Event: Alliance for Nonprofits Conference

The Alliance for Nonprofits' 2008 Annual Conference will be held in Dearborn, Michigan on July 9-11, 2008. Over 45 workshops will be offered through various session tracks: Executive Leadership for Nonprofit Managers, Senior Practioners, Public Policy, Ethics and Hot Topics.

The Alliance Exhibit Showcase will feature new products to enhance businesses and skills. Attendees will have access to plenty of networking opportunities in the exhibit showcase area as they enjoy refreshment breaks and evening receptions. Exhibitor and Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Register today!

Link
http://www.allianceonline.org/annual_conference/c08.page

Homeless Coalition Teams Up With LWV to Register Voters

The Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, Florida (about us) is partnering with the League of Women Voters for the first time in their effort to make sure that homeless people enjoy their right to vote- even without a residential address.

Volunteers will begin visiting soup kitchens this week during lunch hours to register voters.

"That population doesn't trust the government very much," said Corinne Miller, LWV voter registration leader. "If they're coming for a meal at a recognized site, they know the personnel and they know we're working with them, so they'll have more trust in us."

Homeless people will be instructed to list the Supervisor of Elections Office' West Palm Beach address as their own, or a post office box. Voting by both absentee ballot and at local polling places will be encouraged.

'We're trying to restore (homeless people's) dignity to be respected as people that should be able to exercise their civil rights," said Rita Clark, ED of the Homeless Coalition. "And one of those rights is to be able to vote."

According to a 2007 census there are roughly 1,800 homeless people living in Palm Beach County.

"Some of the homeless people are probably not aware that they can vote," said Miller, "but they are affected most by the government."

(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

HeadCount Registers Voters at Bonnaroo

HeadCount- a nonpartisan voter registration organization founded by bassist Marc Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits- was at last week's Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee as part of its mission to register 100,000 summer concert-goers for the November 4th election.

HeadCount is going to all the major summer concert series and festivals this year, as well as hopping on tour with the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters, in an effort to revive the political involvement levels of music lovers around the country.

In recent years, says Brownstein, festival audiences have considered themselves outside of the political process. However, as of late HeadCount has been seeing an increased political receptiveness in music fans, reminiscent of the '60s Woodstock activist audiences. "I think it's changing and it's changing rapidly because we're able to use the platform of music to get people thinking about things outside of music." said co-founder Andy Bernstein. "If there's a core purpose to Headcount, it's to take people who are outside of the process and bring them into the process." (AP Press)

List of HeadCount's upcoming concert events.

Denver Band Registers Voters at Concerts

Denver's six-member collective Flobots is a politically charged band for an election year. The hip-hop/funk rock troupe's debut single, Handlebars, is a top 5 hit on USA TODAY's alternative airplay chart and building at top 40 radio. Denver's six-member collective Flobots is a politically charged band for an election year. The hip-hop/funk rock troupe's debut single, Handlebars, is a top 5 hit on USA TODAY's alternative airplay chart and building at top 40 radio.
Link
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-06-22-flobots_N.htm

Atlanta Democrats File Lawsuit Against Georgia's voter ID Law

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Democrats have filed another suit challenging Georgia's voter ID law. See the EL@M case page for more information and case documents. [Read More]

Atlanta Democrats File Lawsuit Against Georgia's voter ID Law

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Democrats have filed another suit challenging Georgia's voter ID law. See the EL@M case page for more information and case documents. [Read More]

Rhode Island Legislature Passes National Popular Vote

On June 19th, the Rhode Island House joined the Senate in passing the National Popular Vote Plan bill S 2112. The vote was 36-34. The bill now goes to Governor Donald Carcieri for signature. Read more.

AP Survey: 1 in 65 Americans Registered in 2008

A new AP survey shows voter registration rates soaring historically during this year's election, with nearly one in 65 Americans registering to vote in just the first 3 months of 2008.

Demos Report: One-Stop Voting in North Carolina

Read Demos' new report on Same Day Registration's successful journey through the North Carolina legislature, from gaining the support of election officials to fighting concerns on voter fraud.

Va. Governor Kaine to Expedite Re-enfranchisement of Nonviolent Offenders

Civic and social organizations are teaming with Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to try to add thousands of nonviolent offenders to the voting rolls in time for the November election. The felons also would get their rights back to sit on a jury and hold public office. Virginia currently is one of only 2 states to permanently disenfranchise those with a criminal conviction. Groups like the NAACP, the ACLU, Democracy South and the Virginia Voter Restoration Project have taken out newspaper ads, spread the word through churches and gone door to door, urging felons to apply to Kaine to restore their voting rights. The effort has earned criticism from the right. "I don' t know a lot of young Republicans who end up being felons," said Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah). "Clearly the groups that are soliciting these felons to get their rights restored are predisposed to be in support of Obama, and I am sure this registration effort is designed to help their candidate." Read more.
Link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061602535_2.html
Picture
http://www.acluva.org/restoreourvote/images/RestoreOurVoteicon.jpg

RI Gov. Carcieri Calls for Photo ID at the Polls

On June 18th, Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri (R) appealed to that would require voters to produce photo identification at the polls.

Link
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/06/18/carcieri_proposes_photo_id_requirement_for_voters/

Rhode Island Legislature Passes National Popular Vote

On June 19, the Rhode Island House joined the Senate in passing the National Popular Vote Plan bill S 2112, . The vote was 36-34. The bill has been sent to Governor Donald Carcieri for approval. Next up: Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina. Read more.

Link-
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2008/06/21/ri_lawmakers_approve_plan_on_national_popular_vote/


Picture
http://www.democrats.org/page/image/9b06fee215be35ee89_8gumv2l45.gif/@mx_150@my_150

LWV-Indiana File Lawsuit Against Voter ID Law

On June 20, the Indiana League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit (League of Women Voters of Indiana vs. Secretary of State Todd Rokita) in state court, alleging that the Indiana law requiring voters at the polls to show government photo-ID violates the Indiana Constitution. Read the complaint.
Link
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/blogdocs/photo%20ID%20complaint.pdf

Image
http://www.courttv.com/graphics2/photos/trials/supreme-court/full-coverage/include/supreme-court-include.jpg

Ohio 2008 Primary Report

Read OH Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's report on Ohio's 2008 Primary Election, which outlinesvoter turnout and election procedure improvements since 2004 and identifies the remaining problem areas to resolve for future elections. Recommendations include: clarifying voter ID requirements; improving voter registry accuracy; training poll workers more thoroughly, and more.

link
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/images/features/08PriReport.gif

photo
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/images/features/08PriReport.gif

Ex-Offenders in Florida Regain the Vote

Since April over 115,000, or 20% of ex-offenders in Florida have

regained their right to vote, thanks to new state legislation establishing a three-tiered severity level for Florida citizens convicted of a crime. Until April, Florida was one of only 3 states to strip all convicted felons of their right to vote; those who finish prison and probation previously had to endure a lengthy review by state officials in order to vote, serve on a jury, or hold a state-licensed job.

"Once somebody has truly paid their debt to society, we should recognize it, and we should honor it and we should welcome them back into society and give them that second chance," said Florida Governor Charlie Crist. (The New York Times)

Congressional Research Service Report on Voter ID

A new report from the Congressional Research Service analyzes Supreme Court's decision to uphold Indiana's voter ID requirement: download The Constitutionality of Requiring Photo Identification for Voting: An Analysis of Crawford v. Marion County Election Board .
http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RS22882

Brookings Institution Book: Democracy in the States

Democracy in the States, new from the Brookings Institution Press, is a collection of studies on the progress and agenda of election reform in the 21st century. Studies contributed by leading scholars Paul Gronke, Michael McDonald and Todd Donovan and more.
Read a sample chapter.
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Press/Books/2008/democracyinthestates/democracyinthestates_chapter.pdf

Learn more.
http://www.brookings.edu/press/Books/2008/democracyinthestates.aspx

Picturehttp://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Press/Books/2008/democracyinthestates/democracyinthestates.gif

Welcome

Welcome to the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network's blog of nonprofit, voter turnout and election news!

The Change Agent Releases "Democracy in Action"

Thinking about how to integrate all the election-year buzz into your classroom? Download Democracy in Action, the current issue of adult education newspaper The Change Agent.

7/18/2008: Mobilize.org Grant Summit

Mobilize.org announces the application launch for its Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit, Money in Politics, to be held July 18-21, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. Read more.