DragonI

Opinion | The Myth of the Lazy Nonvoter

Most Americans want to vote. Many states make it nearly impossible.

www.nytimes.com|Stuart A. Thompson

If history is any indicator, only around 40 percent of eligible voters will vote in the midterm elections.

But it’s more likely that most Americans do want to vote, and one of the root causes of low turnout is this country’s framework of restrictive voting laws.

To explore the hurdles that voters face this election, we created five voter profiles: 

1. The No-ID Voter: could not vote in 23 states
2. The Procrastinating Voter: could not vote in 34 states
3. The Eager Student Voter: could not vote in 7 states
4. The Working-Parent Voter: could not vote in 27 states
5. The Convicted-Felon Voter:  could not vote in 30 states

• Who COULD NOT VOTE and who COULD VOTE by state.
• How the U.S. Compared With Other Countries

Google sets new rules for U.S. election ads

That includes making ad buyers prove they're a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.

www.axios.com

People buying Google ads related to candidates in U.S. federal elections will have to prove they are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents beginning July 10

The gritty details: Under Google’s new rules, people or groups who want to advertise in elections will have to go through a process that includes producing a “government-issued ID” as well as other information, like a Federal Election Commission identification number and an IRS Employer Identification Number. Google says it aims to confirm that buyers are who they say they are and can legally participate in American elections.

The new policy will not cover ads that relate to politically contentious issues rather than a candidate, which was the case for many of the online ads placed by Russian operatives trying to interfere in the 2016 election. The company says it is looking at following Facebook in tightening restrictions on those ads as well.