Washington Governor to sign National Popular Vote bill

Today, Washington state may follow Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey to become the 5th state to sign the National Popular Vote bill into law.

According to this report, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the National Popular Vote bill sometime today.

Under the National Popular Vote bill, all of a state’s electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538). Read more at www.nationalpopularvote.org.

Thanks to Ballot Access News for this report.

$478 million.

That's the estimated amount of money that was lost in overall federal funding to the states for 2001-2011, as a result of 2000 Census' net undercount of 3.3 million people. And, since the Census is not a "zero sum game," that money was not redistributed to other states with higher counts - it was simply not awarded, period.

Now that's scary.

Student VOTER Act would register college students at intake

A new move would help one of the fastest growing voting groups of the 21st century, 18-29 yr olds, to reach even higher levels of turnout and participation.

Introduced on March 29, the student VOTER (Voter Opportunity To Encourage Registration) act would enable an estimated 90% of colleges and universities to act as voter registration agencies. The bill, HR 1729, would requiring all institutions of higher education that receive federal funding to offer voter registration to students when the register for classes.

Read the bill here.

Thanks to electionline for this update.

First edition of Nonprofits Count Monthly out

First edition of NVEN's Census campaign newsletter, Nonprofits Count Monthly, is out today - click here to read.

Franken declared winner of most votes in MN Senate race

After more than 5 months and countless recounts, it looks like Minnesota may finally - almost- have a senator.

Huffington Post has the story.

Census Bureau unveils Census Recovery Plan

The U.S. Census Bureau submitted to Congress its proposal for a Census Recovery Plan to create jobs, strengthen the economy and conduct a successful 2010 Census. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Census Bureau was provided $1 billion.

Census Recovery Plan highlights include:

• Coverage Follow-Up Enhancement ($30 million)
• Partnership Program Enhancement ($120 million)
• Public Outreach ($100 million)
• Group Quarters Operations ($138 million)
• Update Leave ($116 million)
• Update/Enumerate ($108 million)
• Local Census Office Staffing Operation ($388 million)

Read more.

New Report: Analysis of the 2008 CPS voting supplement

From Doug Hess of Project Vote- a review of the demographic changes of the eligible voting population that voted in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Key findings include:

• Substantial increase in participation by African American, Latino and under-30 groups
• Largest turnout gains were among minority youth, who turned out 5-10% more in 2008 over 2004
• A drop in participation by white and older voters
  

OK Gov. Brad Henry vetoes voter ID bill

Citing conflicts with the Oklahoma Constitution and concerns voiced by the League of Women Voters and the American Association of Retired Persons, Gov. Brad Henry today vetoed Senate Bill 4, legislation that would have mandated registered voters to present additional identification in order to cast a ballot on election day.

“The right to vote is one of our most precious freedoms, guaranteed to all eligible U.S. citizens regardless of their race, gender, religion, income level or social status, and policymakers must be especially careful when tinkering with this fundamental right,” said Gov. Henry in his veto message. Read the press release.

Immigration concerns shadow upcoming census count

From the Colorado Independent
Fear of immigration enforcement may keep Latinos from being counted in the census

Coleman Franken dispute winds down

Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune

April 1st- "Norm Coleman's lawyers all but conceded defeat Tuesday and promised to appeal after a panel of three judges ordered no more than 400 new absentee ballots opened and counted, far fewer than the Republican had sought to overcome the lead held by DFLer Al Franken." Read more.

Obama names Dr. Robert Groves as Census Director.

To see a biography of the just-named Census Director, Dr. Robert M. Groves, visit the Census Project Web site (www.thecensusproject.org) or click here.

Thanks to Phil Sparks of Communications Consortium Media Center for this update.