CHARLESTON, WV - West Virginia's largest church group has asked U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd and the rest of the state's congressional delegation to oppose funding a private prison for undocumented immigrants in Pendleton County near the Virginia border. The Council of Churches is one of several groups discussing immigration reform ahead of expected congressional action on the issue. The Council has asked federal lawmakers' help in the effort, arguing private prison operations have been rife with abuse. GSI Professional Corrections is seeking county commission approval to build the detention center near Sugar Grove to house 1,000 nonviolent immigrant detainees awaiting possible deportation.

Rev. Dennis Sparks, the Council's executive director, complains private prisons operate outside the mainstream legal system. Young people have been trapped in them unprotected, he says, simply for being members of undocumented families, even if they were born in the U.S.

"There have been a lot of abuses of children in these facilities: no way to communicate adequately, no way to get legal protection or representation. So, they're stuck."

GSI Corrections has said the prison would create 300 jobs, but Sparks sees private prisons as a bad idea in general. In other places, he adds, the jobs have not materialized.

"There's no way to really regulate them, either by the state or by the federal government. There's no due process. All the evidence we've seen is that they do not create jobs."

The detention system would be more productive if nonviolent workers were held on work-release programs while their immigration cases are decided, Sparks says.

"These folks are an economic contribution to our society. They can bring a lot to us, and I think that's the way we've got to look at it."

Congress will soon begin considering comprehensive immigration reform at the request of the White House.
Backers of incarcerating undocumented workers say they have broken the law by being in the country without permission and should be treated as criminals. Sparks says the entire system is broken and changes must be addressed.

Several West Virginia advocacy groups will hold a press conference today at 2:30 p.m. in room 330 of the State Capitol's West Wing. It is one of 100 events taking place around the country on the upcoming immigration reform effort.




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Arizonans could vote on a proposal next year some advocates said would make politics more equitable in the Grand Canyon State.

This week, the Make Elections Fair Arizona committee, made up of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, filed a citizens' initiative to amend the Arizona Constitution. It would require the state's future primary elections to be open to all candidates and voters, regardless of party affiliation. Arizona currently conducts partisan primaries.

Sarah Smallhouse, chair of the committee, said it is a challenge for independent or unaffiliated candidates and for the largest registered voter bloc in the state.

"It's fundamentally a question of fairness, of giving everyone an equal opportunity to participate in our political system without having to go through extra steps," Smallhouse contended. "For example, Independent candidates right now have to collect six times as many signatures to be on a General Election ballot."

Smallhouse pointed out unaffiliated and third-party voters pay taxes to fund the current partisan political system, leading to what her group sees as voter disenfranchisement. She acknowledged they expect to get pushback on the proposal from the major parties.

Beau Lane, co-chair of the committee, said the move could empower voters and lead to higher turnout. He noted Independents are often left feeling overlooked and not represented. Lane argued the proposal would also foster healthier competition among candidates, and cultivate what he called more of a "problem-solving approach," instead of, in his words, "the politics of contempt."

"You know, they want to look at the other side as the enemy and not somebody that they could actually cooperate with and get good policy put in place for the State of Arizona," Lane emphasized. "Polling indicates that is about where 70% of the people in Arizona want that type of political activity, of problem-solving."

The initiative has been filed with the Arizona Secretary of State. It will be reviewed and recommendations will be made to the committee. It should be finalized by the end of October, when the group can then work on gathering the estimated 500,000 signatures needed by next June to get it onto the November 2024 ballot.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name 'Erlinghauser' as two words instead of one. (11:24 a.m. MDT, Sept. 20, 2023)


Voting advocacy organizations in Connecticut are calling on Gov. Ned Lamont to ensure the state's election infrastructure is ready for the 2024 presidential election.

The groups, including the ACLU and the League of Women Voters, said too many voting tabulation machines are defective and cause delays at polling stations.

John Erlingheuser, senior advocacy director for AARP Connecticut, said they are outdated and unreliable.

"They don't manufacture them anymore," he explained. "They break down frequently. People are having to get replacement parts for the voting machines on things like eBay."

Erlingheuser pointed out the legislature approved a bill allowing the state to borrow more than $25 million to replace the vote tabulators but Lamont and other members of the State Bond Commission must hold a formal vote to spend the money.

Voting rights groups say Connecticut has made some recent strides in improving access to the ballot, including the recent approval of early voting, and the restoration of voting rights to people on parole.

He noted new tabulator machines are needed to support those accomplishments and handle the volume of voters expected for next year's presidential election.

"We have a pretty good history here in Connecticut," Erlingheuser acknowledged. "This will only enhance that and make people feel more confident that when they cast their ballot it's private, and it will be counted."

Election officials said newer, high-speed machines allow poll workers to quickly process large stacks of ballots or handle absentee ballots, which are often folded when received by a town clerk. The current tabulators often jam when fed folded paper, creating long lines on Election Day and potentially leading to the shutdown of polling sites.

Today is National Voter Registration Day and in addition to urging you to check your registration advocates are making the case for lowering the voting age.

While typically less attention is paid to voting in off-year elections, there are still ballots in many localities, and in some of those Marylanders as young as 16 can vote.

Five cities in Maryland allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. In November, voters in Rockville can participate in a nonbinding referendum on lowering the voting age to 16.

Alyssa Canty, director of youth programs for Common Cause, said young people are often beginning to see the effects of civic policy.

"When they're 16- or 17-year-olds, they are starting their first part-time jobs," Canty pointed out. "So they now have income, so they're purchasing things, so they are paying sales tax, but they have no say in what happens to those tax dollars."

At the state level, any Marylander can register at age 16 but cannot vote in state or federal elections until they reach 18.

Maryland state law permits city councils to lower the voting age at the local level, and so far Takoma Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and Mount Rainier have done so. In Somerset, 16-year-olds will be able to vote in local elections beginning next May.

Canty sees late high school as a good time to engage young people.

"Usually around 16, 17 years old, that junior, senior year of high school, that's also when you take your really in-depth civics class, and you learn about how the government works," Canty explained. "It's almost like experimental learning where you get to actually go and cast a ballot."

Canty noted as campaigns have spread across the country, they often see young people taking the lead on the issue.

"We have seen where young people are energized by this issue," Canty pointed out. "In many places, they're the ones that are on the forefront leading this work because they see themselves as being really impacted by local elections, by their school boards, by their city councils."

For more information on the effort, visit Vote16USA.org.


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