Vote November 4: Defeat Suppression of Minorities, Youth, Workers

On March 12th, West Virginia's Democratic-led state legislature passed S.B. 581 bill that changed the beginning time for early voting from the 20th day prior to the election to the 13th day prior to the election" as well as allowing early voting on Saturdays. Democratic Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the bill shortly after. This law is noted as one of the few voter restriction laws to receive bipartisan support and be helmed by a Democratic controlled state house & Governor.

Wisconsin

On October 9th, the Supreme Court voted 6-3, blocking Wisconsin's voter ID law on the basis that Wisconsin residents were not properly informed about the law, calling it "particularly troubling that absentee ballots have been sent-out without any notation that proof of photo identification must be submitted." According to Election Law Blog, spokesman for ACLU-Wisconsin Molly Collins argued that "300,000 registered Wisconsin voters -- disproportionately voters of color" were going to be disfranchised because of this decision. On September 30th, an emergency appeal was introduced to stop the bill from being enacted.

According to the October 1st Marquette Law School poll, 18% of Wisconsin residents did not realize they needed to bring an ID to vote. Republican Governor Scott Walker's has been fighting for voter ID laws. S.B. 324 was introduced by Republican State Senator Glenn Grothman.

He is on record with fringe beliefs that the 'gay agenda' wants to guide public school educational curriculum to 'convert' children into homosexuals. He opposed Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and considers giving state workers the day off an "insult" to Wisconsin taxpayers. S.B. 324, signed into law by Scott Walker in March of 2014, included provisions that terminated early night voting & ended weekend voting, which critics contend would have disproportionally affected early voting's primary users, poor & African American citizens.

It was stayed by federal court judge, but the decision was reversed on Sept 12, 2014 by a Federal Courts of Appeals 7th Circuit court judge. The Supreme Court blocked the Federal Courts decision. Currently, Wisconsin residents do not need to show ID to vote.

Virginia

Virginia firmly enforces its voter ID law. The law was made effective in August 2014 after the Supreme Court ruling invalidated Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Virginia also has restrictive laws on third party registration drivers, making organizations with 25 or more registrations having to be directly regulated by the state. The state also shortened early voting days.

Washington/Oregon/Colorado

Citizens in the state are required to vote by mail which does not require a photo ID. Even though these state's required postal voting, they are required by law to have polling stations where citizens can vote in person. At these locations, voters must provide ID. If they do not have ID, they can cast a provisional ballot and prove their identity at a later date.