February 3, 2020

Editor’s Choice: Current Voter Issues and Questions

Home is the place where, when you have to go there,

they have to take you in.

Robert Frost

  1. In 2017, why did the Iowa legislature eliminate voting with one mark in one box for all candidates in the same party?
  2. What percentage of the U.S. voting age citizens vote?
  3. What day is Super Tuesday?

Photo courtesy Dave Redden

January 27, 2020

Editor’s Choice: Current Voter Issues and Questions

“Nobody will ever diprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.

–Franklin D. Roosevelt
  1. Georgia voting irregularities about digital voting machines raise more troubling questions about the state’s elections in 2016. What specifcally happened?
  2. Does Texas have “straight party” choice for voters of all political parties?
  3. Here is a voting claim: The U.S. Constitution states that if a president is impeached by the House but not convicted by the Senate, that person’s first term is nullified and they are eligible to run for office two more times. Is this true?

Photo courtesy Cara Smith

January 20, 2020

Editor’s Choice: Current Voter Issues and Questions

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet”

–Abraham Lincoln–
  1. House passes voting rights package aimed at restoring protections. Is this true?
  2. Oregon governor calls automatic voter registration a ‘phenomenal success. Is this true?
  3. Does New Hampshire have a history of making it difficult for college students to vote? Is that half- true?

Photo courtesy Dave Redden

Fact-checking tools: Snopes — VoteSmart — List of 10 additional options for fact-checkers

We offer the above fact-checking tools to aid your investigation of these topics.We also recommend you utilize any further resources you typically use.

January 14th, 2020

Editor’s Choice: Current Voter Issues and Questions

 “I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them. “

Adlai Stevenson
  1. There are news reports House Democrats will vote on restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Is that true?
  2. Should you confirm what identification is required for your state before you vote?
  3. Can your state or county change your polling place?

Photo “Blackfoot River, Montana courtesy Ruby Jaxen

Fact-checking tools: Snopes — VoteSmart — List of 10 additional options for fact-checkers

We offer the above fact-checking tools to aid your investigation of these topics.

We also recommend you utilize any further resources you typically use.

January 4th, 2020


Editor’s Choice: Current Voter Issues and Questions

It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.

— TOM STOPPARD
  1. Should America use paper ballots as a backup to machines?
  2. How many registered voters are there in America, and how many voters vote in national elections?
  3. If registered voters do not vote, should they be deleted from the voter rolls immediately, after a few years or never?

Photo courtesy Dave Redden

Fact-checking tools: Snopes — VoteSmart — List of 10 additional options for fact-checkers




Welcome to News & Views

By B.L. Smith

The News & Views section of the VOTE! Heart of America website is dedicated to posting current news and concerns (in a timely manner) about voting issues and letting readers take it from there. In other words, we will choose and post 3 Voting issues that are currently in the news. You can look the subject up in your browser of choice and take it from there. VHoA has chosen to “suggest” what you might be interested in knowing more about, but we will go no further.

Of course, it may be that you may not believe any of our posted issues are of valid concern — true or not. To that end we can only encourage you to use the Snopes fact checking site or one of 10 other fact-checking sites listed on the VHoA Home page and see for yourself . We suggest you copy the links of any article or fact checking report you have investigated and post it in the Reader’s Comment section on this page. Your comments and understanding may be quite valuable to other readers. Please note, however, that VHoA does reserve the right to delete and/or block comments that are not factual or appropriate to the discussion within the VHoA website and associated VHoA online media.

As we all realize, the cry of Fake News these last 3 plus years has been called into play by both sides of the political aisle; and quite a few people now use this illustrious phrase to support their points of view. Here at VHoA we prefer to let you inform yourself be it practical voting information or the more political side of voting rights as laws continue to be passed or modified. Remember, it is one thing to say something whether you know it to be true or not, and another thing to care about if it is factually true without a doubt.

It is important to remember we have been experimenting and improving our democracy for 243 years since Independence Day 1776. We have led the American dream, and we can lose that dream based on what each generation chooses to make of their lives. And finally, please note the next generation, with all its many styles and dreams, is just around the corner. They are waiting in the wings for their parents to hand them the reins of hope, prayer and happiness for our entire country and for our entire diversity of people. It is a precious gift. Please be worthy of this gift as you go forward.

VOTE! Heart of America.

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

― Abraham Lincoln