Progressives Compel Coca-Cola To Pull ALEC Support Over Its Support Of Voter Photo ID Laws

Think Progress

Prompted by a petition campaign by the progressive advocacy group Color of Change, Coca-Cola has pulled its support from ALEC, a right-wing corporate-funded front group which has been pushing voter photo ID laws around the country. The company released this statement moments ago:

The Coca-Cola Company has elected to discontinue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on issues that have no direct bearing on our business. We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our Company and industry.

Impressively, Coke’s retreat came just five hours after Color of Change announced its petition, which read: “ALEC has pushed voter [photo] ID laws which disenfranchise large numbers of Black voters. Along with the NRA, ALEC also pushed a bill based on Florida’s ‘shoot first’ law – which has shielded Trayvon Martin’s killer from justice – into two dozen states across the country.”

Just this morning, the Center for American Progress released a report highlighting ALEC’s role in voter suppression:

ALEC charges corporations such as Koch Industries Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and The Coca-Cola Co. a fee and gives them access to members of state legislatures. Under ALEC’s auspices, legislators, corporate representatives, and ALEC officials work together to draft model legislation. As ALEC spokesperson Michael Bowman told NPR, this system is especially effective because “you have legislators who will ask questions much more freely at our meetings because they are not under the eyes of the press, the eyes of the voters.”

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a heavily conservative organization funded by billionaires such as the Scaife family (Allegheny Foundation and the Scaife Family Foundation), the Coors family (Castle Rock Foundation), Charles Koch (Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation), the Bradley family (The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation) and the Olin family (John M. Olin Foundation) and corporations such as Altria, AT&T, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Koch Industries, Kraft, PhRMA, Wal-Mart, Peabody Energy, and State Farm. Such corporations represent just a fraction of ALEC’s approximately three hundred corporate partners. ALEC writes legislative bills that Republican governors and legislators introduce as their own in state legislatures - sometimes without remember to remove the ALEC identifier from the legislative text.

ALEC’s public safety and elections task force drafted the Voter ID Act in the summer of 2009, which would require “proof of identity” to vote. Those without a valid photo ID must fill out a provisional ballot that is only counted if the voter produces an ID at the county elections office. It also suggests that ID cards be made available free of charge to eligible voters without a valid driver’s license.

A year after the 2008 presidential election, ALEC ramped up its program to push for new voter identification laws in all 50 states. Since 2009, 33 states have introduced some form of photo ID bill, and 14 states have passed laws that now require voters to present a federal- or state-issued photo ID with an expiration date at the polls. The highest percentage of people who do hold one of the limited selection of photo ID's include senior citizens, college students, people with disabilities, people of color, and new Americans - the groups who voted most heavily for Barack Obama in 2008.

More:

• Votes On The Line With Voter Photo ID
• ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures
• Project Seeks to Help Students Overcome Barriers to Voting
• Why Millions of American Voters Have No Government Issued Photo ID
  
• Texas Voter Photo ID FAQ

The Gender Gap: Wider Than Ever

The gender gap -- the difference in support for a candidate among women and men -- has long favored Democratic presidential candidates.

Even so, Barack Obama's advantages among women voters over his GOP rivals are striking.

Obama led Mitt Romney by 20 points (58% to 38%) among women voters and Rick Santorum by 26 points (61% to 35%) in the Pew Research Center's most recent national survey, conducted March 7-11. Obama runs about even with Romney among men and leads Santorum.

Just as women have been more likely to vote Democratic in presidential elections, a higher percentage also identifies with or leans toward the Democratic Party. In surveys this year, 52% of women identify with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic, compared with 43% of men.

This figure is in line with the gender gap in party identification dating back to 1990. In 2008, 56% of women and 46% of men identified as Democrats or leaned Democratic. There are several clusters of issues on which men and women divide, including social issues, views of government and its role, energy and the environment, and foreign policy and national security.

Read the full report for a detailed analysis of gender differences in politics.

Democratic Party's Image Improves; GOP Ratings Stay Negative

Pew Research Center

About half (49%) the public now has a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party; 43% have an unfavorable view. The number of people who regard the party favorably increased six points since January.

This represents a significant recovery from an all-time low favorability rating of 38% in April 2010, just after the passage of the health care bill. However, impressions of the Democratic Party are still far lower than they were in January 2009, when Barack Obama took office. At that time, 62% of people viewed the party favorably.

Views of the Republican Party remain negative – just 36% of people have a positive impression of the GOP and over half of people (56%) have an unfavorable view. This figure is little changed from earlier this year and from April 2010, when the party was viewed favorably by just 37% of people.

A majority of women (54%) now have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party (up eight points over the last two months) while 40% have an unfavorable impression.

Women's views of the Republican Party are far more negative -- 38% have a favorable opinion while 56% have an unfavorable one. These opinions are little changed from January.

Throughout the past four years, with the exception of the spring and summer of 2010, women have viewed the Democratic Party more favorably than the GOP.

For the first time since 2009, men hold a more favorable view of the Democratic Party than the Republican Party (44% vs. 35%). Read more

Texas Primaries, Caucuses, Conventions, And Politics

Everything You Ever Thought You Wanted To Know!
Join the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County on Thursday, April 5, 7-9 pm at Collin College – Frisco Campus, 9700 Wade Blvd., Building J, Rm. J113 for an evening of exciting discussion regarding the ever-changing Texas Primary and conventions!

Be A Delegate to the 2012 Collin Co. Democratic Convention at the Plano Centre in Plano, Texas! (map)

Any registered voter who signs an oath of affiliation with the Texas Democratic Party at convention check-in or during the convention may participate. To be a Delegate just check into the convention during registration from 8:00 am to 10:00 am on Saturday April 21 using your Voter Registration Card, Driver's License or other identification used for voting.

• Learn how the new maps will affect you!
• Find out how you can become a delegate at the County Convention on April 21st without going to a precinct caucus!
• Find out about the Primary Election scheduled for May 29th!

The session is free and open to the public – RSVP to events@tdwcc.org.

In normal primary election years the Texas Democratic and Republican Parties conduct their respective Senatorial District or County Conventions three weeks after primary election day and after Election Precinct Conventions, which are normally held during the evening of primary election day.

It's all different this year! This year, drawn out court battles over the new redistricting maps have pushed primary election day from its usual first Tuesday in March date to Tuesday May 29.

Since the Democratic and Republican Parties were already locked into holding their respective state conventions the weekend of June 9 - just over one week after the rescheduled May 29 primary date - they asked the San Antonio three-judge panel to issue an order allowing them to hold their respective SD/County conventions in April, five weeks before the primary election.

This year, the Texas Democratic Party convention and national presidential delegate selection process will skip the preliminary Election Precinct Conventions and begin with County/Senatorial District Conventions on Saturday April 21, 2012. SD/County delegates will be elected to advance to the June 7-9 Texas Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in in Houston, Tx, where delegates will be elected to advance to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

This year, any registered voter who signs an oath of affiliation with the Texas Democratic Party at convention check or during the convention may participate in their County/Senatorial District Convention as a delegate. People who sign an oath of affiliation with the Texas Democratic Party -- which they would normally do when voting in the party's primary election -- cannot participate in another political party’s process, or vote in another party's primary election until after December 31, 2013, when the party affiliation cycle resets for the 2014 primary year.

Any person eligible to participate in the delegate selection process may qualify as a candidate for National Convention delegate and alternate by filing a National Delegate Statement of Candidacy form with the Texas Democratic Party State Chair, State Democratic Executive Committee, 505 W. 12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. Statements of Candidacy must be submitted no earlier than April 16, 2012 and no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 15, 2012 (Rules 12B & 14F).

Often overlooked because it is so early in the process, this form MUST be filed if you have any intention (even if you ultimately decline) to run for National Delegate. This isn't a change cause by redistricting, but it's worth highlighting.

Statements of Candidacy must be submitted on forms approved by the State Democratic Executive Committee and must contain the individual's name, mailing address, residence address, day and night phone numbers, email address, a pledge of support to the Democratic nominee for president, an oath of affiliation with the Democratic Party and a signed pledge of support to the individual's presidential preference (or uncommitted status) or an oath that the individual is currently uncommitted.

Related:
Democratic Party County/Senatorial District Conventions On For April 21