Elections Special - Ballot Initiatives and Voter Suppression

WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 3, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM ****************************************
Ballot Measures in Three States Threaten Abortion Rights
with
Sondra Goldschein, Staff Attorney,
ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

"Colorado Civil Rights Initiative" Actually Seeks to Sink Civil Rights
with
Shanta Driver, BAMN National Chair

Progressives Finally Use Ballot Initiatives:
Milwaukee Possibly First Place to Pass Paid Sick Days?
with
Amy Stear, Wisconsin Director, 9 to 5,
National Organization of Working Women

Will the Election be Stolen?
with
Myrna Pérez , Counsel, Democracy Program,
Brennan Center for Justice,
NYUChis Kromm, Executive Director & Publisher, Southern Exposure

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Ballot Measures in Three States Threaten Abortion Rights
with
Sondra Goldschein, Staff Attorney,
ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Initiatives aimed at banning abortion, restricting teenagers' access to
abortion, and interfering in a range of private health care decisions will
appear on the ballot in SD (Measure 11), CA (Proposition 4), and CO
(Amendment 48). How will these initiatives affect us all?
************
"Colorado Civil Rights Initiative" Actually Seeks to Sink Civil Rights
with
Shanta Driver, BAMN National Chair

Brought forward by California businessman Ward Connerly, the so-called
Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, Amendment 46, seeks to destroy
affirmative action programs throughout the state.
***********
Progressives Finally Use Ballot Initiatives:
Milwaukee Possibly First Place to Pass Paid Sick Days?
with
Amy Stear, Wisconsin Director, 9 to 5,
National Organization of Working Women

Milwaukee workers without paid sick days are forced to make impossible
choices between vital income and jobs on one hand, and caring for their
own health or family health on the other hand. A new Milwaukee ballot
initiative would allow workers to earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick
time for every 30 hours worked.
************
Will the Election be Stolen?
with Myrna Pérez , Counsel, Democracy Program,
Brennan Center for Justice, NYU
Chis Kromm, Executive Director & Publisher, Southern Exposure

There has been a spike in challenges to the right to vote this year across
the nation and in crucial Southern states. Many states will not register
new voters or will purge existing voters from the voter rolls if election
officials cannot match their voter registration information against that in
other government databases. Voter suppression could impact hundreds
of thousands of votes making the difference between winning or
loosing the national election and many local races.