held there in Jackson, was destroyed in a fire.
Opponents say the requirement could be discriminatory – that elderly, poor and minority residents will feel the burden more, as they’re less likely to have an up-to-date drivers license, state ID or passport. Critics also see the cost and process to obtain a birth certificate to get a such an ID as simply too high a hurdle.
Still, during the press conference, the resolution’s passing was announced as expected. Carnahan then suggested that voters call their state senators, who have only days to pass the measure.
The State Senate votes next week. If you live in Missouri, call your state senator. Find out just whose side they are on. The nuns have your back.
Some people will stop at nothing to push their hate agenda -- even allying with known extremist group and the KKK. That's Ward Connerly in action.
Connerly, arguably one of the leading anti-civil rights in the country, has launched a multi-state effort to place anti-civil rights initiatives on the November ballot. The ballot gathering is facing a stiff legal challenge in Colorado, coincidentally a swing state this fall. Missouri, another key swing state in the fall, is also one of his targets.
Connerly's crew has been trying to mislead Missouri voters for months. Lately, he's had to redouble his efforts by calling for help from the Minutemen, the anti-immigrant vigilantes, who are based in San Diego. The Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch has been keeping an eye on the Minutemen and their ties to white supremacists. The SPLC refers to the Minutemen as "the nativist extremist group." Need we say more?
A couple weeks ago, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch blasted Connerly's effort to bring "carpetbaggers" into the state to gather signatures. All of this plays out against the deceptive tactics Connerly's crew has used to gather signatures. (And, as our friends at Think Progress pointed out in 2006, the Ku Klux Klan is a welcome ally in Connerly's efforts. Not kidding.)
The folks in Missouri who are fighting Connerly's efforts aren't backing down and are doing the work every day to expose his deception. We'll know next week if the initiative makes the ballot. But, every step Connerly takes is met with fierce resistance.
That's one reason I love the progressives in that state. They do hand-to-hand combat every day. They know how to fight. Campaigns across the country should recruit progressive political activists from Missouri. If they can win there, they can win almost anywhere.
For too many years, right wing Republican Secretaries of State have done the bidding of the lunatics in their party. Think Katherine Harris in Florida and Ken Blackwell in Ohio.
In Missouri, there's a Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, who doesn't kowtow and cater to every diabolical idea promulgated by the nuts. And, they really hate her for it.
In 2006, Carnahan rejected the biased language of the right wing's ballot initiatives. Every time they challenged her in court, the nuts lost.
These are the same anti-stem cell zealots who attacked Michael J. Fox when he got involved in the Missouri Senate Race over the stem cell issue. (Keep in mind that Rush Limbaugh, who openly mocked Fox's Parkinson, has deep roots in Missouri.)
Anyway, fast forward to 2007. The anti-stem cell crowd is coming back with another anti-science, anti-health, pre-historic initiative. They have a new plan that would repeal the referendum that passed in 2006 (but don't want anyone to know.) Fired Up Missouri documents the foibles of "the anti-cure crowd."
Again, Carnahan isn't letting the stem cell opponents confuse the voters. Those religious fanatic types hate it when they don't get their way.
[Curt] Mercadante says that while the courts have given the Secretary of State some latitude in editing ballot summary language submitted to the office, the latitude has been surpassed in this instance. He says all options, including an effort to impeach the Secretary of State, will be considered.
So, they want to impeach Robin for following the law. Now, that's insane:
The Secretary of State's Office could not disagree more with Cures Without Cloning on its claim that the summary language is confusing to voters. Secretary Robin Carnahan's Chief of Staff Mindy Mazur says the summary is completely fair and in accordance with state law.
Mazur says it is not uncommon to have challenges to initiative petition ballot titles, pointing out there is a process laid out for the challenge in law. She adds that in 2006 there were court challenges to three different summary statements and in each case the summary statemant was upheld as sufficient and fair.
We all get caught up in the Presidential race and the battles for House and Senate seats.
But a lot of the day-to-day work gets done on the front lines by people like Robin Carnahan. It's just so important to win elections in key states like Missouri for key offices like Secretary of State. The Republicans have known that for years. State elections really matter. Robin is running for re-election next year. And, she needs to win again.
