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Showing blog posts tagged with Voter Registration Efforts

Today is National Voter Registration Day

Today is National Voter Registration Day. Volunteers, celebrities and organizations from all over the country are "hitting the streets" for National Voter Registration Day. This single day of coordinated field, technology and media efforts will create awareness of voter registration opportunities. Want to get involved? Find a National Voter Registration Day event near you

Are you on Twitter? Follow the action using the hashtags #925NVRD and #voteready. 

Make sure all your friends and family are ready to vote this November. Send them to www.aflcio.org/register.

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One Good Reason Why the Pa. Voter ID Law Must be Overturned: Jean Foreman

Don't forget to register to vote: www.aflcio.org/register

Jean Foreman, 80, had to wait four hours at the Pittsburgh PennDOT to get her voter ID last Tuesday. Foreman was denied a Pennsylvania state-issued  ID on the first try. The problem was, Foreman did not have a birth certificate (although she had tried several times to obtain one without any success). When she was born, the hospital did not record the births of African American children. Volunteer attorneys with the United Steelworkers (USW) at the My Vote, My Right event outside the PennDOT, were able to help Foreman come up with additional printouts of bills, voter registration paperwork and an affidavit from a person who swore Foreman lived at her residence. During the four-hour process hunting down paperwork, Foreman had to take a break to sip orange juice because as a diabetic, her blood sugar was getting low and she was feeling weak.

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Get Your 'Vote Hands' Ready: National Voter Registration Day

Are you warmed up to vote? Are your "vote hands" ready? Ours sure are. 

Tuesday, Sept. 25, is National Voter Registration Day and we're reminding everyone to make sure all their friends and family are registered to vote. Send them to www.aflcio.org/register. The process is simple and quick. 

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Voter Fraud? You're More Likely to Be Struck by Lightning

Think voter fraud is a problem? Think again. The chance of voter fraud occurring in a federal election is 1 in 2.3 million. A person is more likely to be struck by lightning or attacked by a swarm of bees than commit voter fraud. 

Thirty-four states introduced voter ID requirements that would effectively disenfranchise more than 21 million eligible voters who don’t have the required IDs—mostly people of color, low-income voters, students, seniors and people with disabilities.

The NAACP recently released this video, Dangerous World, which shows voter fraud isn't dangerous but stopping 21 million people from voting is. 

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Pa. Supreme Court Voter ID Development Is a 'Positive Step'

Pa. AFL-CIO and community activists helped voters sign up for IDs Sept. 18.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to send the voter ID law back to the lower court for evaluation on whether the law disenfranchises voters "is a positive step," says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. 

But it is also a reminder of how cumbersome voter ID laws have become to voters. We are less than 50 days away from a critically important election, and many voters are going to face problems voting because of confusing voter ID laws. In Pennsylvania alone, more than 758,000 residents lack a state-issued ID and nationally the problem is even bigger. 

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Why Hundreds of Pennsylvanians Braved the Rain to Get an ID

Pa. voter David Holmes and AFL-CIO Vice President Arlene Holt Baker pose outside the DMV.

A little rain never hurt anybody and it certainly didn't stop hundreds of Pennsylvania voters from getting their voter IDs today at the Driver & Vehicle Services office in Pittsburgh. 

Pennsylvania voters who need IDs—thanks to a new state law that disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residentsincluding civic-minded seniors— were assisted by representatives from the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), along with the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and various community groups. Because of the new law, Pennsylvania state officials say that more than 785,000 voters don’t have a state-issued photo identification.

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Workers' Voice Launches Friends and Neighbors App

Worker's Voice just launched a Friends and Neighbors tool for online activists.

Want to do your part in getting friends and family out to vote for pro-working family candidates this November? Sign up for the Workers' Voice Friends and Neighbors (FAN) online social phone bank tool that just launched in seven states: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio and Florida. Visit the website: http://fan.workersvoice.org.

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Labor Day on Parade: How Working Families Celebrated

Colorado AFL-CIO thanked NHL mascot Bernie for all his hard work.

Last week we asked you to check out a Labor Day celebration nearby and thank the people whose work you appreciate by sending an e-card or video. Here’s a snapshot of some of the creative ways people celebrated Labor Day yesterday:

In Louisville, Colo., union members passed out Labor Day thank-you cards to firefighters, transportation workers and even Rocky, the NBA Denver Nuggets mascot, and Bernie the St. Bernard, mascot for the NHL Colorado Avalanche. View pictures on the Colorado AFL-CIO Facebook page.

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Republican Gov. Snyder Vetoes Bills that Would Cause Voter Suppression

Michigan Gov. Snyder signs the 2011-2012 budget. Photo courtesy of Gov. Snyder's website.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed three controversial election reform bills Tuesday—going against his fellow Republicans—that would have made it difficult for legitimate voters to participate in elections.

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