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Federal Judge Blocks New Voter Registration Law Filled with Penalities
The judge saved her harshest criticism for Thursday’s ruling, in which she wrote: “There is simply no basis in the record for concluding that the Act will provide much benefit to Tennesseans, and even less reason to think that any benefit will come close to outweighing the harms to Tennesseans (and non-Tennesseans) who merely wish to exercise their core constitutional rights of participating in the political process by encouraging voter registration.”
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Federal Judge Weighs in on Voter Registration Practices
At issue is a state law penalizing groups if too many voters sign up with incorrect information. This all started last year when a slew of paid workers with the Tennessee Black Voter Project turned in thousands upon thousands of voter registration forms. The effort overwhelmed election offices across the state. The plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was filed days after the legislature passed the new law says the new voter registration law is just another form of voter suppression. Judge Aleta Trauger of the Middle Tennessee District has allowed the lawsuit to move forward.
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Ambitious Public Policy Undergrad Transforms Inspiration into Action
“I think three things I’m most passionate about are voting rights, inmates’ access to education, and mental health policy,” said Evan Malbrough, an AGF Ambassador at Georgia State University. Malbrough has already made an impact in each area, both at and away from Georgia State. His commitment to raising awareness about voter participation as ambassador for Georgia State’s Vote Everywhere has been recognized in Forbes Magazine.
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Challenge to Tennessee Voter Registration Law Survives Dismissal Motion
The Andrew Goodman Foundation strives to make young people’s votes a “powerful force in democracy,” but a Tennessee law regulating some voter registration drives, which is set to take effect in a few weeks, would change the way the organization encourages civic action on college campuses in the state. The Andrew Goodman Foundation quickly joined a suit challenging the law, arguing that part of it amounts to government-compelled speech, because voter registration drives would have to include a disclaimer in their communications that their statements are made by a political organization and not the Tennessee Secretary of State.
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Federal Court Denies Tennessee Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging Voter Registration Law
On Monday, September 9, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger issued a ruling, denying Tennessee's motion to dismiss our lawsuit which challenges the state's restrictive new voter registration law.
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Lawsuits against Tennessee Voter Registration Law Can Move forward, Federal Judge Rules
The new law allows the state to charge voter registration groups with Class A misdemeanors if they knowingly or intentionally pay workers based on quotas; if they enroll 100 or more voters and don't complete state training, or if they enroll 100-plus voters and fail to ship completed forms by the deadline or within 10 days of registration drives.
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Student Organization Encourages Students to Register to Vote Following Low 2018 Midterm Turnout
Vote Everywhere is a student organization at Iowa State with goals including increasing voter turnout and ensuring people are registered to vote. The president of the organization Hayat Sumael, sophomore in criminal justice, said the organization is planning on collaborating with the College Democrats and College Republicans to boost student voter registration numbers, using events like the mock caucus, scheduled for Oct. 17.
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Mid-South Peace & Justice among Plaintiffs Working to Block New Voter Registration Law
Contending the law “undermines democratic principles,” the plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court Friday in Nashville, the Associated Press reported. The potential penalties and fines could be “kind of a death sentence” for small groups such as Memphis-based Mid-South Peace & Justice that try to involve as many people as possible in the democratic process, said its organizing director, Paul Garner.
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Stony Brook Student Honored with Hidden Hero Award
This article was originally published in The Statesman on August 31, 2019. Recent Stony Brook alumna Yark Beyan was awarded the Hidden Hero Award by the Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF) for her commitment to promoting civic engagement on June 22. The AGF focuses on encouraging…
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Tennessee Voting Rights Activists Fight New Registration Restrictions
"This law is an intentional and unconstitutional assault on voting rights," David Goodman said in a statement announcing the injunction request. "It is designed to discourage organizations from registering voters by employing intimidation tactics and imposing vague and excessive barriers."
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