Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1493: Is democracy dying on the vines in the United States?

  Is democracy dying on the vines in these United States of America? There are some pervasive signs. My one vote won’t make a difference. My vote doesn’t count. Voting doesn’t change anything. The situation raises the question: is democracy dying on the vines in these United States of America?

  In President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address, he said, “Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.” Is democracy dying on the vines?

Darrio Melton: DMV closings put working families between a rock and a hard place

  When you open the pages of a national newspaper or turn to a major news network and see "Alabama," you can pretty much bet something has gone terribly wrong, and we are, once again, the butt of jokes nationwide. Over the past weeks, Alabama has made headlines from the New York Times to The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore for Governor Bentley's decision to close DMV offices across the state and the impact it will have on voting in upcoming elections.

  Since Alabama now requires a photo ID to vote, closing the DMV offices will certainly have an adverse affect on voter turnout, particularly among low-income, rural voters.

Darrio Melton: You can’t run the state like a business

  Fifty years ago, American democracy fundamentally shifted in Selma, Alabama. As men and women from all walks of life joined together to march in solidarity for the precious principle of "one man, one vote," the nation watched and took note. What happened in Selma 50 years ago changed this nation, and what's happening in Alabama is rolling the clock back.

  The Selma to Montgomery march brought us the Voting Rights Act, which banned discriminatory voting practices and resulted in mass enfranchisement of minorities across the nation and especially across the South.

Brandon Demyan: One photo, one vote: Alabama’s voter ID law

  The primary elections of June 3, 2014 could bring change for many of Alabama’s elected office holders. It will definitely bring a change in voter identification requirements. In previous elections, voters could simply provide a utility bill or a fishing license to vote. Alabama’s voter ID law, passed in 2011 and implemented for the first time with the upcoming primaries, will now require every voter to present a valid photo ID at the polls.