Kerry Calls on Justice Department to Protect Voting
Rights for Victims of Katrina
Current election plan will deny voting rights for tens of thousands of Louisiana residents

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and John Tanner, Chief of the Voting Section at the Department of Justice, urging them to immediately reconsider approval of a voting plan that will disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in the upcoming Louisiana elections. Kerry opposes the Department of Justice’s decision to allow the April 22 election in Louisiana to take place without first addressing the fact that tens of thousands of residents – disproportionately African Americans – will be unable to cast their votes. 
Kerry is urging the Justice Department to set up satellite voting stations in cities outside Louisiana where large numbers of Katrina evacuees are living, similar to the satellite voting opportunities made available to Iraqi voters living in the United States during the recent Iraq elections. Kerry is also calling for the voting system to be strengthened in communities affected by Katrina before the elections take place. Read Senator Kerry's letter HERE

Louisiana Senate panel nixes satellite voting centers for Katrina refuge

David Shucosky at 11:08 AM ET

[JURIST] A Louisiana State Senate [official website] committee has rejected a bill that would have made it easier for residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina [JURIST report] to vote in next month's New Orleans municipal elections [JURIST news archive]. The bill would have created polling places in other states so that voters would not have to travel back to Louisiana. Opponents of the plan said that it could create legal problems stemming from any alleged disparate treatment at the satellite polling places, and pointed to the state's existing displaced voters plan [Sec. of State materials] as a solution.
Earlier this week, a federal judge refused to push the election back [JURIST report] from its scheduled April 22 date. The Department of Justice has also approved the date [JURIST report] over concerns from civil rights groups. Rev. Jesse Jackson testified before the state senate committee Wednesday that forcing the mostly-black voters to return to the city is equivalent to an illegal poll tax [Wikipedia backgrounder]. AP has more

Satellite voting offers numerous positives

By Nebraska Secretary of State
John Gale / October 11, 2005

One of the innovative election changes authorized by the Nebraska Legislature in 2005 is the use of early voting at satellite voting sites. This would allow people to vote at centralized locations such as shopping centers, government buildings, hospitals or college campuses in the days prior to Election Day. This move was designed to make voting more convenient and accessible. It is part of a broad push to reverse a declining interest in voting and make sure our democracy remains vibrant. However, satellite voting has been received with a shower of criticism in some quarters of Nebraska. The concept has been mocked in editorial page cartoons and attacked by columnists. The message conveyed is that citizens can vote at the same time they buy gas, cigarettes or lottery tickets. This stereotype is a distortion of the Nebraska satellite voting provision. The law provides that the secretary of state may permit satellite voting sites to be used for 20 days prior to the day of an election. To vote at a satellite voting site, citizens still would need to be properly registered, just like any other exercise of the right to vote. The law provides that satellite voting in any county would require the consent of that county's election chief - the election commissioner or county clerk. As secretary of state, my plans are to proceed with satellite voting in a cautious manner. Starting with the statewide primary election of May 2006, I plan to authorize pilot programs in one or more larger counties to test the concept and its popularity. More from this article Here.

Comelec to set up satellitevoting areas for OFWs
Posted: 6:19 PM (Manila Time) | Feb. 26, 2004
By Veronica Uy INQ7.net

THE COMMISSION on Elections allowed the establishment of satellite voting centers in 11 diplomatic posts and satellite voting centers in three others for Filipino workers who are far from designated polling areas in their countries of employment, an official of the Commission on Elections told INQ7.net Thursday. Belet Evangelista, of the Comelec committee on overseas absentee voting secretariat, said satellite voting centers would be set up in Kuala Belait care of the Brunei Philippine embassy; Colombo care of the Dhaka embassy; Ho Chi Minh care of the Hanoi embassy; Surabaya and Dili, East Timor care of the Jakarta embassy; Port of Baltimore care of the Washington DC embassy; Marbella and Barcelona care of the Madrid embassy; Florence care of the Rome embassy; Amsterdam and Rotterdam care of The Hague embassy; Lagos, Port Hartcourt, Bonny Island care of the Abuja embassy; Babylon and Hilla care of the Baghdad embassy; Bandar Assaluyeh care of the Tehran embassy. Evangelista said satellite voting centers would be open in Al Khobar, Dubai, and Macau.More from this article Here.

Vote 2004: Iowa Voters Taking Advantage of Satellite Voting Stations
Monday, October 11, 2004, 1:20:35 AM
KCRG-TV9 News Reporter Sarah Colbert
TV9 Cedar Rapids Newsroom
 
Iowa is one of the few states to offer a unique opportunity to vote before Election Day. Satellite voting is the same process as voting by absentee, except the voter leaves the ballot with election officials. And Iowa is the only state in the nation to allow citizens to petition for a satellite site, even if it's at a traditionally partisan location. It’s a form of absentee voting. Linn County Auditor Linda Langenberg told TV9, “We are a land of convenience and every year it seems there's one more thing we do to try and make it more convenient for voters to vote.” More on this article Here.