Anderson@Large

Southern Discomfort

Election Day is 168 days away.

States are getting ready by making it harder for voters to cast a ballot that will be counted. Last week, Virginia Gov. Bob McConnell signed a voter ID bill. While Virginia’s law is not as strict as, say, Pennsylvania’s photo ID requirements, it’s still a solution in search of a problem.

The Roanoke Times editorialized:

Gov. Bob McDonnell appeared genuinely torn over two bills on his desk that require Virginians to present identification at polling places or cast provisional ballots and later prove their identity.

[…]

He also directed state elections officials to send a voter registration card to every registered voter in the commonwealth. Everyone will have that identification to bring to the polling place on Election Day.

Well, most everyone. The governor did not concede this in his announcement, but some people inevitably will be missed.

McDonnell also ordered elections officials to conduct an education campaign and keep track of how many provisional ballots are cast because of the new law.

McConnell was the latest southern governor to join the voter ID bandwagon. Stateline reports:

The Republican governors of Virginia and Mississippi are the latest to sign legislation making sure voters show proper identification before they cast their ballots, a trend that has the Obama re-election campaign ramping up its efforts to make sure voters know of the new requirements.

In Mississippi, Governor Phil Bryant late last week signed into law a state constitutional amendment requiring voters to show photo ID that Mississippi voters approved by 62 percent in the 2011 general election. The measure also allows people without proper photo identification to apply for a free voter ID at the office of the county circuit clerk. “We want everyone to participate in the election process, and we want that process to be fair and secure,” the governor said in a statement.

Virginia already required voters to have valid ID, but has never required a photo ID and that doesn’t change now. Legislation that Governor Robert F. McDonnell signed on Friday does change voting procedures in two ways. Under previous law, those who didn’t have identification could sign a special document vowing they were who they said they were.

That is no longer an option under the new legislation. Instead, when someone votes without presenting identification, they can vote with a provisional ballot but must later present an approved ID to their local registrar through email, fax, mail or hand delivery.

Read more: More Voter ID Laws Enacted in the South

Poll Vault

Election Day is 175 days away.

Last week, President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage. Newsweek has since labeled Obama “The First Gay President.”

But heavy is the head that wears the crown, or more accurately, a rainbow-colored "gaylo." The New York Times reports:

The survey results made it clear that the president was wading into a divisive area of American life, one that may not top the nation’s priority list but still has the potential to hurt him at the margins in elections in November. About 4 in 10, or 38 percent, of Americans support same-sex marriage, while 24 percent favor civil unions short of formal marriage. Thirty-three percent oppose any form of legal recognition. When civil unions are eliminated as an option, opposition to same-sex marriage rises to 51 percent, compared with 42 percent support.

[…]

The poll showed that relatively few voters consider same-sex marriage their top issue amid continued economic uncertainty, and more than half said it would make no difference in their choice for president. But among those who said Mr. Obama’s position would influence their vote, more said they would be less likely to vote for him as a result; in a close race, even a small shift in swing states could be costly.

A CBS News/New York Times poll found Mitt Romney “has a slight edge” over Obama. Indeed, the latest email from Obama for America acknowledges “this election is going to be close.”

With the new voting changes, there is no margin for error.

Are you ready?

Voter ID Matters

Equal Pay Day

Hilary Rosen’s comment that Ann Romney “never worked a day in her life” set off a firestorm of criticism. Rosen was quickly thrown under the bus.

Today is Equal Pay Day Women who work outside the home earn on average less than men. The Institute for Women s Policy Research reports:

Women are almost half of the workforce. They are the equal, if not main, breadwinner in four out of ten families. They receive more college and graduate degrees than men. Yet, on average, women continue to earn considerably less than men. In 2010, female full-time workers made only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 23 percent. Women, on average, earn less than men in virtually every single occupation for which there is sufficient earnings data for both men and women to calculate an earnings ratio.

Whether a woman works outside the home or is a stay-at-home mother, “she works hard for the money.”

War on Voting

Countdown to Election Day

Voting While Black

The November election is 216 days away.

The Wisconsin Republican presidential primary will be held today. Voters will not have to show government-issued photo ID -- at least not yet. The legal challenges to one of the nation’s most restrictive photo ID laws are headed directly to the state Supreme Court.

The court could rule at any time so voters should get ready. A whopping 55 percent of African American men do not have a driver’s license.

Similarly, 49 percent of black women lack an official photo ID. Among African Americans between the ages of 18 and 24, 78 percent of black men and 66 percent of black women do not have a driver’s license.

The clock is ticking.