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 (1 Viewer)
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Optimus Prime
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) is announcing a lawsuit against a small Wisconsin town, and is alleging that the town is being unfair to Republicans in its hiring of election inspectors.
Matt Smith, a reporter with Wisconsin-based ABC affiliate station WISN, tweeted Tuesday that the RNC is accusing Racine, Wisconsin officials of violating state law that requires equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans to serve as election inspectors at voting precincts.
"Racine deliberately excluded Republicans and violated the law," RNC chairman Michael Whatley stated. "We are suing to hire the number of Republicans that Wisconsin state law requires, stop Democrat interference and uphold election integrity for our country's most important election."
In the Badger State, election inspectors assist with various administrative duties on Election Day like voter registration, managing the poll book showing registered voters who have shown up to cast ballots, issuing ballots to voters at polling places and processing absentee ballots. According to the statute outlining the rules for the appointment of election inspectors, municipalities are required to appoint an equal number of both Democrats and Republicans from lists of nominees submitted by both parties.
"The 2 dominant parties... are each responsible for submitting a list of names from which all appointees to inspector positions, other than appointees to inspector positions authorized... shall be chosen," the statute reads. "Each person submitting the name of one or more nominees shall certify on his or her list of nominations that the person has contacted each nominee whose name appears on the list and that each nominee has agreed to serve as an election official."
The RNC's lawsuit comes after a separate lawsuit against the Racine city clerk filed last week by two voters. Democracy Docket reported that the lawsuit alleges the city hired nonpartisan poll workers instead of Republicans during the August 2024 primary election, despite state law stipulating that partisan poll workers take precedent. The plaintiffs are petitioning the court to force the city to hire the statutorily required number of partisan poll workers ahead of the 2024 election.
"Poll watchers and poll workers bring transparency and accountability to the election process," read a press release posted to former President Donald Trump's website. "Failing to hire enough Republicans as election inspectors violates the law and undermines confidence in our elections."............
Matt Smith, a reporter with Wisconsin-based ABC affiliate station WISN, tweeted Tuesday that the RNC is accusing Racine, Wisconsin officials of violating state law that requires equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans to serve as election inspectors at voting precincts.
"Racine deliberately excluded Republicans and violated the law," RNC chairman Michael Whatley stated. "We are suing to hire the number of Republicans that Wisconsin state law requires, stop Democrat interference and uphold election integrity for our country's most important election."
In the Badger State, election inspectors assist with various administrative duties on Election Day like voter registration, managing the poll book showing registered voters who have shown up to cast ballots, issuing ballots to voters at polling places and processing absentee ballots. According to the statute outlining the rules for the appointment of election inspectors, municipalities are required to appoint an equal number of both Democrats and Republicans from lists of nominees submitted by both parties.
"The 2 dominant parties... are each responsible for submitting a list of names from which all appointees to inspector positions, other than appointees to inspector positions authorized... shall be chosen," the statute reads. "Each person submitting the name of one or more nominees shall certify on his or her list of nominations that the person has contacted each nominee whose name appears on the list and that each nominee has agreed to serve as an election official."
The RNC's lawsuit comes after a separate lawsuit against the Racine city clerk filed last week by two voters. Democracy Docket reported that the lawsuit alleges the city hired nonpartisan poll workers instead of Republicans during the August 2024 primary election, despite state law stipulating that partisan poll workers take precedent. The plaintiffs are petitioning the court to force the city to hire the statutorily required number of partisan poll workers ahead of the 2024 election.
"Poll watchers and poll workers bring transparency and accountability to the election process," read a press release posted to former President Donald Trump's website. "Failing to hire enough Republicans as election inspectors violates the law and undermines confidence in our elections."............
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One public employee tasked with overseeing elections in a battleground state's most populous county has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is soon leaving his profession due to constant death threats from former President Donald Trump's supporters.
A recent article in the New Yorker reported on the new documentary "Denial," which is about how MAGA-fueled conspiracy theories about the 2020 election have impacted the lives of election workers. The film is shown from the perspective of Maricopa County, Arizona supervisor Bill Gates — a lifelong Republican and Federalist Society member who nonetheless became a prime target of Trump supporters for certifying election results that led to President Joe Biden narrowly winning the Grand Canyon State in 2020.
The documentary follows Gates ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, in which Arizonans were voting in a hotly contested election in which Democrats eventually won both the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races. "Denial" showed how Gates was regularly subjected to threats and vitriol by believers in election conspiracies promoted by both Trump and Republican Kari Lake, a former news anchor who lost her bid for the governorship by a razor-thin margin to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
In one exchange with filmmakers, Gates choked back tears as he was discussing the effect his job as an county official was having on his personal life. The Maricopa County supervisor said he was diagnosed with PTSD due to the constant and relentless threats and harassment from conspiracy theorists.
"This, I can’t do on camera—or I can do it on your camera only. But I can’t do it on anyone else’s," Gates said in one interview, which the New Yorker said showed Gates' face showing "micro-expressions of pain."
The article described scenes from one Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting in which attendees verbally attacked county officials during the public comment session. One woman upset about the 2020 election quoted former President John F. Kennedy when saying: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution necessary."
"You are the cancer that is tearing this nation apart," another man said during the meeting................
A recent article in the New Yorker reported on the new documentary "Denial," which is about how MAGA-fueled conspiracy theories about the 2020 election have impacted the lives of election workers. The film is shown from the perspective of Maricopa County, Arizona supervisor Bill Gates — a lifelong Republican and Federalist Society member who nonetheless became a prime target of Trump supporters for certifying election results that led to President Joe Biden narrowly winning the Grand Canyon State in 2020.
The documentary follows Gates ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, in which Arizonans were voting in a hotly contested election in which Democrats eventually won both the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races. "Denial" showed how Gates was regularly subjected to threats and vitriol by believers in election conspiracies promoted by both Trump and Republican Kari Lake, a former news anchor who lost her bid for the governorship by a razor-thin margin to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
In one exchange with filmmakers, Gates choked back tears as he was discussing the effect his job as an county official was having on his personal life. The Maricopa County supervisor said he was diagnosed with PTSD due to the constant and relentless threats and harassment from conspiracy theorists.
"This, I can’t do on camera—or I can do it on your camera only. But I can’t do it on anyone else’s," Gates said in one interview, which the New Yorker said showed Gates' face showing "micro-expressions of pain."
The article described scenes from one Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting in which attendees verbally attacked county officials during the public comment session. One woman upset about the 2020 election quoted former President John F. Kennedy when saying: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution necessary."
"You are the cancer that is tearing this nation apart," another man said during the meeting................
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Emails obtained by the Guardian reveal a behind-the-scenes network of county election officials throughout Georgia coordinating on policy and messaging to both call the results of November’s election into question before a single vote is cast, and push rules and procedures favored by the election denial movement.
The emails were obtained by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) as a result of a public records request sent to David Hancock, an election denier and member of the Gwinnett county board of elections. Crew shared the emails with the Guardian.
Spanning a period beginning in January, the communications expose the inner workings of a group that includes some of the most ardent supporters of the former president Donald Trump’s election lies as well as ongoing efforts to portray the coming election as beset with fraud. Included in the communications are agendas for meetings and efforts to coordinate on policies and messaging as the swing state has once again become a focal point of the presidential campaign.
The communications include correspondence from a who’s who of Georgia election denialists, including officials with ties to prominent national groups such as the Tea Party Patriots and the Election Integrity Network, a group run by Cleta Mitchell, a former attorney who acted as an informal adviser to the Trump White House during its attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The group – which includes elections officials from at least five counties – calls itself the Georgia Election Integrity Coalition.
Among the oldest emails released are those regarding a 30 January article published by the United Tea Party of Georgia. Headlined “Georgia Democratic Party Threatens Georgia Election Officials”, the article was posted by an unnamed “admin” of the website, and came in response to letters sent to county election officials throughout Georgia who had recently refused to certify election results...............
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The emails were obtained by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) as a result of a public records request sent to David Hancock, an election denier and member of the Gwinnett county board of elections. Crew shared the emails with the Guardian.
Spanning a period beginning in January, the communications expose the inner workings of a group that includes some of the most ardent supporters of the former president Donald Trump’s election lies as well as ongoing efforts to portray the coming election as beset with fraud. Included in the communications are agendas for meetings and efforts to coordinate on policies and messaging as the swing state has once again become a focal point of the presidential campaign.
The communications include correspondence from a who’s who of Georgia election denialists, including officials with ties to prominent national groups such as the Tea Party Patriots and the Election Integrity Network, a group run by Cleta Mitchell, a former attorney who acted as an informal adviser to the Trump White House during its attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The group – which includes elections officials from at least five counties – calls itself the Georgia Election Integrity Coalition.
Among the oldest emails released are those regarding a 30 January article published by the United Tea Party of Georgia. Headlined “Georgia Democratic Party Threatens Georgia Election Officials”, the article was posted by an unnamed “admin” of the website, and came in response to letters sent to county election officials throughout Georgia who had recently refused to certify election results...............
Network of Georgia election officials strategizing to undermine 2024 result
Emails reveal Georgia Election Integrity Coalition, a group of officials and election deniers, coordinating in swing state
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DaveXA
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Hello irony my old friend.
Optimus Prime
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The fight over voter registration in Texas Democratic-leaning cities is heating up.
In Tuesday, Travis County sued Texas state officials — including right-wing Attorney General Ken Paxton — over his repeated attempts to block the state’s urban counties from registering voters by mail.
“Today, Travis County, once again, fights back,” county attorney Delia Garza told reporters on Tuesday, The Texas Tribune reported. Travis County is home to the state’s capital, Austin.
The countersuit comes in the context of a tightening election — and less than three weeks before the critical Oct. 7 deadline to register Texans to vote.
In the suit, Garza asserts that Paxton and State Secretary of State Jane Nelson are in violation of Title 52 of the Voting Rights Act, which makes it “the duty of the Federal, State, and local governments to promote the exercise of [the] right” to vote.
The Travis countersuit follows three weeks after Paxton sued Travis County itself, alleging that county leadership’s use of a third-party voter registration company violated state law............
In Tuesday, Travis County sued Texas state officials — including right-wing Attorney General Ken Paxton — over his repeated attempts to block the state’s urban counties from registering voters by mail.
“Today, Travis County, once again, fights back,” county attorney Delia Garza told reporters on Tuesday, The Texas Tribune reported. Travis County is home to the state’s capital, Austin.
The countersuit comes in the context of a tightening election — and less than three weeks before the critical Oct. 7 deadline to register Texans to vote.
In the suit, Garza asserts that Paxton and State Secretary of State Jane Nelson are in violation of Title 52 of the Voting Rights Act, which makes it “the duty of the Federal, State, and local governments to promote the exercise of [the] right” to vote.
The Travis countersuit follows three weeks after Paxton sued Travis County itself, alleging that county leadership’s use of a third-party voter registration company violated state law............
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The recent lawsuit brought against the University of North Carolina by the state Republican Party and other conservative groups over its voter identification procedures is built on shaky ground. At its core, this action lacks a strong foundation, both in terms of the law and common sense.
The university, in my view, has done everything right. UNC’s efforts to issue voter IDs to its students not only comply with the law but also reflect a thoughtful approach to ensuring voter access, especially for young people, many of whom may not have other forms of ID.
Let’s start with the key issue: compliance with North Carolina’s voter ID law.
In 2018, the state passed a constitutional amendment requiring voters to present identification at the polls. The General Assembly later outlined what forms of ID would be acceptable. It wisely included student IDs from state universities, provided they met certain security standards. UNC followed that law to the letter by implementing a process to issue IDs that would allow students — many of whom are first-time voters — to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
The claim that UNC’s process is legally inadequate simply doesn’t hold water. The university, like other schools in the state, established a process for issuing voter IDs with the express goal of making voting more accessible. It’s not as though UNC is handing out these IDs at random or without proper verification.
UNC’s procedures for distributing these IDs follow the law’s intent of making sure eligible students can vote. If there are any minor imperfections in the system, they don’t rise to the level of fraud or constitutional violations, as the lawsuit suggests.
The North Carolina GOP’s lawsuit is, rather, an attempt to turn a legitimate effort to increase voter participation into a manufactured crisis. The complaint focuses heavily on the idea that UNC’s method of verifying student identities isn’t rigorous enough, and that the university-issued IDs lack sufficient security features to prevent fraud.
But if you peel back the layers, this lawsuit isn’t about election integrity at all — it’s about voter suppression. It’s a deliberate move to target a student population that historically leans liberal, all under the guise of “security concerns.”................
The university, in my view, has done everything right. UNC’s efforts to issue voter IDs to its students not only comply with the law but also reflect a thoughtful approach to ensuring voter access, especially for young people, many of whom may not have other forms of ID.
Let’s start with the key issue: compliance with North Carolina’s voter ID law.
In 2018, the state passed a constitutional amendment requiring voters to present identification at the polls. The General Assembly later outlined what forms of ID would be acceptable. It wisely included student IDs from state universities, provided they met certain security standards. UNC followed that law to the letter by implementing a process to issue IDs that would allow students — many of whom are first-time voters — to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
The claim that UNC’s process is legally inadequate simply doesn’t hold water. The university, like other schools in the state, established a process for issuing voter IDs with the express goal of making voting more accessible. It’s not as though UNC is handing out these IDs at random or without proper verification.
UNC’s procedures for distributing these IDs follow the law’s intent of making sure eligible students can vote. If there are any minor imperfections in the system, they don’t rise to the level of fraud or constitutional violations, as the lawsuit suggests.
The North Carolina GOP’s lawsuit is, rather, an attempt to turn a legitimate effort to increase voter participation into a manufactured crisis. The complaint focuses heavily on the idea that UNC’s method of verifying student identities isn’t rigorous enough, and that the university-issued IDs lack sufficient security features to prevent fraud.
But if you peel back the layers, this lawsuit isn’t about election integrity at all — it’s about voter suppression. It’s a deliberate move to target a student population that historically leans liberal, all under the guise of “security concerns.”................
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DJ1BigTymer
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I am certain that there will be some serious issues in a number of states that have dense populations and those problems would be tracked to the 2013 Shelby decision. I anticipate seeing these problems arise in Harris Co, TX and Fulton Co, GA, with GA being a major issue.
Georgia's Fulton Co polling stations have consistently been forced to service well over the 2000 voter limit prior to the actions they took after the 2020 election. There's nothing giving me confidence that they will do anything to remedy that problem, in fact, I expect them to limit the amount of voting machines that are assigned to each location.
Remember, voter suppression is a GOP goal.
Georgia's Fulton Co polling stations have consistently been forced to service well over the 2000 voter limit prior to the actions they took after the 2020 election. There's nothing giving me confidence that they will do anything to remedy that problem, in fact, I expect them to limit the amount of voting machines that are assigned to each location.
Remember, voter suppression is a GOP goal.
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Nebaghead
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Graham out meddling in other states again. This is what happens when there isn’t any consequences from him meddling in GA in 2020.
I dont think they will have the votes. A bunch of those republicans are in NE 2 district and they will be voted out if this passes. Also, the chance that the state Supreme Court will allow that change so close to the election wont happen. They will basically let it happen the next election.
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MT15
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20-some Rs voted against it. I haven’t read the law but saw someone saying it gives overly broad powers to the president?So they voted down their own law so that they can shut down the government on October 1 because the law didn't pass?
Optimus Prime
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Georgia election board requires ballots be hand-counted despite warning from key GOP state officials | CNN Politics
Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties to hand-count the of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers.
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Inmates running the asylum as it were.Georgia election board requires ballots be hand-counted despite warning from key GOP state officials | CNN Politics
Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties to hand-count the of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers.
DJ1BigTymer
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The is the result of the ongoing corruption that is being allowed in GA due to the, GOP led, attacks on the ONE person that sought to fight that corruption.Georgia election board requires ballots be hand-counted despite warning from key GOP state officials | CNN Politics
Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties to hand-count the of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers.
GrandAdmiral
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When you know you can't win...
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Republicans are suing more election officials over voter rolls in several battleground states | CNN Politics
Attempts by conservatives to purge state voter rolls ahead of the November election, including from Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, are ramping up, prompting concern from the Justice Department that those efforts might violate federal rules governing how states can...
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All of this is because their polling is telling them they’re going to lose. The stuff in GA, the efforts to change the way NE awards its electoral votes, and so many purges of voter rolls. They’re panicked.When you know you can't win...
Republicans are suing more election officials over voter rolls in several battleground states | CNN Politics
Attempts by conservatives to purge state voter rolls ahead of the November election, including from Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, are ramping up, prompting concern from the Justice Department that those efforts might violate federal rules governing how states can...
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Wait, what?
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