Daily Archives: Aug. 15, 2012

Voter ID controversy will continue

Aug. 15, 201212:31 p.m.

A Pennsylvania judge decided today not to issue a preliminary injunction of his state’s new voter ID law, meaning that the requirements will be in place for the November presidential election unless the Pennsylvania Supreme Court intervenes. But the controversy will continue. GOP lawmakers argue that the law is needed to protect the integrity of voting. Others contend that the law is really aimed at reducing turnout among minorities and the poor. (The GOP House leader in Pennsylvania once boasted that the new law “is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state.”) A national study released this week found only 10 cases of alleged in-person voter impersonation since 2000. That amounts to one case per every 15 million registered voters nationwide. An estimated 1.3 million voters in Pennsylvania don’t have the required ID.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under U.S. politics, Voting | Comments Off

Legislature will have lots of new faces

Aug. 15, 20126:02 a.m.

Due to retirements, redistricting and a well-financed campaign to defeat GOP moderates, the Legislature will have a lot of new faces next year. Based on primary results, at least 45 of the House’s 125 members, or 36 percent, will be new, and at least 13 of the 40 Senate members, or 32 percent, will be new, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The turnover could be even higher depending on what happens in the November general election.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government | Comments Off

Market worked on Election Day, Brownback says

Aug. 15, 20126:00 a.m.

“The market functioned on Tuesday,” Gov. Sam Brownback said, noting how, when given a choice between conservative and moderate candidates in last week’s primary, GOP voters picked the conservative in most races. Of course, the market was also aided by the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity spent to influence that choice.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback | Comments Off