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.
Nike shares were lower after the company announced it would feature Colin Kaepernick as part of its new ad campaign. #NikeBoycott trended on Twitter as users showed themselves destroying Nike apparel.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will face the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday on Capitol Hill to discuss a variety of topics like hate speech and election interference. Tony Romm, Technology Reporter for the Washington Post, says Google's refusal to send a high-level exec could result in "huge PR hits" for the company.
Joe Buscaino, a Los Angeles City Council Member, believes the implementation of electric scooters and better bike lanes and accessibility will improve the traffic and mobility of the city of Los Angeles.
Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, has donated over $40 million to news outlets such as Mother Jones and ProPublica that support investigative journalism. "This is my war," he told Cheddar.
After a recent report claiming that Andrew Cuomo accepted undisclosed donations from cannabis companies, many are suspicious of the gubernatorial incumbent who is seeking re-election against actress Cynthia Nixon, a political newcomer. Alyson Martin, a co-founder of CannabisWire, which published the report, told Cheddar on Friday that she thinks the news is an indication that Cuomo may be softening his stance on marijuana.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Amazon put out a statement refuting Bernie Sander's position that its workers were underpaid and overworked. Brian Heater, a hardware editor at TechCrunch, thinks the nearly $1 trillion company can withstand it.
Amy Nelson, founder of the Riveter, tries to imagine a scenario in which a female CEO would be praised for crying in an interview.
After criticism from the French tennis federation that her much-loved "catsuit" was disrespectful to the sport, Serena Williams took the court at the U.S. Open in a tutu -- and blew open a conversation long-asked in offices everywhere: just what is "work appropriate attire"? Vanessa Friedman, fashion critic for the New York Times, said it's about time.
