Tag: Republican voter suppression

Florida Republicans Pass Voting Limits in Broad Elections Bill

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The bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign, is the latest Republican effort to restrict voting after the 2020 election. It will make Florida the first major swing state won by Donald Trump to pass such a law.

MIAMI — Republicans in the Florida Legislature passed an election overhaul bill on Thursday that is set to usher in a host of voting restrictions in one of the most critical battleground states in the country, adding to the national push by G.O.P. state lawmakersto reduce voting access.

The bill makes Florida the first major swing state won by former President Donald J. Trump to pass significant voting limits and reflects Republicans’ determination to reshape electoral systems even in states where they have been ascendant. Mr. Trump carried the state last year by more than three percentage points, other Republicans also performed strongly, and the party raised new hopes of its ability to appeal to Latino voters.

But Republicans in Florida argued that its elections needed to be more secure, despite the fact that voting unfolded smoothly in 2020 and arguments by Democrats and voting rights experts that some of the new measures would disproportionately affect voters of color. Now the state is on the verge of weakening key parts of an extensive voting infrastructure that was slowly constructed after the state’s chaotic 2000 election and was rapidly enlarged last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading.

The GOP’s ‘structural welfare’: Why the next 2 years will determine the fate of US democracy

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Knowing that they are a shrinking party and that changing demographics do not work in their favor, Republicans all over the United States are aggressively pushing voter suppression bills in state legislatures. Journalist/author Adam Jentleson, in an article published by The Atlantic on April 12, stresses that Republicans enjoy great “structural” advantages despite becoming more and more of a “minority” party.

“President Joe Biden came into office facing four ‘converging crises’: COVID-19, climate change, racial justice and the economy,” Jentleson explains. “But after a few weeks of fast action on a pandemic relief plan, a fifth crisis will determine the fate of the rest of his administration, and perhaps that of American democracy itself: the minority-rule doom loop, by which predominantly White conservatives gain more and more power, even as they represent fewer Americans.”

The GOP has lost the popular vote in seven of the United States’ last eight presidential elections, and Republicans are coping with that reality by making it more difficult to vote. Another GOP tactic is ruthlessly gerrymandering U.S. House of Representatives districts. Continue reading.

GOP proposals attempt to change how local officials conduct elections

WASHINGTON — Critics of Georgia’s new election law have focused on the new voter ID requirements, its ban on giving water and food to voters waiting in line, and its shortened timeframe for any runoff.

But the law also contains a less-noticed but much more controversial — and even radical — provision.

It curtails the authority of local elections officials and the state’s elected secretary of state — even though all of them performed their duties in 2020, and even though Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger resisted Donald Trump’s plea to find him 11,780 votes so he could carry the state. Continue reading.

Georgia governor signs into law sweeping voting bill that curtails the use of drop boxes and imposes new ID requirements for mail voting

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Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday signed into law a sweeping voting measure that proponents said is necessary to shore up confidence in the state’s elections but that critics countered will lead to longer lines, partisan control of elections and more difficult procedures for voters trying to cast their ballots by mail.

The measure is one of the first major voting bills to pass as dozens of state legislatures consider restrictions on how ballots are cast and counted in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, when President Donald Trump attacked without evidence the integrity of election results in six states he lost, including Georgia.

The new law imposes new identification requirements for those casting ballots by mail; curtails the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots; allows electors to challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters and requires counties to hold hearings on such challenges within 10 days; makes it a crime for third-party groups to hand out food and water to voters standing in line; blocks the use of mobile voting vans, as Fulton County did last year after purchasing two vehicles at a cost of more than $700,000; and prevents local governments from directly accepting grants from the private sector. Continue reading.

It’s Time For Corporate America To Step Up And Defend Democracy

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As the Senate minority tries to kill H.R. 1, which would add many more Americans to the voting rolls, there is a simple and effective mechanism to build support for the bill to expand the franchise.

Corporate America needs to step up or face a serious reputational risk for not supporting the For The People Act.

That bill would ensure voting by mail, which, despite fact-free Trumpian claims of fraud, works as well or better than in-person voting, It would make sure people are not limited to Tuesdays to cast ballots, a practice enacted early in America’s history when men with property voted, but few working men cast ballots. Continue reading.

The 13 most shocking bills GOP legislatures are trying to pass right now

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The 13 most shocking bills GOP legislatures are trying to pass right now

With the disappearance of local reporting and the national media focusing on the White House and Capitol Hill, state legislatures often remain in the background of news coverage.

Meanwhile, policy that impacts Americans’ lives on a daily basis is being introduced by state lawmakers.

In recent hints, right-wing state lawmakers have introduced numerous bills that would strip people of the right to freedom of expression and the right to vote and would implement right-wing priorities such as banning abortion and ensuring unfettered access to guns. Continue reading.

Republicans Pushed to Restrict Voting. Millions of Americans Pushed Back.

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Almost 160 million people voted this year, as new options made necessary by the pandemic removed many of the traditional barriers to casting ballots. Will it change the way America conducts elections?

Nearly 160 million Americans voted in the 2020 elections, by far the most in history and a level of turnout not seen in over a century, representing an extraordinary milestone of civic engagement in a year marked by a devastating pandemic, record unemployment and political unrest.

With all but three states having completed their final count, and next week’s deadline for final certification of the results approaching, the sheer volume of Americans who actually voted in November was eye-opening: 66.7 percent of the voting-eligible population, according to the U.S. Election Project, a nonpartisan website run by Michael McDonald, a University of Florida professor who tracks county-level data.

It is the highest percentage since 1900, when the voting pool was much smaller, and easily surpasses two high-water marks of the modern era: the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy and the 2008 election of Barack Obama. Since the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote and roughly doubled the voting eligible population, turnout had never surpassed 64 percent.

Lawsuit over Pennsylvania vote handling faces skeptical federal judge

Republicans point to Bush v. Gore as precedent

A federal judge in Pennsylvania expressed skepticism about a Republican challenge to the handling of mail-in votes Wednesday, as multiple lawsuits hang over ongoing counting efforts in the key swing state.

Kathy Barnette, the Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean, argued election officials in suburban Montgomery County violated election law by opening some ballots early and letting voters correct any deficiencies. 

The Associated Press has called the race in Dean’s favor, by some 40,000 votes. Continue reading.

FBI investigating threatening emails sent to Democratic voters in apparent bid to stoke election fears

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Sender address was from the far-right Proud Boys, but the origin is unclear

The FBI on Wednesday was investigating threatening emails sent to Democratic voters that claimed to be from the Proud Boys, a far-right group supportive of President Trump, but appeared instead to be a deceptive campaign making use of a vulnerability in the organization’s online network.

First identified on Tuesday by local law enforcement and elections officials in Florida and Alaska, the emails were soon turned over to federal authorities, according to U.S. officials speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

The messages appeared to target Democrats using data from digital databases known as “voter files,” some of which are commercially available. They told recipients the Proud Boys were “in possession of all your information” and instructed voters to change their party registration and cast their ballots for Trump. Continue reading.

Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: ‘Be not afraid of the accusations that you’re a voter suppressor’

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As the presidential campaign entered its final stages, a fresh-faced Republican activist named Charlie Kirk stepped into the spotlight at a closed-door gathering of leading conservatives and shared his delight about an impact of the coronaviruspandemic: the disruption of America’s universities. So many campuses had closed, he said, that up to a half-million left-leaning students probably would not vote.

“So, please keep the campuses closed,” Kirk, 26, said in August as the audience cheered, according to video of the event obtained by The Washington Post. “Like, it’s a great thing.”

The gathering in Northern Virginia was organized by the Council for National Policy, a little-known group that has served for decades as a hub for a nationwide network of conservative activists and the donors who support them. Members include Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and Leonard Leo, an outside adviser to President Trump who has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars from undisclosed donors to support conservative causes and the nominations of conservative federal judges. Continue reading.