Your Right to Vote - Is It Under Assault?

NOW
t r u t h o u t | Programming Note

Airdate: Friday, September 1, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. on PBS.
(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html.)

Your right to vote - is it under assault? This time on NOW.

Across the nation, states have enacted new laws supposedly designed to prevent voter fraud and avoid election day debacles, but qualified voters may also be left out in the cold, especially minorities, the poor, the elderly and the disabled. On September 1 at 8:30 p.m., NOW looks at several states where these new rules may keep voters away from the polls in November. In Florida, new penalties for registration delays forced traditional registration advocacy groups, like the League of Women Voters, to avoid registering voters for a crucial primary. In Georgia, a law requires voters to show photo identification, a barrier to voting for thousands of people who currently lack the proper ID. Many of these laws have been approved by the Department of Justice, which is charged with protecting the rights of all voters.

"This is a concerted effort to make sure that certain people don't have the opportunity to vote, that they don't have the opportunity to participate in their own democracy," Georgia state representative Alisha Thomas Morgan told NOW.

Also, David Brancaccio interviews Salon reporter Eric Boehlert about the effectiveness of a new Iraqi offensive. This time on NOW.

Note: The NOW website at www.pbs.org/now will provide additional coverage starting Friday morning, September 1. Features include the 11 worst places in America to vote, a state-by-state overview of election rights, and a closer look at the Voting Rights Act.