Election day is tomorrow! Are you ready to make a difference? Ms. has put together a list of last-minute items to ensure that all citizen’s voices are heard on November 6. Hopefully by this point, you’ve successfully completed the first (and most important) item on the election checklist: Register to vote, which has never been […]
2012 Election
Yes, Virginia (and Ohio and Florida and Connecticut), There is a Gender Gap
Despite recent headlines like “The Disappearing Gender Gap,” “Closing the Gender Gap,” and “Obama, Romney Erase Gender Gap Among Voters,” don’t be fooled: The gender gap–the measurable difference between the way women and men vote for candidates and view political issues–is not disappearing. To the contrary, it is driving the 2012 election. Nate Silver of […]
Know Your November Ballot: Health Care
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Ms. will be outlining state ballot initiatives and referenda of major significance to women. When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law on March 23, 2010, a series of health-care reforms were put in place to be carried out over the subsequent four years. […]
Know Your November Ballot: Jobs, Wages and Economic Policy
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Ms. will be outlining state ballot initiatives and referenda of major significance to women. There are a variety of initiatives pertaining to economic policy on state ballots this November, ranging from affirmative action to teacher’s rights to union election representation. Oklahoma could join several states in banning […]
Candy Crowley in the Spotlight
Much of the buzz around today’s presidential debate does not concern economic policy, foreign affairs or the War on Women. No, much of the hoopla centers on a third party: the debate moderator, CNN’s Candy Crowley. Debate moderators have been given particular attention this election season, and their performances have been rated as intently as […]
Know Your November Ballot: Same-Sex Marriage
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Ms. will be outlining state ballot initiatives and referenda of major significance to women. Though one would think that by this point all Americans would be enjoying equal civil rights, marriage equality continues to be a divisive point of contention. Same-sex marriage first became a reality in […]
NEWSFLASH: Earned Sick Time Fails to Make Florida Ballot
A coalition pushing for earned sick time in Orange County, Fla., was defeated today when its initiative failed to make the November 2012 ballot. Though the coalition, Citizens for a Greater Orange County, collected around 50,000 signatures during the summer in support of the initiative, the Orange County Commission halted the initiative from going forward. […]
NEWSFLASH: Penn. Supreme Court Blocks Voter I.D. Law
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court temporarily stopped a harsh voter I.D. law from taking effect in the upcoming November 2012 election, sending the case back to the lower court for further review. In a 4-2 decision the state’s highest court ruled today that the six-month-old voter I.D. law is not being implemented correctly and, as a […]
Two Courts Overturn Voter Suppression Laws
In the last week, federal courts have delivered major victories against voter-suppression legislation that seeks to disenfranchise millions of registered voters this November. A federal appeals court struck down a voter I.D. law in Texas last Thursday, ruling that it violated Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against minority voters. The three-judge […]
NEWSFLASH: Personhood Amendment Will Not be on Colorado Ballot
UPDATE 8/30/12: The Colorado Personhood Coalition announced that it is challenging Colorado’s Secretary of State, who determined the group did not have enough valid signatures for its ballot initiative. Members from Colorado Personhood claim petitions with valid signatures were discarded. A personhood amendment, which would have defined a “person” at “any stage of development,” including […]