Hey, Allison: Here's Something That Might Get You Elected

If Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes wants a genuine Democratic and progressive issue to run on in 2014 (U.S. Senate) or 2015 (Governor), she couldn't do better than proposing the voting reforms the governor of Colorado just signed into law:

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill to modernize and improve Colorado’s voting system (yesterday), adding Colorado to a growing list of states expanding voting rights across the country.

SNIP

Colorado’s Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act includes a number of provisions to make it easier to register and vote:

• Election Day registration: Voters can sign up to vote on Election Day, which leads to higher registration rates and turnout.
• Portable registration: Ensures a voter can still cast a ballot that will count, even when they move.
• Modernization Task Force: This bipartisan task force will study voting changes and pave the way for future reforms.
• “Inactive – Failed to Vote” Status: Eliminates this problematic status, which led to voters being denied ballots in certain elections simply because they failed to vote a single time.

The Colorado County Clerks Association — the officials who actually run elections, and come from both political parties — worked with lawmakers, community groups, and election officials to hammer out this compromise bill.

“Colorado’s improved voting law is a common-sense step to modernize elections,” said Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “After years of backsliding, more and more states are embracing free, fair, and accessible elections. We applaud county clerks of both political parties who worked to make elections simpler and more consistent for voters.”

Greg Sargeant:

The Colorado measure will represent a big step forward, because it sticks to the most fundamental principle that most reformers think should guide our efforts to fix voting: That voting should be made easier for as many people as possible.

This, at a time when conservative groups are working to restrict voting in the name of “voter fraud.” As Reid Wilson recently put it, the Colorado measure is “the Democratic comeback to voter ID.”


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It requires a ballot to be mailed to every registered voter; voters choose how to vote, whether by mail or dropping off the ballot, or even in person, early or on election day. It lengthens the early voting period and shortens the time required for state residency in order to qualify to vote. It expands voter registration through Election Day. And it allows people to vote at any precinct within their county.

“The biggest problem is people showing up at the wrong precinct,” Ellen Dumm, spokesperson for Coloradans for Voter Access and Modernized Elections, tells me. “This is unique in that expands all options. It really does expand access to voting at a time when we’ve seen a lot of restriction of voting. This makes voting a lot easier.”

 And in California, there's a bill to allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before they turn 18.

There's no need for long explanations or arguments full of nuance on this, just two words:  Everybody Votes.

Put the burden on the anti-democratic repugs to prove there's anybody out there voting illegally. 

Call them out for anti-American voter suppression.

Dare the motherfuckers to oppose laws that ensure Every American Votes.

Expose their real reason for preventing people from voting: When Everybody Votes, Democrats Win.

h/t David Atkins at Hullabaloo:

And, of course, there's switching election day from Tuesday to a weekend--or better yet, making federal election days national holidays.

Of all the ills Republicans do, restricting access to democracy is among the most injurious.