Link-of-the-Day – Page 38 – Democracy North Carolina

LOD: A Pause to Raise Money

While the NC General Assembly is on a 24-day recess, House Republicans are taking quick advantage of a loophole in state law to sponsor a major fundraising event this Wednesday and solicit contributions of up to $5,000 from PACs that are barred from giving while the General Assembly is in session. The event looks like [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:36-05:00 June 28th, 2011|Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics, Pay to Play|0 Comments

LOD: Supremes Veto Rescue Funds

The US Supreme Court issued its expected 5-to-4 rejection of the matching or rescue funds provision in Arizona’s public campaign financing program. Some worried that the activist justices would overreach (as they did in the Citizens United decision) and find some means to outlaw public financing altogether. That didn’t happen; maybe the public’s outrage over [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:36-05:00 June 27th, 2011|FENA, Judicial Elections, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Voter-Owned Elections|0 Comments

LOD: Photo ID Bill Stamped VETO

Governor Bev Perdue stepped up to defend the voters of North Carolina today by vetoing H-351; that’s the Republican bill to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID each time they vote. For decades, North Carolina has been in the bottom third of the 50 states for voter turnout, often among the worse 10 [...]

By Bob Hall| 2011-06-23T20:55:33-04:00 June 23rd, 2011|Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day, Media Feed & Press Releases, Voting Rights|0 Comments

LOD: Statement on VRA Districts

Following up the LOD posting for Monday, here’s a statement from Democracy North Carolina about the partial maps of new legislative districts proposed by NC Republicans leaders - and also an action alert about how you can weigh in with a written statement or personal appearance at the public hearing tomorrow. After further research, it’s even clearer [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:36-05:00 June 22nd, 2011|Link-of-the-Day, Redistricting, Voting Rights|0 Comments

LOD: Judicial Public Financing

The same rightwing law firm that engineered the Citizens United decision also attacked North Carolina’s judicial public financing program a few years ago; they took their challenge all the way to the US Supreme Court and lost. Now they’re representing a “right to life” group in Wisconsin, claiming that state’s new judicial program (modeled on [...]

By Bob Hall| 2011-06-21T21:29:41-04:00 June 21st, 2011|Citizens United Case, Judicial Elections, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Voter-Owned Elections|0 Comments

LOD: First Maps of NC Districts

Republicans in the state legislature are beginning to roll out their maps for the new General Assembly districts using 2010 Census data. They’re following federal law by first drawing districts that comply with the Voting Rights Act, which is good. But it appears they are going well beyond that mandate to use the VRA to create [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:37-05:00 June 20th, 2011|Link-of-the-Day, Redistricting|1 Comment

LOD: Voter Suppression Update

North Carolina’s infamous photo ID bill (H-351 – we call it the “Voter Suppression Act of 2011”) passed as expected on party line votes and is on its way to Gov. Bev Perdue. You can encourage her to veto the bill with this handy action alert. The other major anti-voter bill, S-47, was pulled off [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:37-05:00 June 16th, 2011|Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics, Voter-Owned Elections, Voting Rights|1 Comment

LOD: Pay-to-Play Harms Public Health

Pay-to-play politics can be petty – or deadly serious. The Wilmington Star-News reports that state Sen. Thom Goolsby received a $4,000 donation from the head of the city’s home builders association and shortly thereafter introduced a bill in the General Assembly that the association’s lobbyist had prepared. The bill overrides a city policy about how [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:39-05:00 June 15th, 2011|Environmental Issues, Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Pay to Play, Uncategorized|2 Comments

LOD: The Up-Chuck Bill

A hodgepodge of anti-voter bills resurfaced this afternoon in the House Committee on Elections as a single 44-page proposal, without warning or even a summary of its complex contents for committee members. Republican chair David Lewis wanted the bill voted on that afternoon. Rep. Deborah Ross (D-Wake County) called the process “legislative malfeasance,” and others [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:39-05:00 June 14th, 2011|Civic Engagement, Disclosure, Ethics, Judicial Elections, Link-of-the-Day, Pay to Play, Voter-Owned Elections, Voting Rights|4 Comments

LOD: Elections Matter & So Do You

A report from the Pew Center on the States reveals the sharp differences in what various state legislatures achieved this year, depending on which partisan group has “one party rule.” Republicans now have control of the legislature and governorship in 20 states, up from 8 before the 2010 election, while the Democrats are in total [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:39-05:00 June 13th, 2011|Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day|0 Comments