News & Public Affairs
Voting rights activists demand stop to legislation that would limit voting assistance listen
04/23/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: elections, voting rights, 2013 legislative session, Jack Latvala
A bill being considered in the Florida Senate would change the way people with special needs can get help casting ballots during elections. During a press conference in front of bill sponsor Senator Jack Latvala’s Clearwater office Tuesday, activists demanded he remove his support of the bill they worry will make it harder for people to get help and burden poll workers. The ACLU’s Central Florida director, Joyce Hamilton Henry calls the measure an invitation for litigation.
The measure w...
Be the first to commentVenezuelan ex-pats rally in Tampa for a recount of election their candidate lost listen
04/19/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Henrique Capriles, Hugo Chavez, elections
Last night in downtown Tampa about 50 Venezuelan ex-pats banged pots and pans and waved Venezuelan flags at motorists passing by Curtis Hixon Park.
They boisterously supported the loser of the recent presidential election, Henrique Capriles.
They're asking for a full recount of the election narrowly won by Nicolas Maduro.
Yesterday officials said they would do an audit of the results.
WMNF interviewed Karina Celis, a sociologist from Caracas who lives in Tampa.
*Yo...
Be the first to commentResearchers find Florida's election law disproportionately hurt minority voters listen
01/17/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: elections, voting, League of Women Voters, Deirdre Macnab, early voting, University of Florida
An elections law passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Governor Rick Scott two years ago disproportionately reduced the opportunity of African American voters to have their voices heard in the November 2012 election.
That’s one of the findings by researchers from Dartmouth College and the University of Florida outlined in their report called “[Florida’s 2012 General Election Under HB 1355: Early Voting, Provisional Ballots, and Absentee Ballots.](http://library.constantcontact.c...
Be the first to commentLeague of Women Voters of Florida suggests elections law changes listen
01/14/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: elections, voting, League of Women Voters, Deirdre Macnab, early voting
In a letter sent Friday to Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the League of Women Voters of Florida laid out suggestions for improving the state’s elections. We spoke with their president, Deirdre Macnab.
Meanwhile, Florida elections supervisors want lawmakers to be less wordy when they put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. They also want greater flexibility in setting e...
1 commentsFlorida lawmakers get a laundry list of legislative priorities from Hillsborough constituents listen
12/17/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hillsborough County legislative delegation, education, elections, voting law, Dana Young, Medicare, state funding
In Hillsborough County officials and residents took their wish lists to state lawmakers Monday at the legislative delegation meeting. Most of the requests were for new or continued funding, but some people asked for policy changes. Shirley Arcuri, president-elect of the Hillsborough County League of Women Voters, called on legislators to axe most of the changes Republicans made to the state’s voting law in 2010.
Florida Consumer Action Network’s Tim Heberlein came...
Be the first to commentVoters outraged over anti-Obama lies advertised in Sarasota newspaper listen
09/27/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, elections, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, smear campaigns, GING-PAC, media, ethics
More than 50 people lashed out at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Thursday afternoon over a an anti-Obama ad that ran in Sunday’s paper. At a protest in front of the Sarasota paper’s office, the group set out to debunk false claims about the president.
The ad listed 11 things President Obama will “move America to”. PolitiFact researched nine of the statements and found that none of them were true. Among the claims that received Politifact’s lowest rating, Pants on Fire - Obama would force ...
Be the first to commentStetson grads face off for judgeship listen
06/06/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas County, judges, elections, Cathy McKyton, Scott Andringa
And today we continue our coverage of Pinellas and Pasco contested judge races. Today we’ll highlight the candidates for Pinellas County Court Group 2, Cathy McKyton and Scott Andringa. McKyton is an assistant statewide prosecutor in the office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Be the first to comment“I’m also a community volunteer. I’ve been active with the Junior League of St. Petersburg for almost nine years now. For those of you who don’t know about Junior League, it’s a volunteer organization that...
Riot police break up opposition protest contesting Putin's victory in Russia listen
03/05/12 wire services including APWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Russia, Vladimir Putin, elections
Riot police broke up an opposition protest contesting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's victory in Russia's presidential election. They arrested dozens of participants, including prominent opposition leaders.
The police action followed a rally in downtown Moscow, which drew about 20,000.
The big rally went on peacefully, but police violently dispersed several hundred protesters who attempted to stay on Pushkin Square.
Hundreds of police in full riot gear moved to push the demonstrators...
Be the first to commentU.S. Senate field hearing in Tampa exposes flaws in Florida's new voting law listen
01/27/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Dick Durban, Bill Nelson, voting law, Florida, voter supression, Rick Scott, ACLU, elections, Voting rights
Florida’s new voting law has received criticism from groups across the country who think it makes voting harder for minorities and people with low incomes. Today in Tampa, U.S. Senator Dick Durban, a Democrat from Illinois, held the first ever field meeting of the [Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights](http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/subcommittees/constitut...
1 commentsThe controversy over Florida's election law changes and corporate political donations
01/06/12 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Monday)
Tags: Florida election law changes, Sunday voting, political donation transparency, elections, election law, Stetson College of Law
Voting laws passed in Florida last year have limited early voting, including on the Sunday before Election Day. Opponents say the early voting limitations are part of a broader effort by Republican-led legislatures across the country to suppress the black, minority and elderly voting blocs, groups expected to be key to President Obama's bid for reelection in 2012. The efforts include new voting laws passed in more than a dozen states, some requiring government-issued identification to vote an...
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