Fake voter registration hoopla, will vets vote? and more...

News roundup!

Religious Liberty
Here's a story on a UW professor who just wrote a book on the complicated issue of religious healings and medical neglect. The interview with the author addresses the clash between religious liberty and state law in Wisconsin.


Voting Rights
Here is an article summarizing some of the recent controversies about non-partisan groups submitting invalid voter registration forms. Read on for the story about what ACORN did to fix their side of the problem. There is a lot here about partisan bickering over who would benefit from what voting reform laws, but ultimately it must be pointed out that eliminating election-day registration or requiring photo ID to vote creates more barriers to legitimate voting than it would stop this continued myth of widespread, in-person voter fraud. Think about it: what would requiring an ID at the polls do to fix the fact that paid canvassers, motivated by making earning money easier, faked registrations? It's not like they then convince their friends to show up at the polls under those fake names. We don't buy the conspiracy. We need fewer barriers to voting, not more.

According to this AlterNet story, the first large block of voters to be disenfranchised in 2008 are the wounded warriors from recent wars and homeless veterans living at hundreds of Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the country, according to veterans and voting rights activists. While Wisconsin's valuable election-day registration practice may make our vets able to avoid this controversy, what does our state Vets Administration think about this issue?

Issue of ex-felon voting rights was recently covered in the Washington Post - the article looks at some of the myths and assumptions of partisanship in the effort ot restore the vote to the formerly incarcerated and highlights the work of the ACLU nationally on voting rights.


Miscellany
And this is cool: because free speech isn't always "free," TDS just donated a chunk of change to the Lussier Community Ed Center for a studio where youth can record music.