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S.D. Abortion Law Sparks Online Activism
by Michael Martinez
Conservative online activists are urging Americans to vacation in South Dakota as a way to counter calls made by liberals last week to boycott the state's tourist destinations over the enactment of an abortion law.
Gov. Mike Rounds, who on Monday signed a bill outlawing nearly all abortions in the state, has become the target of liberal advocacy groups and women's and civil rights organizations throughout the country. The Wisconsin-based Women's Medical Fund earlier this month issued a call to boycott tourism in South Dakota.
The authors of the group Web log Dem Bloggers, also are encouraging citizens to avoid both South Dakota beef and computers made by Gateway, which was headquartered in North Sioux City until 1998.
But conservative Internet groups are acting swiftly to defend South Dakota's anti-abortion law and preserve its tourism revenue. A site called ivotemyvalues.com, which does not list any parent organizations, is beckoning families to take their next trip to the "land of great faces and great places."
According to its mission statement, I Vote My Values is part of a nonpartisan operation to promote stronger family values. It includes links to a series of conservative editorial articles on abortion, contraception and abstinence, as well as a link to the blog authored by Steve Sibson, a South Dakotan who covered Republican Sen. John Thune's 2004 Senate campaign. The site also features a manifesto that touches on gay marriage, indecency and abortion.
In order to attract more vacationers to South Dakota, the site directs visitors to a list of popular destinations, including Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park. The site also links to the National Abstinence Clearinghouse offices in Sioux Falls.
According to a press release posted on the site, South Dakota's new abortion law makes it "one of the most family-friendly states and an even greater place to visit."
'No Match, No Vote' Databases Criticized
New York's failure to create an adequate electronic voter database could prevent millions of residents from voting in this year's elections, according to a study released Tuesday.
A report on federally mandated voter databases authored by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University law school also chastises Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia and Washington for adopting policies that could create significant barriers to the polls. All of the states are set to implement standards to verify voter database information by matching them against corresponding entries in databanks compiled by their motor-vehicle departments or the Social Security Administration.
States that abide by strict "no match, no vote" rules could leave more than 20 percent of eligible voters off their rolls, the report said. The study found that manual errors and unreliable compilation techniques often lead to inconsistencies between information entered into voter databases and what elections officials use to verify them.
According to the report, a 2004 experiment conducted by the New York Elections Board to match the entries of 15,000 registered voters against corresponding information in the Department of Motor Vehicles database was marred by typographical mistakes. The study found that records for roughly one-fifth of registered voters failed to match because of manual errors.
Most states have not formalized their voter database policies. Brennan Center attorney Justin Levitt said state elections officials need to act with urgency if they want to conduct fair and accurate elections this fall.
"Each of these states is on a collision course that could result in chaos at the polls in November as millions of eligible voters find they are unable to cast their ballot," he said in a release.
New Yorkers Face Online Cigarette Taxes
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced that the city has reached a settlement with an online cigarette business. The deal will let prosecutors pursue thousands of state residents for more than $33 million in unpaid excise taxes.
Under the terms of the settlement, eSmokes, a Virginia-based company, agreed to give the city access to an electronic database with the names, addresses and purchasing information of its New York customers from 2000 to 2003. City officials plan to sort the data and send tax bills to residents who bought cigarettes through the site.
"Internet cigarette merchants who misrepresent themselves and evade the law cheat local businesses and New Yorkers," Bloomberg said in a statement. "They mislead the public. They break the law. And they will be held accountable."
State Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said the eSmokes settlement sets a precedent that will help drive dubious Internet schemes out of business. "Internet sellers are really defrauding the public twice -- once by defrauding the city of taxes and a second time by their false promises to customers of tax-free sales," Cardozo said.
A 2000 New York law established a statewide ban on Internet cigarette sales. The state sued 35 companies, including eSmokes in 2003, to recover lost revenue from such sales. The suit accused eSmokes and other companies of neglecting to report out-of-state purchases so they would not be subject to local taxes. The company since has filed for bankruptcy.
Nevada Ethics Case Involves Online Venture
A Nevada Ethics Commission panel on Tuesday called for an investigation into whether a Senate lawmaker abused her legislative power to promote an online business.
The commission will examine 20 separate charges questioning the motivation of Sen. Sandra Tiffany to introduce a bill last year to change requirements for licenses to sell automobiles. Tiffany has been accused of introducing the proposal to boost her private Internet enterprise of selling surplus government property, including highway patrol cruisers.
The attorney general's office will prosecute the case if the panel finds that a "willful violation" of ethics rules occurred.
Ad Campaign Touts Investment In California
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced the launch of aggressive advertising campaign to attract investment to California.
The initiative will include a multi-week ad program on broadcast and cable channels throughout the state, as well a blitz of automated e-mails that will reach thousands of businesses and organizations. The chamber also has built a Web site to provide information on recent efforts to improve California's business climate.
Chamber President Thomas Donahue said the campaign is designed to address nationwide concerns that California's economy is sputtering.
"Good, bad or otherwise, what happens in California often spreads eastward to the rest of America," Donohue said in a release.
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