The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for January 12-18 2015

A day after a top Republican seemed to dismiss the need to restore a critical part of the Voting Rights Act, members of the Congressional Black Caucus announced  they would re-introduce bipartisan voting rights legislation next week. Five years after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions campaign contributions in Citizens United v. FEC, a report from eight of the nation’s largest government watchdog groups finds that regular Americans are losing their voice in democracy while a “tiny number” of wealthy individuals have gained record influence. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach proposed legislation to bring back straight-ticket party voting and restrict the reasons allowed for a candidate’s name to be withdrawn from an election. At a conference of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, incoming EAC Commissioner Matthew Masterson raised concern about aging voting technology and the lack of funding available for upgrades. Despite serving a six month sentence stemming from a teen sex scandal, Virginia State Senator Joseph Morrissey won the special election for his seat that was held as a result of his own resignation. Rural lawmakers in Wyoming are concerned about legislation that would allow counties to replace precinct polling places with vote centers. India’s Supreme Court has asked the government to provide an absentee voting method for Non-Resident Indians and widespread terrorist violence has raised concerns in advance of Nigeria’s presidential election.