Tag Archives: Topic: Elections

Boston Herald: “Massachusetts’ four Roman Catholic bishops are urging Catholics to vote in next week’s elections in a way that will ‘enhance human dignity’ . . . It urged voters to weigh abortion, same-sex marriage, religious freedom, and the well-being of the poor in their decisions.”

Breitbart.tv: “Two Ames churches that will host satellite voting during services this month are part of a trend blurring the line of church-and-state separation, the Iowa ACLU said Wednesday. ‘Combining polling places with religious services is an invitation to the abuse of both religion and the civic act of voting,’ said Ben Stone, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.”

Bernama: “Stern action will be taken against individuals or political parties which raise sensitive religious and racial issues when campaigning in the upcoming Batu Sapi parliamentary seat by-election.”

Daily Herald: “Executive Director Jan Czarnik said what happened at Wednesday’s debate and subsequent criticism directed at moderator Kathy Tate-Bradish was an attempt by supporters of Republican candidate Joe Walsh of McHenry and tea party members to bully the organization.” Seeing Red AZ has video of the event.

New York Times: “If elected, Ms. Sparks would be the first transgender supervisor in San Francisco — the liberal enclave where Harvey Milk was elected as one of the nation’s first openly gay officials in 1977, and perhaps the only place where Ms. Sparks might be considered right-of-center. But she is not the only transgender person campaigning for public office this fall. And unlike in years past, when such candidates were often considered mere curiosities, several are within striking distance of historic victories.”

Fox News: “Portland [Maine] residents will vote Nov. 2 on a proposal to give legal residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections, joining places like San Francisco and Chicago that have already loosened the rules or are considering it.”

Well, in this case, I’m not so sure that the church is violating the tax code by speaking out on judicial retention . . . In this issue, with judicial retention, it is not clear to me that the Justices up for a retention vote are “candidates.”

Des Moines Register: “‘This is a bigger issue, not just about Iowa,’ [FRC president Tony Perkins] said in an interview. ‘What you see happening here is a precedent being set, and other states will feel comfortable following it.’”

Jerry Markon and Krissah Thompson writing at The Washington Post: “Interviews and government documents reviewed by The Washington Post show that the case tapped into deep divisions within the Justice Department that persist today over whether the agency should focus on protecting historically oppressed minorities or enforce laws without regard to race.”

Letter to the editor of The Daily Nonpareil (Council Bluffs, IA) by Steve Meidlinger: “I’m not at all hesitant to tell you I feel my right to vote has been usurped by Senator Mike Gronstal and three activist Judges on our Iowa Supreme Court. We, the people, have every right to be heard this most important issue of our time. We are being held hostage by politicians like Mike Gronstal who has been diligently working with activist homosexual groups from outside the state in an effort to affect our Iowa state laws on marriage. We are being told we don’t deserve to voice our opinion on this one of the most important moral issues of our time.”

The Hill: “‘Look, the time to go along and get along is over,’ said Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.), the chairman of the House Republican Conference. ‘House Republicans know that. We’ve taken firm and principled stands against their big government plans throughout this Congress, and we’ve got, if the American people will send them, we’ve got a cavalry of men and women headed to Washington, D.C. that are going to stand with us.’”

FindLaw (AP): “Minority Leader John Boehner promised this week that if southwest Georgia residents unseat Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop, he will support placing GOP challenger Mike Keown on the House Agriculture Committee.”

KY 3: “The Missouri Bar Association has created Judging the Judges, a website where you can find everything out about your local judges who are up for retention or removal.”

Boston.com (AP): “An anti-gay marriage group is preparing to ask a judge for the right to run ads in the Rhode Island governor’s race without having to comply with state election law.”

Hugh Hewitt writing at Townhall: “On the day after [the election] the GOP leadership should gather and announce their intention to begin planning both to (1) block anything except minimalist measures in the lame duck session of the most-profligate and destructive Congress of modern times and (2) to develop the agenda for early January. They ought as well to pledge maximum transparency in those deliberations.”

Andy Kopsa writing in The Iowa Independent: “The campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices over a 2009 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage has attracted the attention of some of the most influential conservative organizations in America . . . The Liberty Institute, the Texas organization offering to defend pastors who run afoul of the IRS by encouraging congregations to vote against the judges, is an affiliate organization of the Alliance Defense Fund.”

“Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), is being threatened with possible jail time for informing voters that Driehaus voted in favor of taxpayer-funded abortion with his vote for Obamacare.”

Globe & Gazette: “A conservative businessman spearheading an effort to unseat three Iowa Supreme Court justices believes that by allowing gay marriage in the state, the high court opened the door for intrafamily marriage and polygamy.”

LifeNews: “Two new polls of the Pennsylvania Senate race make the claim that pro-life candidate Pat Toomey lost his big lead to pro-abortion candidate Joe Sestak. Toomey had led in every poll from July through last week, but trails in two new surveys that come after Sestak launched his television advertising blitz.”

Des Moines Register / Iowa Politics Insider: “Churches that have become increasingly political – including two in Ames that will host satellite voting later this month – blur the line between the separation of church and state, the executive director of the Iowa ACLU said today.”

W. James Antle writing at The American Spectator: “There’s a double standard when it comes to religion and politics. Many people who claim to want the former out of the latter really only object to conservative religion advancing conservative politics . . . But Jack Conway is learning that even this old double standard has its limits. Conway is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Kentucky. With his campaign in desperation mode, he released an ad that suggests his Republican opponent Rand Paul is anti-Christian.”

Cincinnati.com / Politics Extra: “The Ohio ACLU today joined the fight against an Ohio law that potentially makes political speech a crime. The group filed a ‘friend of the court’ brief on behalf of the Susan B. Anthony List, a Washington D.C.-based anti-abortion group that wanted to put up billboards in Cincinnati.”

Minnesota Independent: “‘Quite often you hear people say, “What about separation of church and state?” There is no such thing,’ Severson told Brandon. ‘I mean it just does not exist, and it does not exist in America for a purpose, because we are a Christian nation.’” More information via Religion Clause.

Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, writing at USA Today: “Judges are not above the citizenry. The voters of Iowa have the civil right, and duty, to hold their judges accountable. And because we trust the voters to do the right thing, we look forward to Iowans voting ‘no’ on all three judges.”

Yahoo (AP): “An anti-abortion rights group spending heavily to influence the midterm elections is targeting 42 House Democrats in a $1 million mail campaign aimed at turning them out of Congress. The Susan B. Anthony List, focused on electing women who oppose abortion rights, is sending mailings to more than 2 million like-minded voters spotlighting Democrats’ records on abortion.”

Politico: “Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell questioned on Tuesday whether the Constitution provides for the separation of church and state.”  Similarly, the AP files this report. The Washington Post also carries this report that includes video of the debate.

John R. Guardiano writing at The American Spectator: “[W]hile O’Donnell may not have been as articulate as she should have been, she’s nonetheless right: The phrase ‘separation of church and state’ appears nowhere in the Constitution . . . The First Amendment had been designed to protect religion from governmental interference and obstruction. Today, by contrast, the courts seem intent on protecting the people from religion . . . So while the elites cluck in disapproval at what they believe is O’Donnell’s faux pas, the reality is she knows and understands the Constitution better than they do.”

The Susan B. Anthony List (“SBA”) filed a federal lawsuit yesterday asking the court to stop Ohio’s investigation of whether it made a “false statement” about a candidate for Congress until the court can decide whether the law they were charged under is constitutional.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy today ordered responsive briefing on an emergency request to halt unconstitutional aspects of Maine’s public funding scheme for state candidates.

LifeSiteNews: “Ken Buck sparked the reaction after telling the host of NBC’s Meet the Press during a debate with his opponent Sunday that the genetic effect upon homosexuality could be compared to that of alcoholism.”

New York Times: “Beyond that, conservatives say they are guided by less partisan motives: the fervent belief, shared by some liberal groups like the A.C.L.U., that the First Amendment should prevent the government from enacting campaign finance restrictions that can chill free speech, even if it means giving anonymity to donors and rights to corporations.”

Missoulian: “Saying a U.S. Supreme Court ruling trumps Montana’s unique historical circumstances, a Helena district judge Monday threw out as unconstitutional the state’s 1912 law banning direct corporate spending for or against political candidates or political parties.”

Pioneer Press: “A Hastings pastor who endorsed several political candidates from the pulpit Sunday has prompted [the Americans United for Separation of Church and State] to send a letter to the IRS stating the church has violated its tax-exempt status . . . Last month, some 100 pastors endorsed political candidates from the pulpit in an event organized by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.”

PolitiFact Wisconsin: “The Madison-based group [Planned Parenthood Advocates], which supports pro-choice candidates, has also been working to influence voters in 2010 — including pushing them to support Democrat Tom Barrett in the Nov. 2, 2010 election for governor. The group is painting Barrett’s rival, GOP nominee Scott Walker, as ‘just too extreme.’”

ABC: “When Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck was pressed Sunday to explain his belief that being gay is a ‘lifestyle’ choice, he compared it to alcoholism . . . Buck’s view — the underpinning for conservative opposition to broader civil rights for gays and lesbians — is hardly new. But his comments are the latest this election season to stir up national debate and draw criticism for perpetuating prejudice against gays.”

LifeSiteNews: “The pastoral letter ‘Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty,’ signed by New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and seven other New York state bishops, says Catholics must be ‘cautious’ when they cast votes this election, so as ‘not to be guided solely by party loyalty or by self interest.’”

Maria Abi-Habib writing in The Wall Street Journal [full text via Google News]: “Widespread incidents of fraud in Afghan elections last month included armed men stuffing ballot boxes, observers said, in a vote Western officials said will lead to the disqualification of as much as a quarter of the ballots cast.”

LifeNews: “LifeNews.com is pleased to present you with this comprehensive pro-life voting guide for the 2010 congressional elections. What follows is a list of both national and state-by-state information linking to you endorsements and voting information from pro-life and pro-family groups.”

Fox News: “No issue was more pivotal in the health care reform debate than abortion . . . That’s why anti-abortion activists are using the health care vote to as campaign fodder against these Democrats. In many cases, pro-life groups assert that these lawmakers sold out their principles on abortion to pass the health care law.”

Conn Carroll writing at The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: “Striking back against the electorate’s small government fervor, AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman penned a strategy memo last week claiming ‘Union Voters are the firewall for candidates that support working families.’ And sure enough Big Labor is pouring millions of dollars into this fall’s elections.”

SCOTUSblog page for SpeechNow.org v. FEC – “Whether, under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, the federal government may require an unincorporated association that makes only independent expenditures to register and report as a political committee.” (links to some filings)

Associated Press: “In Minnesota, New Hampshire, California and New York, gubernatorial campaigns have become battlegrounds for rival sides in the debate, with the Democratic candidates supporting same-sex marriage and the Republicans opposed.”

Seattle Times: “Wiggins’ financial supporters include an abortion-rights group, victim’s-rights groups and police officers.”

Andy Birkey writes at the Minnesota Independent: “A hundred miles to the southwest, in St. Peter, Pastor Stone says he’ll be endorsing candidates during services as part of Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) campaign to encourage pastors to endorse candidates in direct violation of the law. ADF is the brainchild of Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. ADF hopes that the IRS will revoke the tax-exempt status of those churches that endorse so that it can address the ban on endorsements with its team of lawyers. The rationale is that churches across the country will be able to endorse socially conservative candidates for office, giving Republicans a massive boost in election years — all while keeping their tax-exempt status.” | On the contrary see:  The Pulpit Initiative: What it is – What it’s not. | More information: ADF Pulpit Initiative

GlobeGazette.com: “Calling it an ‘extremist hate group’ trying to manipulate votes by using fear, religious leaders across the state Wednesday asked Bob Vander Plaats and his group, Iowa For Freedom, to denounce the American Family Association.”

Des Moines Register: “A new advocacy group that includes former Iowa Gov. Robert Ray and former Lt. Gov. Art Neu has been formed to campaign in favor of retaining three Iowa Supreme Court justices.”

Omaha.com: “On Wednesday, Vander Plaats said being a servant of the law, ‘doesn’t give the Iowa Supreme Court the authority to legislate from the bench, execute from the bench or attempt to amend the Constitution.’”

Charisma News: ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks said the D.C. Charter, which serves as a constitution for the district, guarantees citizens the right to initiate and vote on legislation, except for measures appropriating funds and other initiatives beyond the council’s scope. ”The decision from the D.C. Court of Appeals means that those living in our nation’s capitol are being denied the right to vote, and we hope the Supreme Court will restore this guaranteed right in the district,” Nimocks said. “The four dissenting judges were correct that the D.C. Council exceeded its authority when it imposed an unwarranted limitation on the citizens’ right to vote

Iowa State Daily: “Gordon’s church also participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday in September, a national effort organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group, aimed at convincing pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of the current tax code.”

“A federal appeals court upheld Washington state’s campaign-disclosure laws Tuesday, saying the requirements don’t violate the First Amendment rights of a group that didn’t want to reveal its donors in a 2008 opposition campaign to an assisted-suicide ballot measure.”

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has produced a sworn affidavit, submitted today to the Ohio Elections Commission, demonstrating that the Obama health care law does in fact provide federal subsidies for elective abortion.”

USA Today: “Gordon said he has recruited leaders at more than 100 churches . . . The Liberty Institute, a socially conservative nonprofit group in Texas, has promised free legal protection to any church that joins the campaign. Gordon’s plan is one of several efforts by conservative churches to challenge the IRS on a law they view as unconstitutional. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona organization that promotes conservative biblical values, has sponsored a "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" in recent years, a day when pastors speak specifically about candidates for office.”

A federal court in Hawaii has stopped the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission from enforcing a limit on contributions received by political committees doing only independent spending for political speech.

Jess Bravin writes at the Wall Street Journal: “After the Supreme Court freed corporations and unions to pay for advertisements supporting or attacking candidates for federal office, many states concluded that their own restrictions on such electioneering were doomed as well . . . Not Montana. Sued by three corporations seeking to influence the Nov. 2 legislative election, Attorney General Steve Bullock is arguing that Montana’s Corrupt Practices Act of 1912 remains constitutional . . . ”

CBS4Denver.com: “An interesting blend of activists are expected at the Colorado state Capitol to protest a common enemy — the state voting guide to constitutional amendments.”

Wall Street Journal: “If at first you don’t succeed, get some friends in high places to shut your opponents up. That’s the latest Washington power play, as Democrats and liberals attack the Chamber of Commerce and independent spending groups in an attempt to stop businesses from participating in politics.”

SCOTUS Blog: “Washington State conservative advocacy group, seeking to play a role in ballot measure campaigns in its state, on Friday asked the Supreme Court to clear the way for it to raise unlimited funds to pay for its efforts. Its attack on a Washington state law that puts a $5,000 limit on contributions to ballot measure committees in the final three weeks before an election could become a significant sequel to the Court’s controversial ruling last January in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.”

Cathi Herrod, Center for Arizona Policy: “Most Arizona voters also will be deciding whether to retain judges who serve on our state courts. If there is one question I am repeatedly asked, it’s how people can learn about the judges to then cast an informed vote . . . As part of our voter education efforts, CAP surveyed more than 60 judges up for retention and posted their responses at azvoterguide.com.”

“I feel like my client is Goldilocks,” said James Bopp, Jr., general counsel for the Madison Center, “its always too early or too late to protect my client’s right to speak. But when the First Amendment is involved, the time is always just right for the court to step in to protect them. The courts must do more to protect First Amendment rights from government encroachment.”

KPLR: “Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt are taking opposite positions on variety of social issues in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race.”

LifeSiteNews: “In Illinois voters are faced with two pro-abortion politicians slugging it out for the lead in the senate special election race. However one third party candidate is pro-life, and Democrats are hoping that his candidacy could end up having a spoiler effect on the GOP’s chances to cobble together a majority in the U.S. Senate.”

The Hill: “Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) won’t face public ethics trials until after the election. The House ethics committee announced Thursday that Rangel’s trial will begin Nov. 15 and Waters’s will start Nov. 29.”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and allied attorneys are working to defend Act 1, the voter-approved measure that protects children who are adopted or placed in foster care . . . ‘It says when it comes to foster and adoptive children — those children that are most in need of homes — the state of Arkansas places a premium on putting those children in homes consisting of a married mother and father. The law does not allow children to be placed in unstable cohabiting environments,” explains ADF attorney [Byron Babione].” ADF News Release

Justin Levitt, Confronting the Impact of Citizens United (September 13, 2010). Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 29, 2010; Loyola-LA Legal Studies Paper No. 2010-39. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1676108

“This Essay confronts the impact of Citizens United in two respects. Part I first reviews Citizens United’s place in the campaign finance constellation. It argues that although the decision was a bold stroke in many ways, its impact on the scope of permissible campaign finance regulation is far less substantial than commonly assumed.

Even if Citizens United’s incremental impact is mild, it nevertheless seems to have the feel of a final straw. The decision has provoked first furor, and then fear, with opponents invoking a broad vision of a dystopian political process overwhelmed by corporations. Yet rarely is the fear of corporate political spending articulated at a level of specificity conducive to assessing, or confronting, the perceived damage. Part II takes up the challenge, parsing the pragmatic concerns at the root of opposition to corporate political spending. It then offers responsive policy proposals – including an approach to protect against monopolization of media channels, an appealingly straightforward disclaimer label to mitigate voter misperception, and a novel application of a recusal obligation to combat the appearance of corruption – all well within the regulatory space undisturbed by Citizens United.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs announced the release of the Coalition’s voter guides for the 2010 general election.”

“Attorneys for Democrat U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper’s campaign want four Erie radio stations to pull an ad by an anti-abortion group that contends her vote for health care reform resulted in ‘the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortions ever.’”

“A pastor from Waukee is wading into the retention election for three Iowa Supreme Court justices, asking religious leaders around the state to inform their congregations about ‘out of control’ judges. But some contend the effort is actually encouraging churches to violate federal tax law.”

AFP: “Abortion has become a big issue in Brazil’s presidential election after religious activists dropped support for leading candidate Dilma Rousseff due to her past support for legalizing it.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “A Brooklyn church that endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew M. Cuomo should be investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

J. Christian Adams writing at Pajamas Media: “Instead of aggressive enforcement to protect military voting rights, the DOJ has been cutting deals with states like Wisconsin which ignore the congressional mandate that ballots be mailed at least 45 days before the election. Because DOJ did nothing all year to enforce the 45-day mandate, they cut deals that ignored the numeric minimums in law.”

Associated Press: “The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that U.S. Senate candidate Scott Ashjian’s name should stay on the November election ballot despite challenges to his qualifications.”

The Hill: “In response to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) requesting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigate certain non-profit organizations, Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Jon Kyl (Ariz.) have asked IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman to ensure that the examinations will be free from political interference.”

Politico: “[Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper] and other anti-abortion Democrats are at risk of becoming an endangered species in the House. She and others eventually signed on to the health reform law, endorsing an executive order that barred federal funding of abortions. But SBA List and other anti-abortion groups opposed the executive order, contending it was too weak.”

CBS: “At a Texas fundraiser on Tuesday, Sarah Palin urged audience members to vote in the midterm elections for candidates who would focus on overturning health care reform, citing the importance of choosing a “culture of life” over ‘a culture of death,’ according to CNN.”

Associated Press: “A new poll shows Republican Christine O’Donnell badly trailing Democrat Chris Coons in a Delaware Senate race that Republicans were heavily favored to win until the tea party-backed O’Donnell pulled off an upset in the GOP primary last month.”

My Way News: “An Associated Press-GfK poll shows whites without four-year college degrees preferring GOP candidates by twice the margin of the last two elections, when Democrats made significant gains in the House and Senate. The poll, conducted last month, found this group favoring GOP hopefuls 58 percent to 36 percent – a whopping 22 percentage-point gap.”