The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly – April 21-27 2014

ukraine_260The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging an Ohio law that criminalizes the spreading of false information about a political candidate during a campaign. Mark Bittman considered the impact of the court’s recent decision eliminating aggregate campaign contribution limits. A judge in Arkansas ruled that the State’s voter ID law was unconstitutional. The Maryland Board of Elections refused to move forward with a plan for an online absentee ballot marking system amid fears it would open the door to widespread fraud. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed a bill that enacts a form of same-day voter registration. A conservative legal group is challenging how Texas Senate voting districts were drawn. While offering flexibility on other issues, Minister Pierre Poilievre pledged that the final version of the Canadian government’s electoral reform bill will require all voters to show identification before they vote and uncertainty about the ability of Ukraine to organize next month’s election process has increased tension and public anxiety in the country.