The posts in this category discuss our core issues.
This weekend in Charlotte... On a lovely Saturday morning, we attended the infamous Black Berry Brunch with its galore of summer hats; pastel colored suits and finely dressed escorts. The event was hosted by the Black Women Caucus to discuss the ignored efforts the state has on Education and to celebrate the recognized awardees for [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Another week in Charlotte… Our week started with a planning day. We went to the office and set our goals on the table then later we made phone calls to prepare for our tour stop that was to begin the next day. Tuesday morning called for our full and undivided attention as we made our [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
This week in Charlotte… It’s been another eventful week! Monday started off with scrupulous amounts of planning for meetings that were to be held in the upcoming days. In the evening, we also met with Mary Klenz from Legal Women Voters along with Advocate Tom Bowers, in order to discuss the details of our scheduled [...]
According to a new analysis by Rock the Vote, only three states (Washington, Iowa and Montana) have better policies to help young people participate in elections than North Carolina. We tie with Oregon in fourth place and 45 states rank below us, with neighbors South Carolina and Virginia tied for dead last! This Voting System [...]