This is, IMO, going to be a big topic in the coming year. Republicans have stated their aim to make voting more restrictive in just about every state where they have the means to do so. Democrats would like to pass the Voting Rights Bill named after John Lewis. I’m going to go look up the map of all the states which have pending legislation to restrict voting. Now that we have the election in the rear view, I thought we could try to make this a general discussion thread, where people who have concerns about voting abuses can post as well and we can discuss it from both sides. Please keep memes out of this thread and put them in the boards where we go to talk about the other side, lol.
Voting Law Proposals and Voting Rights Efforts (2 Viewers)
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Optimus Prime
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MADISON, Wis. — Four disabled people are asking a federal judge to ensure they can vote this fall after the Wisconsin Supreme Court limited how absentee ballots can be cast.
In a 4-3 ruling this month, the state’s high court ruled voters could not give their completed absentee ballots to someone else to turn in for them. That policy will make it impossible or extremely difficult for some voters to cast ballots, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in a federal court in Madison.
The lawsuit asks the federal court to allow disabled voters to give their ballots to others to return for them, arguing that the new regimen in Wisconsin violates the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The lawsuit reignites a dispute over how ballots are returned in a battleground state in the run-up to elections for governor and U.S. senator. Absentee ballots have already been sent to voters for the Aug. 9 primaries...........
In a 4-3 ruling this month, the state’s high court ruled voters could not give their completed absentee ballots to someone else to turn in for them. That policy will make it impossible or extremely difficult for some voters to cast ballots, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in a federal court in Madison.
The lawsuit asks the federal court to allow disabled voters to give their ballots to others to return for them, arguing that the new regimen in Wisconsin violates the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The lawsuit reignites a dispute over how ballots are returned in a battleground state in the run-up to elections for governor and U.S. senator. Absentee ballots have already been sent to voters for the Aug. 9 primaries...........
Optimus Prime
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Another case of voter fraud, hmmmm
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DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who had been charged in the presumed death of his missing wife has pleaded guilty to forgery for casting her 2020 election ballot for then-President Donald Trump.
Barry Morphew pleaded guilty Thursday and was fined and assessed court costs of $600, The Denver Post reported. He avoids jail time as part of a plea agreement……
In the voter fraud case, investigators said Barry Morphew filled out his missing wife’s ballot because he thought Trump could use the extra vote. Trump lost Colorado to President Joe Biden by 14 percentage points.
“Just because I wanted Trump to win. I just thought, give him another vote. I figured all these other guys are cheating,” he told an FBI agent who confronted him about the ballot in April 2021, according to court documents…..
Morphew also told the agent he didn’t know it was illegal to fill out a ballot on behalf of a spouse…….
apnews.com
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DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who had been charged in the presumed death of his missing wife has pleaded guilty to forgery for casting her 2020 election ballot for then-President Donald Trump.
Barry Morphew pleaded guilty Thursday and was fined and assessed court costs of $600, The Denver Post reported. He avoids jail time as part of a plea agreement……
In the voter fraud case, investigators said Barry Morphew filled out his missing wife’s ballot because he thought Trump could use the extra vote. Trump lost Colorado to President Joe Biden by 14 percentage points.
“Just because I wanted Trump to win. I just thought, give him another vote. I figured all these other guys are cheating,” he told an FBI agent who confronted him about the ballot in April 2021, according to court documents…..
Morphew also told the agent he didn’t know it was illegal to fill out a ballot on behalf of a spouse…….
Colorado man pleads guilty to casting missing wife's ballot
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who had been charged in the presumed death of his missing wife has pleaded guilty to forgery for casting her 2020 election ballot for then-President Donald Trump. Barry Morphew pleaded guilty Thursday and was fined and assessed court costs of $600, The Denver Post...
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Optimus Prime
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people serving punishments for felony convictions in North Carolina but who aren’t behind bars can now register to vote and cast ballots following an appeals court ruling.
Expanding the scope of those able to register and vote began on Wednesday, the State Board of Elections said — the day after local elections were held in more than a dozen localities.
The change proceeds from litigation challenging a 1973 law that prevents someone convicted of a felony from having voting rights restored while they are still on probation, parole or post-release supervision.
A panel of trial judges struck down the law in March,declaring it violates the state constitution largely because it discriminates against Black residents……
apnews.com
Expanding the scope of those able to register and vote began on Wednesday, the State Board of Elections said — the day after local elections were held in more than a dozen localities.
The change proceeds from litigation challenging a 1973 law that prevents someone convicted of a felony from having voting rights restored while they are still on probation, parole or post-release supervision.
A panel of trial judges struck down the law in March,declaring it violates the state constitution largely because it discriminates against Black residents……
Thousands of North Carolina felons can now register and vote
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people serving punishments for felony convictions in North Carolina but who aren’t behind bars can now register to vote and cast ballots following an appeals court ruling.
apnews.com
Optimus Prime
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This reminds me of when people were sneaking (or trying to sneak) weapons onto planes after September 11th to prove weaknesses in the security protocols
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MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man this week ordered absentee ballots for himself in the names of a mayor and top state lawmaker in what he says was an attempt to expose vulnerabilities in the state’s voting system.
Harry Wait, who leads a group in southeastern Wisconsin that has focused on voting issues, said Thursday that he was willing to go to jail to prove his point.
The stunt angered many state elections officials, especially those who have spent the last several years fighting baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. “I would be willing to take that hit for the country,” Wait said of facing jail time. “You can’t have ballots going all over the place, unsecured.”
Wait said he used the state’s online elections portal Tuesday to request absentee ballots for the Aug. 9 primary to be sent to his home in the names of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) and Racine Mayor Cory Mason (D).
Wait has clashed with both of the officials repeatedly as the president of the group HOT Government, which takes its name from an acronym for “honest, open and transparent.”
Soon after he made the requests, Wait explained his actions in an email to Vos and Mason as well as Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson (R) and Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling (R), who has promoted former president Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud and called for the arrest of five of the state’s elections commissioners.
Wait said he requested about a dozen ballots in all.
Other than the requests for ballots for Vos and Mason, Wait said he had permission from the voters to request their ballots. He said he had not received ballots for Vos and Mason and did not expect to because he had alerted authorities to what he had done…….
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MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man this week ordered absentee ballots for himself in the names of a mayor and top state lawmaker in what he says was an attempt to expose vulnerabilities in the state’s voting system.
Harry Wait, who leads a group in southeastern Wisconsin that has focused on voting issues, said Thursday that he was willing to go to jail to prove his point.
The stunt angered many state elections officials, especially those who have spent the last several years fighting baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. “I would be willing to take that hit for the country,” Wait said of facing jail time. “You can’t have ballots going all over the place, unsecured.”
Wait said he used the state’s online elections portal Tuesday to request absentee ballots for the Aug. 9 primary to be sent to his home in the names of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) and Racine Mayor Cory Mason (D).
Wait has clashed with both of the officials repeatedly as the president of the group HOT Government, which takes its name from an acronym for “honest, open and transparent.”
Soon after he made the requests, Wait explained his actions in an email to Vos and Mason as well as Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson (R) and Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling (R), who has promoted former president Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud and called for the arrest of five of the state’s elections commissioners.
Wait said he requested about a dozen ballots in all.
Other than the requests for ballots for Vos and Mason, Wait said he had permission from the voters to request their ballots. He said he had not received ballots for Vos and Mason and did not expect to because he had alerted authorities to what he had done…….
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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) told state Senate President Karen Fann (R) in a letter Monday that his office had closed its criminal investigation into allegations of widespread instances of dead people voting in the 2020 election.
Brnovich and his office had been investigating numerous assertions of dead voters during the election, including some handed over to state prosecutors last September after the Florida-based firm Cyber Ninjas completed its review of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County.
Fann and members of the GOP-controlled Senate launched the ballot review after President Donald Trump narrowly lost the 2020 election. Brnovich’s office spent months examining allegations that 282 people who were dead before Oct. 5, 2020, voted in the Nov. 3 general election, his letter said. Only one was deceased, he wrote.
“After spending hundreds of hours reviewing these allegations, our investigators were able to determine that only one of the 282 individuals on the list was deceased at the time of the election,” he wrote. The others were alive and were determined to be current voters.
“Our agents investigated all individuals that Cyber Ninjas reported as dead and many were very surprised to learn they were allegedly deceased,” he wrote…….
Brnovich and his office had been investigating numerous assertions of dead voters during the election, including some handed over to state prosecutors last September after the Florida-based firm Cyber Ninjas completed its review of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County.
Fann and members of the GOP-controlled Senate launched the ballot review after President Donald Trump narrowly lost the 2020 election. Brnovich’s office spent months examining allegations that 282 people who were dead before Oct. 5, 2020, voted in the Nov. 3 general election, his letter said. Only one was deceased, he wrote.
“After spending hundreds of hours reviewing these allegations, our investigators were able to determine that only one of the 282 individuals on the list was deceased at the time of the election,” he wrote. The others were alive and were determined to be current voters.
“Our agents investigated all individuals that Cyber Ninjas reported as dead and many were very surprised to learn they were allegedly deceased,” he wrote…….
DaveXA
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1 out of 282 investigated turned up dead. Widespread for sure...lol.
zztop
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oh look, another one
www.reuters.com
The Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general led a team that gained unauthorized access to voting equipment while hunting for evidence to support former President Donald Trump’s false election-fraud claims, according to a Reuters analysis of court filings and public records.
The analysis shows that people working with Matthew DePerno - the Trump-endorsed nominee for the state’s top law-enforcement post - examined a vote tabulator from Richfield Township, a conservative stronghold of 3,600 people in northern Michigan’s Roscommon County.
The Richfield security breach is one of four similar incidents being investigated by Michigan's current attorney general, Democrat Dana Nessel. Under state law, it is a felony to seek or provide unauthorized access to voting equipment.
DePerno did not respond to a request for comment.
The involvement of a Republican attorney general nominee in a voting-system breach comes amid a national effort by backers of Trump’s fraud falsehoods to win state offices that could prove critical in deciding any future contested elections.
Exclusive: Trump-backed Michigan attorney general candidate involved in voting-system breach, documents show
The Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general led a team that gained unauthorized access to voting equipment while hunting for evidence to support former President Donald Trump’s false election-fraud claims, according to a Reuters analysis of court filings and public records.
The analysis shows that people working with Matthew DePerno - the Trump-endorsed nominee for the state’s top law-enforcement post - examined a vote tabulator from Richfield Township, a conservative stronghold of 3,600 people in northern Michigan’s Roscommon County.
The Richfield security breach is one of four similar incidents being investigated by Michigan's current attorney general, Democrat Dana Nessel. Under state law, it is a felony to seek or provide unauthorized access to voting equipment.
DePerno did not respond to a request for comment.
The involvement of a Republican attorney general nominee in a voting-system breach comes amid a national effort by backers of Trump’s fraud falsehoods to win state offices that could prove critical in deciding any future contested elections.
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Restrictive voting laws passed in the wake of the 2020 election were more prevalent in Republican-controlled states with racially diverse populations, according to a new analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The Brennan Center report released Wednesday indicates restrictive voter rights and voting access legislation, introduced in all but one state since 2020, is not purely a partisan issue, despite deepening party-line battles around elections in the U.S.
"It may be somewhat of a surprise to folks that this isn’t just a story about party," said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights division. "(Voting rights have) become an incredibly polarized, political issue, and I think people are used to thinking about it as a partisan issue. But this study shows it’s not just party that is playing a role here. It’s about race as well."
Researchers analyzed "restrictive" voting provisions introduced in state legislatures in 2021, political and demographic makeup of legislative districts and the 2020 Cooperative Election Study, an online national study conducted before and after major U.S. elections.
The study examines "racial resentment," a political science term developed in the 1980s to measure the role race plays in public opinion.
The Brennan Center report found at the legislative district level, "representatives from the whitest districts in the most racially diverse states were the most likely to sponsor anti-voter bills.” At the state level, the intersection of race and partisanship was the strongest indicator of restrictive voting bills, as less diverse states were “unlikely” to introduce or pass restrictive legislation regardless of political party.
"We are not seeing these bills introduced and passed everywhere that Republicans have control; rather, they are most prevalent in states where they have control and where there are significant non-white populations," the Brennan Center report states.
"Similarly, it is not just that Republican-leaning legislative districts are represented by lawmakers who sponsor these bills. The sponsorship of these bills is concentrated in the whitest parts of the most diverse states, and we find evidence that race and racial resentment matter above-and-beyond the influence of partisanship."..........
The Brennan Center report released Wednesday indicates restrictive voter rights and voting access legislation, introduced in all but one state since 2020, is not purely a partisan issue, despite deepening party-line battles around elections in the U.S.
"It may be somewhat of a surprise to folks that this isn’t just a story about party," said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights division. "(Voting rights have) become an incredibly polarized, political issue, and I think people are used to thinking about it as a partisan issue. But this study shows it’s not just party that is playing a role here. It’s about race as well."
Researchers analyzed "restrictive" voting provisions introduced in state legislatures in 2021, political and demographic makeup of legislative districts and the 2020 Cooperative Election Study, an online national study conducted before and after major U.S. elections.
The study examines "racial resentment," a political science term developed in the 1980s to measure the role race plays in public opinion.
The Brennan Center report found at the legislative district level, "representatives from the whitest districts in the most racially diverse states were the most likely to sponsor anti-voter bills.” At the state level, the intersection of race and partisanship was the strongest indicator of restrictive voting bills, as less diverse states were “unlikely” to introduce or pass restrictive legislation regardless of political party.
"We are not seeing these bills introduced and passed everywhere that Republicans have control; rather, they are most prevalent in states where they have control and where there are significant non-white populations," the Brennan Center report states.
"Similarly, it is not just that Republican-leaning legislative districts are represented by lawmakers who sponsor these bills. The sponsorship of these bills is concentrated in the whitest parts of the most diverse states, and we find evidence that race and racial resentment matter above-and-beyond the influence of partisanship."..........
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Optimus Prime
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I may be wrong but something tells me that only one party is behind this "partisan interference"
==============================================================
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — After receiving more than a dozen reports of conduct violations by party-appointed poll watchers during the May primaries in North Carolina, the state elections board tightened regulations for precinct observers Tuesday to prevent partisan interference in the November general election.
The board unanimously voted to approve temporary rules for the upcoming election that more clearly outline the code of conduct for partisan observers, prohibiting them from standing close to a “tabulator, laptop, pollbook or other voting document” where they could view marked ballots or confidential voter information.
The revisions heighten scrutiny for observers and poll workers alike, adding a list of prohibited conduct for precinct officials that forbids them from tampering with voting equipment or expressing their political views on the job.
While poll watching has been an element of electoral transparency since the 1800s, the practice grew in prominence in the 2020 election cycle due to former President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Trump’s debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent has motivated thousands of his supporters to scrutinize elections operations nationwide, intensifying concerns of voter intimidation.
A survey of county elections directors in late May found violations in 15 North Carolina counties, where officials observed poll watchers harassing voters and attempting to enter restricted areas to view confidential voting records.
“While most were perfectly fine, several demanded to be behind the machines to watch people vote,” Davidson County Elections Director Andrew Richards said. “When told they could not be behind the voting equipment, several became argumentative.”...........
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — After receiving more than a dozen reports of conduct violations by party-appointed poll watchers during the May primaries in North Carolina, the state elections board tightened regulations for precinct observers Tuesday to prevent partisan interference in the November general election.
The board unanimously voted to approve temporary rules for the upcoming election that more clearly outline the code of conduct for partisan observers, prohibiting them from standing close to a “tabulator, laptop, pollbook or other voting document” where they could view marked ballots or confidential voter information.
The revisions heighten scrutiny for observers and poll workers alike, adding a list of prohibited conduct for precinct officials that forbids them from tampering with voting equipment or expressing their political views on the job.
While poll watching has been an element of electoral transparency since the 1800s, the practice grew in prominence in the 2020 election cycle due to former President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Trump’s debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent has motivated thousands of his supporters to scrutinize elections operations nationwide, intensifying concerns of voter intimidation.
A survey of county elections directors in late May found violations in 15 North Carolina counties, where officials observed poll watchers harassing voters and attempting to enter restricted areas to view confidential voting records.
“While most were perfectly fine, several demanded to be behind the machines to watch people vote,” Davidson County Elections Director Andrew Richards said. “When told they could not be behind the voting equipment, several became argumentative.”...........
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Gillespie County, Texas, is trying to work out a way to hold elections without an elections department after its entire staff quit due to threats and stalking tied to falsehoods about the 2020 election, The Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post reported.
"We have some people who are pretty fanatical and radical about things," Gillespie County Judge Mark Stroeher told the Standard-Radio Post. "Unfortunately, they have driven out our elections administrator, and not just her, but the staff. Everybody has resigned."
Gillespie County didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.
The elections administrator was Anissa Herrera, who had been in the job since 2019, according to the report. But following the 2020 election, Herrera told the Standard-Radio Post that "death threats" began being directed her way..............
"We have some people who are pretty fanatical and radical about things," Gillespie County Judge Mark Stroeher told the Standard-Radio Post. "Unfortunately, they have driven out our elections administrator, and not just her, but the staff. Everybody has resigned."
Gillespie County didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.
The elections administrator was Anissa Herrera, who had been in the job since 2019, according to the report. But following the 2020 election, Herrera told the Standard-Radio Post that "death threats" began being directed her way..............
MSN
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MT15
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That’s how they win. It’s horrible.
DaveXA
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Yeah, they want a civil war? Cuz that's how you get a civil war.
Optimus Prime
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During what felt like a rally for an unannounced 2024 presidential campaign, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week trumpeted the arrests of 20 felons who allegedly voted illegally in the 2020 elections.
These are the first cases brought by the state’s new election police force — and a clear effort to deter legitimate voting. Mr. DeSantis says he came up with the 15-person Office of Election Crimes and Security to make sure anyone who isn’t allowed to vote gets prosecuted if they try. “If you commit an elections crime, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Mr. DeSantis said Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.
Yet the tiny number of cases brought so far underscores the paucity of voter fraud. For perspective, this is 20 arrests out of 11 million Floridians who cast ballots in 2020, though Mr. DeSantis called it “the opening salvo” and said the office continues to investigate.
A 2018 ballot initiative amended the Florida constitution to give formerly incarcerated felons the right to vote, but it excluded anyone convicted of murder or sexual assault.
Mr. DeSantis says all 20 of the arrested voters fall into this category. His announcement would carry more credibility if the governor had faithfully followed the clear will of Florida’s voters.
Instead, he undermined it, signing a law in 2019 that moved the goal posts by requiring felons to pay off any money owed in fines and fees before registering to vote, with the punishment for not doing so being another felony.
But the system remains so opaque that there’s no easy way to find out whether you owe fees or fines stemming from a past conviction. There’s no centralized tracking system for either citizens or elections officials to check.
All 67 counties and various state agencies maintain their own databases. Mr. DeSantis’s broader goal is clear: to deny and deter voting……
Mr. DeSantis didn’t name the 20 people who were arrested, but he said most were from the heavily Democratic counties of Palm, Broward and Miami-Dade.
The governor did not hold a news conference when four people who live in a GOP-dominated retirement community were arrested earlier this year for attempting to cast multiple ballots……
These are the first cases brought by the state’s new election police force — and a clear effort to deter legitimate voting. Mr. DeSantis says he came up with the 15-person Office of Election Crimes and Security to make sure anyone who isn’t allowed to vote gets prosecuted if they try. “If you commit an elections crime, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Mr. DeSantis said Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.
Yet the tiny number of cases brought so far underscores the paucity of voter fraud. For perspective, this is 20 arrests out of 11 million Floridians who cast ballots in 2020, though Mr. DeSantis called it “the opening salvo” and said the office continues to investigate.
A 2018 ballot initiative amended the Florida constitution to give formerly incarcerated felons the right to vote, but it excluded anyone convicted of murder or sexual assault.
Mr. DeSantis says all 20 of the arrested voters fall into this category. His announcement would carry more credibility if the governor had faithfully followed the clear will of Florida’s voters.
Instead, he undermined it, signing a law in 2019 that moved the goal posts by requiring felons to pay off any money owed in fines and fees before registering to vote, with the punishment for not doing so being another felony.
But the system remains so opaque that there’s no easy way to find out whether you owe fees or fines stemming from a past conviction. There’s no centralized tracking system for either citizens or elections officials to check.
All 67 counties and various state agencies maintain their own databases. Mr. DeSantis’s broader goal is clear: to deny and deter voting……
Mr. DeSantis didn’t name the 20 people who were arrested, but he said most were from the heavily Democratic counties of Palm, Broward and Miami-Dade.
The governor did not hold a news conference when four people who live in a GOP-dominated retirement community were arrested earlier this year for attempting to cast multiple ballots……
DaveXA
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Straight up dirty politics. Disgusting.
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MT15
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This seems to be DeSantis’ specialty. He might be worse than Trump because he is certainly not as stupid but seems to be just as amoral.
coldseat
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There's no might about it. He is.
If he wins a presidential election because moderates and independents think he'd be okay because he's not Trump, that's the game right there. Trump was to stupid to fully use the levers of government to accomplish his authoritarian goals. DeSantis is not. And he will target anybody or any group that opposes him in his quest with as much government force as he can muster. We he's done in Florida is all the proof that's needed.
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