Coming Soon to a State Capital Near You: Astroturf
By Dawn Holian Iype
Posted on Fri Mar 02, 2007 at 01:54:48 PM EST
It almost feels like spring outside here in DC today -- time for cherry blossoms, robins and fresh green leaves on trees.
But in state capitals across the country, something more insidious seems to be cropping up: telecom industry astroturf.
We've told you about this problem before. Last year, telephone and cable companies funded a handful of front groups and astroturf (i.e. fake grassroots) organizations to try to pass a telecom bill packed with special interest benefits through Congress. They failed. So now they're shifting their efforts to state legislatures.
Take, for instance, the Missouri Communications Alliance, which is working to pass a video franchising bill in Missouri:
The Missouri Communications Alliance was established by the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Holtzman & Vogel, which has created numerous astroturf organizations, some of which the Federal Election Commission is investigating. This law firm set up the MCA to help pass SB 284, presumably as part of its work for AT&T. It is difficult to determine which company is really behind the MCA. Identity protection is a major advantage of running astroturf operations through a law firm. Kudos to J. Scott Christianson for writing an op-ed exposing the MCA. We're hearing that new telecom astroturf groups are setting up shop in Illinois, Florida and other states. If you notice them, let us know. And more importantly, let others in your community know. NYT pulls no punches over Missouri voter ID law
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 03:40:26 PM EST
Whatever your opinion of the New York Times, you can grant that they certainly know how to make their point. In an editorial today, they take aim at Missouri's voter ID law, calling it as they see it - voter suppression for partisan gain.
The Republican legislators who pushed through Missouri's ID law earlier this year said they wanted to deter fraud, but that claim falls apart on close inspection. Missouri's new ID rules -- and similar ones adopted last year in Indiana and Georgia -- are intended to deter voting by blacks, poor people and other groups that are less likely to have driver's licenses. Georgia's law has been blocked by the courts, and the others should be too...
...Missourians who have driver's licenses will have little trouble voting, but many who do not will have to go to considerable trouble to get special ID's. The supporting documents needed to get these, like birth certificates, often have fees attached, so some Missourians will have to pay to keep voting. It is likely that many people will not jump all of the bureaucratic hurdles to get the special ID, and will become ineligible to vote.
As many as 200,000 Missouri voters do not have a government-issue photo ID. The "imposter voting" that ID supporters say they're trying to combat is all but nonexistent. Most cases of reported voter fraud involve absentee ballots, and this law doesn't tackle that question. The Times editorial staff draw only one conclusion:
Unduly onerous voter ID laws violate equal protection, and when voters have to pay to get the ID's, they are an illegal poll tax. They are also an insult to democracy, because their goal is to have elections in which eligible voters are turned away.
State Round-Up
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Aug 04, 2006 at 04:34:57 PM EST
Hooray for Fridays!
Five Republican assemblymen have introduced National Popular Vote legislation in the New York legislature.
Hanover, New Hampshire, the home of Dartmouth College, and other small neighboring towns are considering implementing community broadband.
In New York state the energy industry has spent more than $11 million in lobbying expenses and campaign contributions.
Possible illegal campaign contributions are causing scandals in Wisconsin and Missouri.
Former North Carolina state representative Michael Decker pleaded guilty to accepting payment for switching his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, thereby swaying a House Speaker vote.
DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton appeared on The Colbert Report, talking about District of Columbia voting rights.
Denver, Colorado, politicians think transparency is a pretty good idea.
Wisconsin gubernatorial "reform candidate" Mark Green didn't sign our Voters First Pledge.
The Department of Justice is sueing the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, for denying equal voting rights to minority citizens.
Confusion still reigns in Ohio over voting guidelines laid out by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell.
Limited Liability Corporations (LLC) in New York make circumventing campaign finance laws a piece of cake.
This week I'm specifically soliciting news from Michigan, for the sole reason that I rarely hear anything related to reform or ethics coming from that state. Use the Comments section, and bring on the Wolverine State news. Unless there is none...in which case, bring on some tidbits about Iowa. Why?
Why not?
Illegal Campaign Contributions All Around
By Zach Proulx
Posted on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 09:09:37 AM EST
With elections fast approaching, allegations of illegal campaign contributions have become more heated in the states.
Take Wisconsin, for example. In 2005, Richard and Barbara Schiffrin donated $10,000 and $5,000 to embattled Governor Jim Doyle (D) and Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager (D), respectively, at a campaign function. Later that day, Richard Schiffrin sought state business with the Wisconsin Investment Board at meetings established by a Lautenschlager aide and the Doyle campaign's chief fund-raiser.
Though Schiffrin's law firm was not hired by the state, the Wisconsin Ethics Board is now reviewing whether the campaign contributions were "met with promises to help obtain state business." Political rivals themselves, Doyle and Lautenschlager must now fend off charges of ethics violations from their Republican challengers.
Meanwhile, Missouri Democrats are outraged at Governor Matt Blunt (R) for what they see as a blatantly illegal campaign contribution.
According to a recent financial report, Blunt's campaign committee received $38,982 from the Republican National Committee in April, an amount that rises well above state contribution limits from party committees.
State Round-Up
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 04:59:54 PM EST
Gather 'round for your weekly one-stop-shop for state news and happenings.
Voter IDs Challenged in Missouri
By Matt Caruso
Posted on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 12:09:48 PM EST
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Eastern Missouri is filing a lawsuit challenging the new voter identification law requiring Missouri voters to provide photo identification when voting. From the Jefferson City News article:
"Our overall concern is that the new law is going to leave people out who want to vote, who deserve to vote and who are qualified to vote," said Anthony E. Rothert, the St. Louis-based ACLU chapter's legal director, in a news release announcing the lawsuit.
Gov. Matt Blunt, a supporter of photo IDs, signed the bill a month ago in an attempt to eliminate "voter fraud." The Missouri Constitution provides all Missourians who are at least 18 years old and are registered in "the political subdivision in which they offer to vote are entitled to vote at all elections by the people." However, beginning in November, the new law dictates that those not presenting a photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport, will have to use a provisional ballot that will be later verified by election officials.
As in Georgia, this move by the Missouri legislature complicates the voting process for the elderly and minorities who may not have a recognized photo ID, and deters an imaginary voter fraud problem.
Read the AP story here.
Read the story from the Jefferson City News-Tribune here.
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