Just when I thought we could take a breather from republican shenanigans, I received an email from The League of Women Voters in Virginia with information about a vote to be held today -- Tuesday, January 29 by The Senate Privileges and Elections (P&E) committee.
SB 719. This bill removes several items from the list of acceptable identification documents that a voter must present when voting at the polls on Election Day: current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck that shows the name and address of the voter.
SB 723. This bill would create an electoral system in which the Commonwealth's electoral votes for president of the United States would be allocated by congressional district as opposed to the current system where all of the electoral votes from Virginia go to the individual that receives the most votes.
SB 723 would allow a presidential candidate to become president even when a strong majority of the electorate voted for the other candidate.
SB 1256. This bill would require a photo ID at the polls and eliminate all forms of identification that do not contain a photograph of the voter from the list of forms of identification any one of which a voter must present in order to be allowed to vote.
This news is important not just for those of us who live in Virginia, but for everyone. Not only do we have the upcoming governor's race later this year (likely to be Ken Cuccinelli as the republican candidate), but Virginia is a swing state, and if any of these bills are passed, it's going to make it difficult or impossible to elect a Democratic president in 2016.
I strongly urge everyone who lives in Virginia to contact their senatorial representative and urge that they vote against these bills. Even if you don't live in Virginia, if you know anybody that does live in Virginia who doesn't care for voter suppression, please let them know about this.
Information on how to contact your representatives is below. Please, please pass this information on.
To find your legislator:
http://conview.state.va.us/...
Senators on the committee (I emailed all of them):
Senator Obenshain (Chairman) - district26@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7526
Senator Howell - district32@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7532
Senator Martin - district11@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7511
Senator Deeds - district25@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7525
Senator Puckett - district38@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7538
Senator Edwards - district21@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7521
Senator McEachin - district09@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7509
Senator Petersen - district34@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7534
Senator Smith - district19@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7519
Senator Northam - district06@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7506
Senator Vogel - district27@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7527
Senator McWaters - district08@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7508
Senator Carrico - district40@senate.virginia.gov or 804.698.7540