Voting rights groups in Ohio are being lauded for their oversight efforts which uncovered massive errors in the state's recent bid to remove hundreds of thousands of voters from its rolls. The inspection, which was carried out primarily by nonprofit volunteers, found that more than 40,000 voters were mistakenly included on the state's to-be-deleted list.
"It definitely showed that Ohio's registration system needs a major upgrade," Jen Miller, the director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, told Cheddar on Monday. "We can't be using a policy as severe as a purge when we can't even be sure that our purge lists are correct."
In an unusual move, this past August Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose publically released a list of 235,000 voters that were set to be deleted from the state's registry. By reviewing the long spreadsheet, the League of Women Voters and several other groups uncovered gross inaccuracies, including the inclusion of Miller's name.
Yet Secretary LaRose, a Republican, has praised the process, saying his office undertook the most transparent review of Ohio's voting rolls to date. "Because of our collaboration with outside organizations, the proper safeguards are in place to ensure any eligible voter will have the opportunity to have their voice heard," LaRose said in a statement after revising the list.
The list maintenance process, as it's officially called, is legally mandated in Ohio and seeks to clear the state's system of deceased residents, inactive voters, or people who have moved out of state. Voter purging, however, has become a major issue nationwide as Republican-led initiatives in several states have sought to remove voters through controversial registration requirements, which critics say primarily target minority or Democratic voters.
Other oversight groups that participated in the review include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, All Voting is Local, and the Fair Elections Center.
The Small Business Grants Program, revealed in a blog post on Tuesday morning, was created to keep workers working, help with rent costs, connect with more customers, cover operational costs. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Fed is reviving a program that it first used during the 2008 financial crisis to unclog a short-term lending market for what is known as “commercial paper.” Large businesses issue commercial paper to raise cash to meet payrolls and cover other short-term costs.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House Democrats will pass the $8.3 billion ‘Families First Coronavirus Response Act’ today, though she did not mention support by Republicans or the White House.
Millions of voters in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois have already cast ballots for the 441 Democratic pledged delegates up for grabs in today and those who haven't are expected to head to the polls.
The guidelines mark the first attempt by the federal government to establish best practices for all Americans amid an avalanche of disparate state and local policies.
U.S. airlines are reportedly seeking as much as $50 billion in federal support as travel restrictions aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus have pushed the industry’s biggest players to the brink of bankruptcy.
The action came on the heels of an executive order by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, banning gatherings of 250 people or more across the state and shutting down schools.
Sen. Mitt Romney seems to be channeling former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang in his proposal to give every U.S. adult $1,000 to help them deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Gov. Cuomo revealed that there are now 950 confirmed cases in New York with 158 hospitalizations and seven death, along with a coordinated effort between New York and its neighboring states, New Jersey and Connecticut, in order to stem the increased spread of the COVID-19 disease.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, March 16, 2020.
