The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this afternoon blocked Texas’ new voter ID law, ruling that it discriminated against minority voters. Yesterday in Florida, a federal judge struck down what he called "harsh and impractical" restrictions on voter registration imposed by a voter suppression law signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2011.

Texas AFL-CIO Communications Director Ed Sills sends us this report from his daily e-mail newsletter. Sign up for the Texas AFL-CIO E-News at labor@texasaflcio.org.   

A three-judge federal panel ruled Tuesday that Texas’ redrawing of political boundaries for Congress and the legislature discriminated against Hispanics and must be set aside under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Imagine if you were a child and living in constant fear of losing your parents.

For many children of aspiring citizens, potential loss of one or both parents is a day-to-day reality. Deportations can force children into foster care when their parents are shipped out of the country and leave single mothers struggling to make ends meet.

A new Center for American Progress report highlights how deportations break up families and negatively affect the entire community.

Turn outrage into action by signing a new petition demanding an end to Ohio’s voter suppression.

ColorOfChange.org just launched a petition demanding that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted restore weekend voting hours in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

To sign the petition, click here.

One Ohio election official said he frankly doesn’t care if the state’s attempt to curtail weekend early voting hours suppresses voting by minority and low-income voters. Meanwhile, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted suspended and will try to fire two county election officials who had the audacity to oppose his voter suppression tactics. 

Ohio AFL-CIO is protesting outside Husted's office today. They will march from Husted's office to the Franklin County Board of Elections for its meeting at 3 p.m. For more photos of the protest and updates, visit Ohio AFL-CIO's Facebook page here. 

This from TPM:

A panel of federal judges ruled late Thursday that a Florida law that limits the number of early voting days cannot be implemented in several counties because it
would have an adverse impact on minority turnout.

The early voting restrictions are part of a voter suppression package the Republican-controlled state legislature passed last year. Other provisions included disenfranchising 100,000 previously eligible ex-felons who'd been granted the right to vote under Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008 and shutting down non-partisan voter registration drives. In May, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the provision restricting non-partisan voter registration drives.

A Pennsylvania state judge yesterday refused to block the voter suppression law that Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R) said “is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the Pennsylvania law and other similar voter ID laws

are being pushed for partisan reasons to disenfranchise particular groups of voters.  They are cynical and wrong, and they undermine our democracy.

Yet another study shows that supposed rampant “voter fraud” is nearly nonexistent. The Washington Post reports on a study today that finds one voter fraud case for every 16 million prospective voters.

An analysis of 2,068 reports of alleged election fraud over the past 12 years by News21 shows that in-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which has prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tougher voter ID laws, was virtually nonexistent.

A small group of Pennsylvania voters who cast a ballot in 50 consecutive November elections is an elite bunch. In the state, they’re inducted into the “Voter Hall of Fame.”

However, thanks to a new Voter ID law passed by state Republicans, nearly one-fourth of these civically minded seniors do not have the proper state-issued ID to vote this November.

U.S. military veterans severely criticized Mitt Romney today for supporting laws limiting the right of residents to vote in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, where Republican-controlled legislatures recently enacted new voting laws. In a press conference this morning, the veterans also took Romney to task for accusing President Obama of suppressing the vote of military veterans because the Obama campaign filed a lawsuit seeking to block an Ohio law that restricts a successful early voting program.