Ivory Coast Update: Laurent Gbagbo Arrested

by Asraa Mustufa on April 11 2011, 2:33PM

The incumbent -president has been in a violent standoff since refusing to step down after the country’s elections last November.

Topics: Global Affairs

Comments

Citizens United, One Year Later

by Jamilah King on January 21 2011, 2:05PM

Get ready. 2012 elections, here we come.

Topics: Politics

Comments

Salon Presents Best Race-Baiting Political Ads Awards

by Julianne Hing on October 29 2010, 10:48AM

It’s been a tawdry election season. And here’s some compelling evidence.

Topics: 2010 Elections

Comments

Obama Lectures Young Voters on Political Apathy

by Jamilah King on September 29 2010, 6:28PM

The Democrats election strategy takes a decidedly abrasive turn.

Topics: Politics

Comments

Wielding ‘Gender Card,’ Women’s Groups Campaign Against ‘Political Sexism’

by Michelle Chen on September 2 2010, 4:08PM

Few would doubt that racism and sexism are handled differently in politics and the media, but how, exactly?

Topics: On Gender, Politics

Comments

Poor, Jobless, and Getting out the Vote

by Michelle Chen on August 19 2010, 9:15AM

Labor hopes to make the unemployed their own political interest group.

Topics: On Gender, Politics

Comments

45th Anniversary of Voting Rights Act

by Jamilah King, Hatty Lee on August 7 2010, 3:13PM

A look back at the historic blow for racial justice.

Topics: History

Comments

Today in Anti-Muslim Party Politics: Dutch Edition

by Michelle Chen on June 10 2010, 12:15PM

With the Tea Party making inroads in primaries across the country, you might think the rabid outbursts and vapid sloganeering are a peculiarly American phenomenon. But in fact, Thursday’s elections in the Netherlands show that the U.S. has no monopoly…

Topics: Global Affairs, Immigration

Comments

Senate Majority Leader Promises Immigration Reform Now

by Seth Freed Wessler on April 12 2010, 10:00AM

At a rally for immigration reform in Las Vegas, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that Congress would start work on an overhaul when it returns from break today. The announcement came as a surprise, especially after other Democratic leaders…

Topics: Immigration

Comments

New York’s Elections Mostly Blah, with a Little Chutzpah

by Michelle Chen on November 4 2009, 11:43PM

The reaction of many New Yorkers to Tuesday’s election results was probably something along the lines of, “eh.” Billionaire Michael Bloomberg predictably snared a third term as Mayor—hardly surprising, following his astronomical spending blitz and an unpopular (some say…

Topics:

Comments

Giving them back their vote

by Michelle Chen on July 25 2009, 6:15AM

The 2008 election brought remarkable voter turnout from communities of color. But while Obama’s candidacy may have spurred historically underrepresented groups to go to the polls in record numbers, the political clout of many of those communities was undercut…

Topics:

Comments

Voting rights today: The more things change…

by Michelle Chen on June 23 2009, 7:42PM

In a much-anticipated decision this week, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that thanks to the passage of the Voting Rights Act more than 40 years ago, “we are now a very different Nation.” The politically fraught case, Northwest Austin…

Topics:

Comments

Four Reasons to Shake off the Post-Obama Election Haze

by Tammy Johnson on May 20 2009, 2:10PM

At 8:23 a.m. Tuesday, I was the eleventh person to vote at Santa Fe Elementary School in Oakland for California’s spring election. I wasn’t surprised. Special elections are notorious for low voter turn out. Twenty-three states, including Michigan, New Jersey,…

Topics:

Comments

Looking Beyond the Supreme Court on Voting Rights

by Dom Apollon on April 29 2009, 10:56AM

As you may have heard, lawyers on opposing sides of a slew of critical civil rights cases have been arguing before the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court lately. Last week our nation’s closely-split high court heard what they call…

Topics:

Comments

What’s in a Name?

by Michelle Chen on April 9 2009, 2:38PM

Maybe Asian people would have an easier time participating in democracy if their names weren’t so darn tricky. That was the suggestion of one Texas legislator at a hearing on a proposed voter identification law. Though supporters argue that…

Topics: Immigration

Comments

Protections of Voting Rights Act Narrowing

by Guest Columnist on March 11 2009, 2:34PM

by Esmeralda Simmons, founder and executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice In a five to four decision on March 9th, the Supreme Court narrowed the protections of Voting Rights Act, holding that Section 2 does not…

Topics:

Comments

Representing D.C.

by Michelle Chen on February 26 2009, 4:17PM

Of all the civil rights struggles that have drawn people to the streets of the nation’s capital, one of the most enduring conflicts is a homegrown one: the basic political enfranchisement of the District of Columbia’s residents. Today, the…

Topics:

Comments

Racewire Election Roundup

by Jonathan Adams on November 7 2008, 7:42AM

While Obama’s sweeping victory dominated the morning-after headlines, voters across the country also made important choices November 4 on state ballot initiatives covering a range of issues, from criminal justice to gay marriage, and reproductive rights to affirmative action. When…

Topics:

Comments

2008 Election Voter Turnout

by Jonathan Adams on November 6 2008, 5:13PM

The percentage of Americans who voted in this year’s historic presidential campaign appeared to reach the highest level in four decades. About 133.3 million people cast ballots — or about 62.5% of the electorate. “Voter Turnout Best in Generations, Maybe…

Topics:

Comments

Voter Suppression in 2008 Presidential Election

by Jorge Rivas on November 6 2008, 2:28PM

Voter suppression made headlines weeks before November 4th this year. One of the biggest stories was allegations that ACORN had committed voter registration fraud, and the cable news networks dragged it out for weeks. Although we’ve seen reports of…

Topics:

Comments