Marist College Students Protest Voter Suppression; Ohio Citizens Allowed to Vote from Jail

Los Angeles Mayor Proposes ID Program for Undocumented Immigrants. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) is spearheading an effort that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain identification cards, and subsequently allow them access to banking services. Proponents of the plan foresee a drop in local crime because undocumented immigrants wouldn't have to carry as much cash and would be less subject to robbery. Besides access to banking services, ID cards would permit these immigrants to use local libraries, utilize health services, and enroll their kids in schools. Executive director of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance Alexandra Suh said, "Why should [things like that] depend on immigration status?" Villaraigosa expects significant opposition in the coming days. [LA Times]

Band fun. Jumps on Board for LGBT Equality. After two America's Top 40 hits and the release of their second album, band fun. has entered the political spotlight. Guitarist Jack Antonoff has created The Ally Coalition, a non-profit organization to raise money and awareness for the importance of LGBT equality. The Ally Coalition has expanded to various social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter, and has created its own website where young people are encouraged to upload photos and statements of why they are LGBT allies. Antonoff writes that "this is the how conversation gets started. this is how change happens." [Property of Zack]

New York College Students Protest Voting Suppression. At Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, students protest what they are calling discriminatory registration procedures. According to Marist Senior Daniel Torres, out of 100 voter registration cards that students submitted, none of those students will be voting on Election Day because they were completed incorrectly. Erik Haight, Republican County Elections Commissioner, said that because the registration cards didn't provide dorm room numbers, they were null. However, Torres and other students point out that other registered voters in the county are not required to provide apartment numbers, so the students should not have had to provide a dorm room number. Student groups may consider taking legal action to make sure that students and other county residents are treated equally on November 6th. [Your News Now]

Ohio Citizens Allowed to Vote from Jail. Monday in Cincinnati, several community organizations sued to protect the right to vote, even from jail. The lawsuit states that felon disenfranchisement not only violates their constitutional right to vote, but also disproportionately affects black voters. Those behind the lawsuit are pushing for the state to give confined Ohioan voters the same means of voting as it does to hospitalized Ohioan voters, who are granted extended absentee ballot request deadlines and lets family members deliver their ballot. Opponents say that giving felons the same accommodations as military and hospitalized citizens "makes no sense," while voting rights advocates say "just because you are arrested doesn't mean you are guilty..." [San Francisco Chronicle]

Jennifer Hicks is a Communications Intern for Campus Progress.

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