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)
- Thread starterMT15
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
Users who are viewing this thread
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
PHOENIX — Fresh off losing a campaign for sheriff, Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh (R) voted “under duress” in August to certify the county’s primary election results.
This week, he threatened to sue the Arizona county that employs him, claiming — much like President Donald Trump did after his 2020 defeat — that the election had been rigged against him.
In a formal notification signaling he intends to pursue a legal claim, Cavanaugh alleged that the Republican county recorder and five other election officials conspired to “modify the results” of the July 30 primary election.
board term does not end until the end of the year, so he will play a role in certifying the general election results, including the presidential race. Cavanaugh has said he will fulfill his duty to accept those results, but his handling of his own loss worries county and state election officials.
Cavanaugh lost his primary race for sheriff by a 2-1 margin. He did not go to court to try to contest his defeat. Instead, he is putting county officials on alert through a “notice of claim” — a precursor to a lawsuit typically used by people who have suffered harm caused by government institutions — that he may sue the county for his electoral loss.
In doing so, Cavanaugh is opening a new front in this battleground state in how those skeptical of election outcomes can work outside the traditional court system to try to prove their alleged claims of election interference, election experts and lawyers said.
“We’re trying to put out fires, but the arsonist is in our house,” said one person familiar with the sentiments of county officials about the claim, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s using his seat of power to undermine elections to undo all the good we’ve done to try to restore faith.”
Cavanaugh said his claims were based on a “statistical and data analysis” that was “reviewed by the chief data scientist with a Fortune 100 company who agreed the numbers had clearly been changed.”
He said the county’s video footage of tabulation activities “is highly suspect,” although he provided no evidence to support that statement.
The previously unreported claim escalates a weeks-long dispute between Cavanaugh, the recorder and the rest of the county governing board about the accuracy of the county’s election systems.
Those systems, like elsewhere around the nation, have been strained by misinformation, public records requests filed by fraud-hunting citizen groups and candidates unwilling to accept their losses.
claim is certain to draw even more concern about how the once-sleepy county southeast of Phoenix will approach problems — real or imagined — that could arise during the November general election…….
This week, he threatened to sue the Arizona county that employs him, claiming — much like President Donald Trump did after his 2020 defeat — that the election had been rigged against him.
In a formal notification signaling he intends to pursue a legal claim, Cavanaugh alleged that the Republican county recorder and five other election officials conspired to “modify the results” of the July 30 primary election.
board term does not end until the end of the year, so he will play a role in certifying the general election results, including the presidential race. Cavanaugh has said he will fulfill his duty to accept those results, but his handling of his own loss worries county and state election officials.
Cavanaugh lost his primary race for sheriff by a 2-1 margin. He did not go to court to try to contest his defeat. Instead, he is putting county officials on alert through a “notice of claim” — a precursor to a lawsuit typically used by people who have suffered harm caused by government institutions — that he may sue the county for his electoral loss.
In doing so, Cavanaugh is opening a new front in this battleground state in how those skeptical of election outcomes can work outside the traditional court system to try to prove their alleged claims of election interference, election experts and lawyers said.
“We’re trying to put out fires, but the arsonist is in our house,” said one person familiar with the sentiments of county officials about the claim, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s using his seat of power to undermine elections to undo all the good we’ve done to try to restore faith.”
Cavanaugh said his claims were based on a “statistical and data analysis” that was “reviewed by the chief data scientist with a Fortune 100 company who agreed the numbers had clearly been changed.”
He said the county’s video footage of tabulation activities “is highly suspect,” although he provided no evidence to support that statement.
The previously unreported claim escalates a weeks-long dispute between Cavanaugh, the recorder and the rest of the county governing board about the accuracy of the county’s election systems.
Those systems, like elsewhere around the nation, have been strained by misinformation, public records requests filed by fraud-hunting citizen groups and candidates unwilling to accept their losses.
claim is certain to draw even more concern about how the once-sleepy county southeast of Phoenix will approach problems — real or imagined — that could arise during the November general election…….
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
rule passed last week, which bipartisan election officials in Georgia say will delay the counting of votes in November, was introduced by an election denier who appears to believe in various rightwing conspiracies and whose apparent experience in elections dates only to February.
The rule – which requires poll workers to hand-count ballots at polling locations – was passed by an election-denier majority on the Georgia state election board on Friday. It was introduced by Sharlene Alexander, a Donald Trump supporter and member of the Fayette county board of elections, who was appointed to her position in February. Alexander’s Facebook page alludes to a belief in election conspiracies, the Guardian has found.
Alexander is one of 12 people – all election deniers – who have introduced more than 30 rules to the state election board since May, according to meeting agendas and summaries reviewed by the Guardian. Of those, the board has approved several, including two that give county election officials more discretion to refuse to certify election results, in addition to Alexander’s hand-count rule.
Alexander’s lack of experience in elections underscores the recent phenomena of unelected, inexperienced activists in Georgia’s election-denial movement successfully lobbying the state election board to pass rules favored by conspiracists. Democrats, voting rights advocates and some Republicans have said the rules are not just outside the authority of the state election board, but may result in delays in the processing and certification of results.
“There is widespread, bipartisan opposition to these anti-voter rule changes and opposition from the local elections officials, as well as experts in the field,” Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of the voting rights group Fair Fight, said in a statement. Groh-Wargo noted that Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state, and bipartisan county election officials from across the state as well as former governors Nathan Deal and Roy Barnes have said the recently passed rules are “destroying confidence” in Georgia’s election systems.…….
www.theguardian.com
The rule – which requires poll workers to hand-count ballots at polling locations – was passed by an election-denier majority on the Georgia state election board on Friday. It was introduced by Sharlene Alexander, a Donald Trump supporter and member of the Fayette county board of elections, who was appointed to her position in February. Alexander’s Facebook page alludes to a belief in election conspiracies, the Guardian has found.
Alexander is one of 12 people – all election deniers – who have introduced more than 30 rules to the state election board since May, according to meeting agendas and summaries reviewed by the Guardian. Of those, the board has approved several, including two that give county election officials more discretion to refuse to certify election results, in addition to Alexander’s hand-count rule.
Alexander’s lack of experience in elections underscores the recent phenomena of unelected, inexperienced activists in Georgia’s election-denial movement successfully lobbying the state election board to pass rules favored by conspiracists. Democrats, voting rights advocates and some Republicans have said the rules are not just outside the authority of the state election board, but may result in delays in the processing and certification of results.
“There is widespread, bipartisan opposition to these anti-voter rule changes and opposition from the local elections officials, as well as experts in the field,” Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of the voting rights group Fair Fight, said in a statement. Groh-Wargo noted that Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state, and bipartisan county election officials from across the state as well as former governors Nathan Deal and Roy Barnes have said the recently passed rules are “destroying confidence” in Georgia’s election systems.…….
The election deniers with a chokehold on Georgia’s state election board
The Republican secretary of state and two ex-governors have said the new rules are ‘destroying confidence’ in Georgia’s election systems
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections has removed 747,000 people from its list of registered voters within the last 20 months, officials announced Thursday in a press release.
The State Board of Elections in the release said the majority of those stripped from the rolls were deemed ineligible to be registered because they had moved within the state and did not register their new address, or because they did not participate in the past two federal elections, prompting an inactive status.
Other reasons for removal included death, felony convictions, out-of-state moves and personal requests for removal, the board said.
North Carolina is one of seven swing states likely to decide the presidential election between Vice President Harris and former President Trump. Only one Democrat this century, former President Obama in 2008, has won the state in a presidential contest, but Harris has been polling close to Trump this cycle.
The state is also home to a tough gubernatorial contest between Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.
The purge comes just a few weeks after North Carolina Republicans filed a lawsuit that said the state had failed to act on complaints about ineligible people on voter rolls.
In the GOP lawsuit, a Wake County resident in North Carolina claimed voter registration forms in that county did not include driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
“By failing to collect certain statutorily required information prior to registering these applicants to vote, Defendants placed the integrity of the state’s elections into jeopardy,” the lawsuit read............
The State Board of Elections in the release said the majority of those stripped from the rolls were deemed ineligible to be registered because they had moved within the state and did not register their new address, or because they did not participate in the past two federal elections, prompting an inactive status.
Other reasons for removal included death, felony convictions, out-of-state moves and personal requests for removal, the board said.
North Carolina is one of seven swing states likely to decide the presidential election between Vice President Harris and former President Trump. Only one Democrat this century, former President Obama in 2008, has won the state in a presidential contest, but Harris has been polling close to Trump this cycle.
The state is also home to a tough gubernatorial contest between Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.
The purge comes just a few weeks after North Carolina Republicans filed a lawsuit that said the state had failed to act on complaints about ineligible people on voter rolls.
In the GOP lawsuit, a Wake County resident in North Carolina claimed voter registration forms in that county did not include driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
“By failing to collect certain statutorily required information prior to registering these applicants to vote, Defendants placed the integrity of the state’s elections into jeopardy,” the lawsuit read............
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
battleground Pennsylvania county with a history of election errors is facing heavy criticism from activists on both sides of the political spectrum over the way it is running its presidential vote in 2024.
Conservative activists, who have dominated recent election board meetings, say the county isn’t processing voter registrations fast enough – something county officials say is simply untrue. Voting rights groups, meanwhile, are furious over a recent decision by the county manager in Luzerne county in the north-eastern part of the state to get rid of ballot drop boxes.
A series of high-profile errors in Luzerne county have put its elections under a microscope. In 2020, a temporary employee accidentally threw out overseas mail-in ballots, an episode that Donald Trump used to claim voter fraud. In 2022, the county ran out of paper at some voting locations, an episode that Republicans used to question the results of the election (an investigation attributed the incident to human error). There has also been an extraordinary amount of turnover in the office. The current election director, Emily Cook, is the seventh person to hold the job since the fall of 2019.
County officials have spent the last year workingto get the county back on track to run a smooth election and regain the trust of voters. But the memory of the errors lingers and any error or delay can become fodder for those seeking to undermine the credibility of the vote – something that could create a volatile scenario if Trump contests the election results this fall.
Voter registration is nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats in Luzerne county. Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, narrowly wonthe county in 2022. Donald Trump carried the county by more than 14 percentage points in 2020, a drop from his 20-point margin in 2016 .
Scott Presler, a well-known Republican activistwho organized events protesting against Trump’s loss in the 2020 election and is now leading an effort to register voters, appeared at a meeting of the county election board on 18 September and accused officials of intentionally delaying the processing of voter registrations. He cited a “reliable source”, but did not provide any more information.……
www.theguardian.com
Conservative activists, who have dominated recent election board meetings, say the county isn’t processing voter registrations fast enough – something county officials say is simply untrue. Voting rights groups, meanwhile, are furious over a recent decision by the county manager in Luzerne county in the north-eastern part of the state to get rid of ballot drop boxes.
A series of high-profile errors in Luzerne county have put its elections under a microscope. In 2020, a temporary employee accidentally threw out overseas mail-in ballots, an episode that Donald Trump used to claim voter fraud. In 2022, the county ran out of paper at some voting locations, an episode that Republicans used to question the results of the election (an investigation attributed the incident to human error). There has also been an extraordinary amount of turnover in the office. The current election director, Emily Cook, is the seventh person to hold the job since the fall of 2019.
County officials have spent the last year workingto get the county back on track to run a smooth election and regain the trust of voters. But the memory of the errors lingers and any error or delay can become fodder for those seeking to undermine the credibility of the vote – something that could create a volatile scenario if Trump contests the election results this fall.
Voter registration is nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats in Luzerne county. Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, narrowly wonthe county in 2022. Donald Trump carried the county by more than 14 percentage points in 2020, a drop from his 20-point margin in 2016 .
Scott Presler, a well-known Republican activistwho organized events protesting against Trump’s loss in the 2020 election and is now leading an effort to register voters, appeared at a meeting of the county election board on 18 September and accused officials of intentionally delaying the processing of voter registrations. He cited a “reliable source”, but did not provide any more information.……
Drop boxes and delays: under-fire election office ends up pleasing no one
Conservatives say voter registration processing is too slow, while voting rights groups are livid over drop box removals
Nebaghead
Well-known member
Offline
He plans to run for Omaha mayor and if he votes to eliminate the Nebraska electoral plan he would loose the election. He was a Dem turned Republican.Good. I hope this puts that mess to rest for good (or at least until after election day).
Pivotal Nebraska state senator deals Trump serious setback, saying he won’t support change to state election law | CNN Politics
A pressure campaign from Donald Trump and Republican allies to change Nebraska election law was dealt a significant setback on Monday as a pivotal Omaha state senator said he would not support a last-ditch effort to overturn a 30-year law that awards electoral votes by congressional district...www.cnn.com
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
RALEIGH, N.C, (AP) — A North Carolina appeals court on Friday blocked students and employees at the state’s flagship public university from providing a digital identification produced by the school when voting to comply with a new photo ID mandate.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the intermediate-level Court of Appeals reverses at least temporarily last month’s decision by the State Board of Elections that the mobile ID generated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill met security and photo requirements in the law and could be used.
The Republican National Committee and state Republican Party sued to overturn the decision by the Democratic-majority board earlier this month, saying the law only allows physical ID cards to be approved. Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory last week denied a temporary restraining order to halt its use. The Republicans appealed.…..
apnews.com
The decision by a three-judge panel of the intermediate-level Court of Appeals reverses at least temporarily last month’s decision by the State Board of Elections that the mobile ID generated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill met security and photo requirements in the law and could be used.
The Republican National Committee and state Republican Party sued to overturn the decision by the Democratic-majority board earlier this month, saying the law only allows physical ID cards to be approved. Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory last week denied a temporary restraining order to halt its use. The Republicans appealed.…..
North Carolina appeals court blocks use of university's digital ID for voting
A North Carolina appeals court has blocked students and employees at the state’s flagship public university from providing a school's digital identification when voting to comply with a new photo ID mandate.
apnews.com
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The top election official in a key northern Nevada swing county is taking a stress-related leave of absence with just over a month to go before Election Day, creating a sense of uncertainty about election operations in a county that has been under near-constant attack from conspiracy theorists since former President Donald Trump lost it in 2020.
The announcement regarding Washoe County interim Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess is the latest high-level change to roil the elections office. It might also be the most consequential departure spurred by the years-long campaign against election administrators sparked by Trump’s false claims that fraud cost him reelection four years ago.
Burgess was the third registrar since 2020 in Washoe, which includes Reno and has become critical for any candidate piecing together a statewide win in Nevada, one of at least seven highly competitive states in November’s presidential election.…….
apnews.com
The announcement regarding Washoe County interim Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess is the latest high-level change to roil the elections office. It might also be the most consequential departure spurred by the years-long campaign against election administrators sparked by Trump’s false claims that fraud cost him reelection four years ago.
Burgess was the third registrar since 2020 in Washoe, which includes Reno and has become critical for any candidate piecing together a statewide win in Nevada, one of at least seven highly competitive states in November’s presidential election.…….
Top election official in Nevada county that is key to the presidential race takes stress leave
The top election official in a northern Nevada county that is key to winning the presidential battleground state is taking a stress-related leave of absence with just over a month to go before Election Day.
apnews.com
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
After voting this month to require a hand count of paper ballots on election day, the Trump-aligned trio of Georgia state elections board members turned their attention back to one of their favorite topics: how to keep an eye on Fulton county.
Georgia’s most populous county is always on their mind. For people who still chant “stop the steal” almost four years after the 2020 election, Fulton county remains the problem.
Earlier this year, the state board entered into a voluntary agreement with Fulton county to embed an external monitoring team into the election apparatus for the 2024 contest.
The agreement came after the state board reprimanded the county for potentially double counting about 3,000 ballots during a recount of the 2020 election. The mistake did not – could not – change the election result which showed that Joe Biden had won the election. Nonetheless, the county swallowed hard and ate the rebuke.
But the devil is in the details down in Georgia. Which monitoring team? Who gets to stand behind poll workers on election night looking for loose ballots and bad math?
Last week, the state election board rejected the monitoring team the county had selected, instead preferring an option primarily including people tied to the stop-the-steal movement.
State board members said they would send the chairman to the county to try to negotiate, but the terms of the agreement and the late date for adjustments leaves the state board little leverage.…….
www.theguardian.com
Georgia’s most populous county is always on their mind. For people who still chant “stop the steal” almost four years after the 2020 election, Fulton county remains the problem.
Earlier this year, the state board entered into a voluntary agreement with Fulton county to embed an external monitoring team into the election apparatus for the 2024 contest.
The agreement came after the state board reprimanded the county for potentially double counting about 3,000 ballots during a recount of the 2020 election. The mistake did not – could not – change the election result which showed that Joe Biden had won the election. Nonetheless, the county swallowed hard and ate the rebuke.
But the devil is in the details down in Georgia. Which monitoring team? Who gets to stand behind poll workers on election night looking for loose ballots and bad math?
Last week, the state election board rejected the monitoring team the county had selected, instead preferring an option primarily including people tied to the stop-the-steal movement.
State board members said they would send the chairman to the county to try to negotiate, but the terms of the agreement and the late date for adjustments leaves the state board little leverage.…….
Who gets to observe elections? A Georgia county dukes it out with its elections board
Fulton county officials had agreed on an external team, but the board wants a team tied to the stop-the-steal movement
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
MENIFEE, California (AP) — With Election Day just a few weeks away, longtime church members Lucky Hartunian and Janie Booth sat outside the Revival Christian Fellowship’s sanctuary in Menifee, California, inviting congregants to register to vote.
The women urged those streaming into the evangelical church’s Saturday morning civic engagement event to “make their voices heard as Christians.” After mail-in ballots go out statewide, Booth and Hartunian will be among church volunteers collecting completed, sealed ballots and dropping them off at the county office the next day.
It’s a practice known as ballot gathering - or ballot harvesting — that’s been a source of national controversy over the years.
Booth said her task is a big responsibility, but she’s not nervous.
“A lot of people don’t trust the mail,” she said. “So I feel honored and privileged to do this. I’m doing this for my kids and grandkids.”
Conservative voters who have been skeptical of mail voting and ballot gathering – a strategy often used by Democrats – are now warming up to it. Evangelical Christians, in particular, are embracing it this year.
Leading conservative figures Charlie Kirk and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump have called on Christians and conservatives to collect ballots. Megachurches like Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern California are leading the charge, urging – even training – congregations to collect ballots. They praise it as a valuable tool to raise voter turnout and elect candidates who align with their views on issues such as abortion, transgender rights and immigration.
Robert Tyler, a California-based attorney who represents conservative churches and pastors, said he still believes “ballot harvesting and universal vote by mail creates opportunities for fraud.”
“But the rules of the game have changed,” he said. “Until the law changes, we have to get out and gather ballots like they are doing.”…….
apnews.com
The women urged those streaming into the evangelical church’s Saturday morning civic engagement event to “make their voices heard as Christians.” After mail-in ballots go out statewide, Booth and Hartunian will be among church volunteers collecting completed, sealed ballots and dropping them off at the county office the next day.
It’s a practice known as ballot gathering - or ballot harvesting — that’s been a source of national controversy over the years.
Booth said her task is a big responsibility, but she’s not nervous.
“A lot of people don’t trust the mail,” she said. “So I feel honored and privileged to do this. I’m doing this for my kids and grandkids.”
Conservative voters who have been skeptical of mail voting and ballot gathering – a strategy often used by Democrats – are now warming up to it. Evangelical Christians, in particular, are embracing it this year.
Leading conservative figures Charlie Kirk and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump have called on Christians and conservatives to collect ballots. Megachurches like Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern California are leading the charge, urging – even training – congregations to collect ballots. They praise it as a valuable tool to raise voter turnout and elect candidates who align with their views on issues such as abortion, transgender rights and immigration.
Robert Tyler, a California-based attorney who represents conservative churches and pastors, said he still believes “ballot harvesting and universal vote by mail creates opportunities for fraud.”
“But the rules of the game have changed,” he said. “Until the law changes, we have to get out and gather ballots like they are doing.”…….
Conservative Christians were skeptical of mail-in ballots. Now they are gathering them in churches
Conservative Christian churches in California and prominent figures around the United States like activist Charlie Kirk are urging congregations to get involved in ballot gathering or ballot harvesting.
apnews.com
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
Buckle up, post election is going to be insane and unprecendented
============================================
(Reuters) - In Arizona, one of seven competitive U.S. states that are expected to decide the 2024 presidential election, an advocacy group founded by Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller is advancing a bold legal theory: that judges can throw out election results over "failures or irregularities" by local officials.
The lawsuit by the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, says the court in such cases should be able to toss the election results and order new rounds of voting in two counties in Arizona, where Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Trump in the polls by a razor-thin margin.
Almost four years after former president Trump and his allies tried and failed to overturn his election defeat with a flurry of more than 60 hastily arranged lawsuits, Republicans have launched an aggressive legal campaign laying the groundwork to challenge potential losses.
The Republican National Committee says it is involved in more than 120 lawsuits across 26 states, in a strategy that some legal experts and voting rights groups say is meant to undercut faith in the system.
Republicans say the lawsuits are aimed at restoring faith in elections by ensuring people don't vote illegally. Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden was tainted by widespread fraud.
While the Arizona case is likely a long shot, legal experts say it fits with a pattern of Republican-backed lawsuits that appear aimed at sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the election before it occurs and providing fodder for challenging the results after the fact.
“This is part of creating the narrative that there will be irregularities that will require outside intervention," said Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault.
America First Legal Foundation, its lawyers and Miller did not respond to inquiries.
A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee said the party's top priority is fixing what they say are problems with voting systems before Election Day to ensure no ballots are illegally cast.
"Our Election Integrity operation is fighting to secure the election, promoting transparency and fairness for every legal vote. This gives voters confidence that their ballot will be counted properly, and in turn, inspires voter turnout," said RNC spokesperson Claire Zunk.
Trump and Harris are locked in a tight battle ahead of the Nov. 5 election, fueling a wave of litigation by both Democrats and Republicans as they spar over the ground rules.
Republicans typically sue to enforce restrictions on voting that they say are necessary to prevent fraud, while Democrats generally ask courts to keep voting accessible.
The Harris campaign said in a statement that Republicans are "scheming to sow distrust in our elections and undermine our democracy so they can cry foul when they lose."
"Team Harris-Walz enters the home stretch of this campaign with a robust voter and election protection operation and the best lawyers in the country, ready for any challenge Republicans throw at us. We will give Americans the free and fair election they deserve so all eligible voters can vote and have that vote counted," the campaign said.
In Michigan, another closely contested state, Republicans are suing to prevent state agencies from expanding access to voter registration, restrict the use of mobile voting sites like vans and impose tighter verification rules for mail-in ballots.
In Nevada and other states, Trump allies are seeking to purge voter rolls of allegedly ineligible voters and noncitizens, though the deadline for systematically culling rolls in time for the election has passed.
And in Pennsylvania, Republicans are fighting to enforce strict mail-in voting rules and limit voters' ability to correct mistakes on their ballots. On Sept. 13, Republicans scored a victory when the state's highest court ruled mail ballots with incorrect dates will not be counted.................
============================================
(Reuters) - In Arizona, one of seven competitive U.S. states that are expected to decide the 2024 presidential election, an advocacy group founded by Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller is advancing a bold legal theory: that judges can throw out election results over "failures or irregularities" by local officials.
The lawsuit by the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, says the court in such cases should be able to toss the election results and order new rounds of voting in two counties in Arizona, where Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Trump in the polls by a razor-thin margin.
Almost four years after former president Trump and his allies tried and failed to overturn his election defeat with a flurry of more than 60 hastily arranged lawsuits, Republicans have launched an aggressive legal campaign laying the groundwork to challenge potential losses.
The Republican National Committee says it is involved in more than 120 lawsuits across 26 states, in a strategy that some legal experts and voting rights groups say is meant to undercut faith in the system.
Republicans say the lawsuits are aimed at restoring faith in elections by ensuring people don't vote illegally. Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden was tainted by widespread fraud.
While the Arizona case is likely a long shot, legal experts say it fits with a pattern of Republican-backed lawsuits that appear aimed at sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the election before it occurs and providing fodder for challenging the results after the fact.
“This is part of creating the narrative that there will be irregularities that will require outside intervention," said Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault.
America First Legal Foundation, its lawyers and Miller did not respond to inquiries.
A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee said the party's top priority is fixing what they say are problems with voting systems before Election Day to ensure no ballots are illegally cast.
"Our Election Integrity operation is fighting to secure the election, promoting transparency and fairness for every legal vote. This gives voters confidence that their ballot will be counted properly, and in turn, inspires voter turnout," said RNC spokesperson Claire Zunk.
Trump and Harris are locked in a tight battle ahead of the Nov. 5 election, fueling a wave of litigation by both Democrats and Republicans as they spar over the ground rules.
Republicans typically sue to enforce restrictions on voting that they say are necessary to prevent fraud, while Democrats generally ask courts to keep voting accessible.
The Harris campaign said in a statement that Republicans are "scheming to sow distrust in our elections and undermine our democracy so they can cry foul when they lose."
"Team Harris-Walz enters the home stretch of this campaign with a robust voter and election protection operation and the best lawyers in the country, ready for any challenge Republicans throw at us. We will give Americans the free and fair election they deserve so all eligible voters can vote and have that vote counted," the campaign said.
In Michigan, another closely contested state, Republicans are suing to prevent state agencies from expanding access to voter registration, restrict the use of mobile voting sites like vans and impose tighter verification rules for mail-in ballots.
In Nevada and other states, Trump allies are seeking to purge voter rolls of allegedly ineligible voters and noncitizens, though the deadline for systematically culling rolls in time for the election has passed.
And in Pennsylvania, Republicans are fighting to enforce strict mail-in voting rules and limit voters' ability to correct mistakes on their ballots. On Sept. 13, Republicans scored a victory when the state's highest court ruled mail ballots with incorrect dates will not be counted.................
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
DETROIT (AP) — A community in western Michigan has agreed to a $20,000 settlement in a lawsuit by a woman who was turned away from her polling place in 2022 despite registering online to vote, her attorneys said Monday.
Ashleigh Smith made many trips to her polling place in Muskegon County but was told that her address wasn’t turning up in an electronic roster of voters and that she wouldn’t be given a ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.
By the evening, Holton Township Clerk Jill Colwell-Coburn told Smith “she was sorry but that there was nothing more she could do,” the lawsuit alleged.
Smith said she had a voter registration receipt and a sticker to put on her driver’s license to show her new address.
Smith could have been given a provisional ballot, which would have given local officials a few days to try to clear up the problem. The township also could have offered to simply register her again on the spot, attorney Mark Brewer told The Associated Press…….
apnews.com
Ashleigh Smith made many trips to her polling place in Muskegon County but was told that her address wasn’t turning up in an electronic roster of voters and that she wouldn’t be given a ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.
By the evening, Holton Township Clerk Jill Colwell-Coburn told Smith “she was sorry but that there was nothing more she could do,” the lawsuit alleged.
Smith said she had a voter registration receipt and a sticker to put on her driver’s license to show her new address.
Smith could have been given a provisional ballot, which would have given local officials a few days to try to clear up the problem. The township also could have offered to simply register her again on the spot, attorney Mark Brewer told The Associated Press…….
Michigan voter who was registered but denied a ballot settles lawsuit for $20,000
A community in western Michigan has agreed to a $20,000 settlement in a lawsuit by a woman who was turned away from her polling place in 2022.
apnews.com
Optimus Prime
Well-known member
Offline
James Cozadd, a 49-year-old plumber born in Montgomery, Alabama, has no idea why he got a letter from Alabama’s top election official telling him he was potentially ineligible to vote.
He was born in the US, yet the letter said he was suspected of being a non-citizen and he would have to prove his citizenship to vote.
“I’ve been racking my brain to try to figure out how I ended up on the list of purged voters, but I have no clue,” Cozadd said in a court filing in September.
He was one of more than 3,200 voters the secretary of state asked to prove their citizenship – part of a wave of actions amid heated rhetoric among Republicans over the idea that non-citizens could be voting in large numbers in US elections, a theory that runs counter to data.
It’s not just happening in Alabama. Alvaro Manrique Barrenechea, a Tennessee immigration law professor, got a letter this year claiming he could be illegally voting, despite becoming naturalized in 2019 and having the legal right to vote.
And Nicholas Ross, an Ohio music professor, became a US citizen in May after nearly three decades in the country but received an accusatory letter from the Ohio secretary of state in June telling him he could be ineligible to vote because he wasn’t a US citizen. Voting as a non-citizen would be a crime, it warned.
These purges are not just complicating the ability of some qualified voters to cast a ballot this year. They are also setting the stage for future laws to restrict voters’ access to the ballot and are giving fuel to Donald Trump and his allies to seed doubt about the integrity of elections and undermine results if he loses in November.
Trump and other Republicans are already using the false idea that non-citizens could vote in widespread numbers to suggest the election could be stolen.
“Our elections are bad,” Trump said during the 10 September debate. “And a lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they’re trying to get them to vote. They can’t even speak English. They don’t even know what country they’re in practically. And these people are trying to get them to vote. And that’s why they’re allowing them to come into our country.” .
There is no proof that non-citizens are voting, or even registering to vote, in any meaningful numbers. It’s not the first time Republicans have made these claims, but the purges and rhetoric over non-citizen voting this year are, perhaps, at their apex.
The rhetoric makes voting an immigration issue, linking two red-meat issues for Republicans. It also aligns with broad anti-immigrant sentiment the right is advancing, with much of it stemming from a conspiracy that there is an intentional and systematic effort to replace white Americans with minorities through mass migration – the great replacement theory.
Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said the theory holds that the white population is being displaced by non-white immigrants “who will vote in a certain particular way”.
“These attacks on non-citizens and voters are part and parcel of the great replacement conspiracy theory,” she said. “They’re indistinguishable.”………
www.theguardian.com
He was born in the US, yet the letter said he was suspected of being a non-citizen and he would have to prove his citizenship to vote.
“I’ve been racking my brain to try to figure out how I ended up on the list of purged voters, but I have no clue,” Cozadd said in a court filing in September.
He was one of more than 3,200 voters the secretary of state asked to prove their citizenship – part of a wave of actions amid heated rhetoric among Republicans over the idea that non-citizens could be voting in large numbers in US elections, a theory that runs counter to data.
It’s not just happening in Alabama. Alvaro Manrique Barrenechea, a Tennessee immigration law professor, got a letter this year claiming he could be illegally voting, despite becoming naturalized in 2019 and having the legal right to vote.
And Nicholas Ross, an Ohio music professor, became a US citizen in May after nearly three decades in the country but received an accusatory letter from the Ohio secretary of state in June telling him he could be ineligible to vote because he wasn’t a US citizen. Voting as a non-citizen would be a crime, it warned.
These purges are not just complicating the ability of some qualified voters to cast a ballot this year. They are also setting the stage for future laws to restrict voters’ access to the ballot and are giving fuel to Donald Trump and his allies to seed doubt about the integrity of elections and undermine results if he loses in November.
Trump and other Republicans are already using the false idea that non-citizens could vote in widespread numbers to suggest the election could be stolen.
“Our elections are bad,” Trump said during the 10 September debate. “And a lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they’re trying to get them to vote. They can’t even speak English. They don’t even know what country they’re in practically. And these people are trying to get them to vote. And that’s why they’re allowing them to come into our country.” .
There is no proof that non-citizens are voting, or even registering to vote, in any meaningful numbers. It’s not the first time Republicans have made these claims, but the purges and rhetoric over non-citizen voting this year are, perhaps, at their apex.
The rhetoric makes voting an immigration issue, linking two red-meat issues for Republicans. It also aligns with broad anti-immigrant sentiment the right is advancing, with much of it stemming from a conspiracy that there is an intentional and systematic effort to replace white Americans with minorities through mass migration – the great replacement theory.
Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said the theory holds that the white population is being displaced by non-white immigrants “who will vote in a certain particular way”.
“These attacks on non-citizens and voters are part and parcel of the great replacement conspiracy theory,” she said. “They’re indistinguishable.”………
Republicans’ non-citizen voting myth sets stage to claim stolen election
As some Americans are informed they need to prove their citizenship, Trump and other Republicans are spreading the false idea non-citizens could vote in vast numbers
Bigdaddysaints
Well-known member
Offline
it's a shame just because you are brown, you must prove you are a citizen.
it's like, well you look and your name sounds like you not a citizen, so we'll assume you aren't, you must prove to us you are..
it's like, well you look and your name sounds like you not a citizen, so we'll assume you aren't, you must prove to us you are..
zztop
Well-known member
Offline
Grand jury indicts Mesa County clerk Tina Peters and deputy clerk in election system breach investigation
A Mesa County grand jury returned 10 criminal counts against Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters and six counts against Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley in its investigation over a potential ele…www.denverpost.com
an update, she got nearly 9 years, but also the judge got death threats
Colorado judge who sentenced election denier Tina Peters to prison receives threats
A rural Colorado county courthouse has beefed up security after threats were made against courthouse staff and a judge.
apnews.comDaveXA
Well-known member
Offline
I hope they catch and jail whoever is making those death threats. Idiots...the lot of em.an update, she got nearly 9 years, but also the judge got death threatsColorado judge who sentenced election denier Tina Peters to prison receives threats
A rural Colorado county courthouse has beefed up security after threats were made against courthouse staff and a judge.
LA - L.A.
Well-known member
Offline
And part of me hopes they resist arrest when they get caught.
Bigdaddysaints
Well-known member
Offline
i would show my shocked face, but it's been overused over the last 4 years..an update, she got nearly 9 years, but also the judge got death threatsColorado judge who sentenced election denier Tina Peters to prison receives threats
A rural Colorado county courthouse has beefed up security after threats were made against courthouse staff and a judge.
DaveXA
Well-known member
Offline
Right there with you.
Create an account or login to comment
You must be a member in order to leave a comment
Create account
Create an account on our community. It's easy!
Log in
Already have an account? Log in here.