Women's Voices. Women Vote. Women's Voices Women vote proudly announces the release of its 2009 report entitled "Access to Democracy: Identifying Obstacles Hindering the Right to Vote.

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News Articles - Women's Voices Women vote proudly announces the release of its 2009 report entitled "Access to Democracy: Identifying Obstacles Hindering the Right to Vote.

April 20, 2009

In 2008’s Presidential election 133 million Americans cast ballots, which represents the largest number of voters to ever participate in a U.S. election. This result is certainly a great accomplishment; however, WVWV strongly believes that it is time for significant reform to ensure that the remaining 79 million Americans who were eligible, but did not cast their votes, are encouraged and able to do so in future elections.

WVWV has drawn on the substantial research efforts of leading reform groups, but takes a new look at the challenges facing voters, registration groups, and state and local officials by highlighting the disproportionate effect of existing laws on under-represented populations. While young voters, African Americans, Latinos, and unmarried women are now the majority of the population, exit polls from the 2008 general election show that in the aggregate, these groups represented only 46 percent of the 2008 electorate.

WVWV strongly believes that a key cause of such underrepresentation can be found in the confusing maze of election laws facing individuals, groups, and state officials in this country. WVWV's report focuses on five key areas where these laws pose the most significant obstacles and reform could yield the greatest positive results: (1) voter registration; (2) absentee voting and early voting; (3) voter identification requirements; (4) provisional ballots; and (5) voter lists.

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