Democracy Wire

Shawnee County district Judge Larry Hendricks ordered the state of Kansas to count votes in the primary election from people who registered without proof of citizenship. This blocked a rule from Kansas’s Secretary of State, which would have prevented 17,500 citizens from voting in state and local elections.

Wide-ranging legislation to make voting in North Carolina more difficult was struck down last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Common Cause North Carolina is among the plaintiffs that challenged the constitutionality of that law.

On July 21, a federal judge struck down Michigan’s attempt to ban straight-ticket voting, finding that the restriction placed a “disproportionate burden on African-Americans’ right to vote.” The court also ruled that Michigan’s $5 million plan to upgrade the machinery of its elections to offset that burden was “woefully insufficient.”

Federal court decisions in Texas and Wisconsin last month should put the brakes on legislative efforts across the country to keep Americans from voting.

With the November elections approaching, national efforts towards increasing voter turnout are underway. During the second week of July, the National Council on Disability hosted “National Disability Voter Registration Week” in hopes of ensuring that the disability community’s voice, both collectively and as individuals, will be heard this election year.

You’re a US citizen, you’re 18 years old or older, you’re registered and ready to vote. But what if November comes around and you have work or class on Election Day? What if you can’t wait hours in the long lines you’ve found at your precinct in the past?