Update on Voter Suppression in WV

The latest information I have is that Secretary of State Ireland has requested that the spot not be released to a media source who was interested in doing a story about the ad in light of the stories going around about voter suppression scare tactics going on at area colleges and universities.

This begs the question: why doesn't Secretary Ireland want additional media coverage about this important information?

Could it be she has something to cover up?

WV Secretary of State should Educate rather than Supress voters

In a recent ad, which I personally heard on 58 Live (WCHS) during the Sportsline program, WV Secretary of State Betty Ireland was touting the "three ways" a college student who lives away from home can vote in the general election. According to Ireland, students need to either:

1. Vote early in their home county.
2. Vote by mail via absentee ballot.
3. Vote in their local precinct on Nov. 4.

Secretary Ireland leaves out an important fourth option. WV students can choose to register to vote using their mailing address at school. I phoned the Secretary of State's office on Friday, and was informed by Special Assistant Jason Williams that the Secretary's ad was "accurate in that it truthfully represented the facts as they related to the specific topic that the ad addresses." I pointed out that students were already being informed in WV and other nearby states that they might lose their financial aid if they register away from their parents' address, and that the Secretary's ad smelled of partisan politics. The Special Assistant responded that "the Secretary cannot promote college students running around all willy-nilly registering to vote where they may or may not have a permanent address." Willy-nilly, indeed. If McCain were going to benefit from those registrations, I bet they'd have no problem with it. Secretary Ireland swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the State of WV, and she has a responsibility to educate and inform voters of ALL of their options, not just the ones that benefit her party.