Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff
Voting restoration amendment has 900,000 signatures
Jim Rosica
13 hours ago
The main backer of a proposed constitutional amendment that would automatically restore some felons’ voting rights after they complete their sentences told Florida Politics his effort now has collected over 900,000 signatures.
“Knowing that we set the goal of collecting 1 million, the fact that we are less than 100,000 petitions away from our goal is an amazing attestation to the growing energy, excitement, and support around second chances,” said Desmond Meade, chair of Floridians for Fair Democracy and president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, in a Tuesday email.
The Florida Division of Elections website showed as of the end of Tuesday that the citizen ballot initiative, known as “The Voting Restoration Amendment,” has 442,969 verified signatures.
Initiatives need 766,200 valid signatures for ballot placement. Signatures must be spread across Florida’s 27 congressional districts, with the total number due pegged to voter turnout in the most recent presidential election.
According to the ballot summary, “This amendment restores the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation.
“The amendment would not apply to those convicted of murder or sexual offenses, who would continue to be permanently barred from voting unless the Governor and Cabinet vote to restore their voting rights on a case by case basis.”
Former state Senate Democratic Leaders Arthenia Joyner of Tampa and Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale separately filed the proposal with the Constitution Revision Commission, which has the power to put it directly on the ballot.
During his term as Florida governor, then-Republican Charlie Crist worked with Cabinet members Alex Sink and Charles Bronson to push through restoration of rights for more than 150,000 non-violent felons. That process was quickly halted by Gov. Rick Scott when he took office in 2011.
Current law requires Florida convicts to wait years after they complete their sentences to apply for rights restoration through the Board of Executive Clemency, made up of Scott and members of the Cabinet.
“This news has increased my level of excitement about what’s happening in Florida, and it has definitely increased my confidence that the desire of Florida voters to have this issue on the ballot will become a reality,” Meade said. “In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am extremely thankful for the tremendous efforts of the grassroots, and the diversity of the growing support to this campaign.”
http://floridapolitics.com/archives/250 ... -amendment
Sequoia Systems is 20% owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, an equity leverage firm that in the last few years has joined partnerships on several occasions (in acquisitions worth several billion dollars) with the infamous Carlyle group, which has well documented ties to Bushes Jr. and Sr., Dick Cheney and the family of Osama Bin Laden. In fact Carlyle and Madison Dearborn, as of July of this year, joined together to buy the Williams Energy Group (WEG). Williams Energy is not only the largest manager of petroleum pipelines on the Eastern Seaboard but was also the central player in the California energy “crisis” that precipitated the downfall of (Bush connected) Enron and Anderson Accounting.
On the board of Williams Energy, now owned by a firm with familial ties to the Bush junta, is a man named Harold W. Andersen who happens to be a major investor in World Companies, Inc. the primary shareholder of vote-counting giant ES&S.
Replying to @RVAwonk @PreetBharara
This!
Wilbur Ross is a major investor in the Company E S & S Voting Machines (which are easily hackable) the ones Alabama will use in Special Election on 12/12!
1. #DougJones. A Repub., a Dem., an Independent, & a minister have filed a LAWSUIT to compel ALABAMA SOS John Merrill to PRESERVE the DIGITAL BALLOT IMAGES that r generated automatically by AL's VOTING MACHINES. The images can help verify the machine tally https://tinyurl.com/y8334r8z
https://twitter.com/ANomadicView?ref_sr ... adlet.html
seemslikeadream » Wed Dec 20, 2017 3:08 pm wrote:one vote.....some times only one vote makes a huge difference VIRGINIA!
Virginia election board postpones draw to decide tied delegate race
Virginia officials on Tuesday said they were delaying a lottery that would determine the winner of a tied race for a seat in the state's House of Delegates, after Democratic candidate Shelly Simonds filed a legal challenge disputing the tie, according to Reuters.
No new date was immediately set for the drawing of lots, which was originally set for Wednesday.
Simonds filed a challenge with the Virginia Board of Elections over a vote that was counted for her opponent, GOP incumbent Del. David Yancey, a day after an official recount certified her the victor by one vote.
Simonds told reporters on Tuesday that the court must rule in her favor to prevent “recounts [becoming] a never-ending spiral of courtroom challenges.”
The Virginia House Republican Caucus told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing the court filings.
“We believe the court acted appropriately and that the integrity of the process is without question,” spokesman Parker Slaybaugh said.
A three-judge panel ruled last week that the ballot would be counted, bringing the race to a tie. Simonds' attorneys called the decision a “clear legal error,” running “contrary to Virginia law.”
"This was not only contrary to the plain language of Virginia law, but was also contrary to the language that counsel for Mr. Yancey insisted be included in the Recount Consent Order,” Simonds' court filing said.
The fate of the contested ballot will decide control of the Virginia House of Delegates, with a possible Democratic victory causing an evenly split chamber. An original Election Day count put Yancey 10 votes ahead of Simonds, but a Democrat-requested recount brought Simonds just past her opponent.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/36 ... ssion=true
Return to Data & Research Compilations
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests