You Can’t Count On Me: Let’s be actual—I simply can’t responsibly write this missive with out catching up on the GOP’s so-called election “audit” in Arizona’s Maricopa County.
Marketing campaign Motion
And guess what!
IT’S OVER!
… kind of.
However probably not.
- The precise poll counting wrapped up simply final week—months delayed (it was supposed to finish in Could).
- However while you rent a agency known as “Cyber Ninjas” with completely zero election audit expertise to do your election audit after which change procedures each different week and must vacate your counting facility for some time so excessive schoolers can maintain graduations and also you get sued a few occasions for violating open data legal guidelines … nicely, these are only some of the problems Arizona Senate Republicans confronted of their quest to show that Joe Biden didn’t win extra votes in Maricopa County than Trump (besides that he did).
For any new readers on the market (HI!), right here’s a fast recap of this farce:
- The GOP-majority Arizona Senate obtained mad that Joe Biden obtained extra votes in Maricopa County (which incorporates Phoenix) than Donald Trump did, so that they demanded that county supervisors flip over hundreds of thousands of ballots and a whole lot of voting machines for an “audit.”
- Maricopa County employed credentialed, respected corporations to conduct two reputable audits, which discovered that the election was safe and that votes had been accurately and correctly counted.
- Clearly this wasn’t the end result the Senate wished, so that they forged about and employed a agency that’s severely known as known as Cyber Ninjas, which has no expertise or experience in election audits and is run by a man who posted a bunch of stolen-election conspiracy theories on a Twitter account that he simply occurred to delete in January.
- As a result of this “Cyber Ninjas” agency is mainly simply a bunch of Trump stans in footie pajamas, Maricopa County has to buy new voting machines after their current apparatuses spent a LOT of time within the spectacularly incapable fingers of those “auditors,” fairly clearly undermining the integrity of their safety.
- How the audit was being performed, the subcontractors concerned within the effort, the place the cash for it got here from, and what public officers are saying to one another about have largely not been publicly recognized.
Anyway, greater than 2.1 million ballots have finally been counted!
However “outcomes” of the “audit” received’t be introduced till later this month.
- In the meantime, the Arizona Senate’s GOP caucus—with its one-seat majority within the chamber (16 R/14 D)—is turning into more and more fractured.
And now we might also have a price ticket for these shenanigans!
- Cyber Ninjas (… nonetheless can’t sort that with a straight face) announced last Thursday that $150,000 in public funding for the audit was supplemented by almost $5.7 million in personal donations from teams which have promoted Trump’s Huge Lie that the election was stolen.
That’s … like, a lot of cash
- However Arizona Republicans nonetheless aren’t carried out!
- Final week, the Senate subpoenaed the (additionally GOP-controlled) Maricopa County board of supervisors for much more stuff, including routers, machine passwords, and voter registration records from the county.
- The board reportedly has no intention of complying with this ongoing harassment from Republican senators, and the Senate itself can’t hold a contempt vote (which might end in board members’ precise arrests!) till the laws session convenes in January 2022.
- Apart from, the failure of such a vote again in February signifies that one other contempt vote received’t go Fann’s manner, anyway.
So yeah, the whole catastrophe in Arizona grinds on.
An(d it) Begins: As an erudite client of this missive, you possible recall protection on this house of the heinous voter suppression legislation handed by the GOP-controlled Georgia legislature earlier this yr.
To refresh your recollection, listed below are a number of of the nasty issues it does:
- Voters searching for to vote absentee should present a replica of their identification or the variety of their Georgia driver’s license or state ID to each apply for and when returning the poll.
- The secretary of state’s workplace is prohibited from sending unsolicited absentee poll purposes (because it did earlier than the 2020 primaries because of the coronavirus pandemic).
- Voters must request absentee ballots 11 days earlier than an election (at the moment absentee ballots could be requested as much as the Friday earlier than Election Day).
- Poll drop containers can solely be positioned inside early voting places and may solely be used throughout voting hours (which sort of obviates the entire level of poll drop containers, no?).
- Giving meals or drinks (together with water!) to a voter ready in line to forged their poll is now a criminal offense.
- The runoff cycle is shortened from the present 9 weeks to simply 4 weeks.
And don’t get me mistaken, all of this stuff are very, very dangerous.
However a number of the worst provisions of this measure are just a little on the sneaky aspect.
Like, say, permitting for limitless challenges to voter registrations and eligibility.
Sounds innocuous sufficient, proper?
Let’s have a look again on the Georgia Senate runoffs to see why.
- In January, the right-wing group True the Vote (lol) challenged the eligibility of a whole lot of hundreds of voters in these runoff elections based mostly on an unreliable postal database.
- On that event, only some dozen votes had been really thrown out.
- However below the brand new legislation, conservative activists at the moment are in a position to problem the eligibility of as many citizens as they need.
- Additionally, native election boards can be required to listen to these challenges inside 10 days, which might strain county officers to rapidly take away eligible voters from the rolls or erroneously reject their ballots.
However wait, it will get worse!
- The brand new legislation additionally grants state officers the broad proper to change native election officers (therefore the “strain” talked about above).
- So not solely will these eligibility challenges develop into extra quite a few and frequent, however native officers deemed reluctant or unable to take away appropriate numbers of voters from rolls or reject sufficient ballots may very well be swapped out for folk deemed extra … amenable.
- The brand new legislation additionally removes Georgia’s elected secretary of state as chair of the state election board.
And now, a number of brief months after this measure was signed into legislation, we’re beginning to see this diabolical plan begin to really unfold.
- Georgia Republicans have taken the first step towards a possible state takeover of election administration in Fulton County (a Democratic bastion with a big Black inhabitants that’s residence to Atlanta and likewise is the state’s largest county—one in 10 Georgians reside there!) after key GOP lawmakers signaled their assist for a “efficiency overview” of the county.
- This might ultimately result in the GOP-run State Board of Elections briefly changing the officers in control of elections within the county, as permitted by the brand new legislation.
- As a result of the alternative is short-term, the timing here will be key.
- (Largely Democratic) Fulton County is prone to take away a GOP-appointed superintendent as quickly as it may possibly, so Republicans want to make sure that the short-term superintendent’s short-term stint in workplace (9 months) overlaps with the 2022 election and the post-election certification interval.
- This might ultimately result in the GOP-run State Board of Elections briefly changing the officers in control of elections within the county, as permitted by the brand new legislation.
This complete course of goes to take some time to spin out, and it’s going to be wonky and boring, but it surely’s extremely necessary.
Keep tuned!
Perfect Blue Buildings: So right here’s just a little little bit of pleased information for you: Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has signed a brand new law that will allow voters to register on-line starting in 2023.
- With Maine’s adoption of on-line voter registration, each state the place Democrats have trifecta management of state authorities (governor, Home/Meeting, Senate) has passed such a law.
- Simply seven states (that require voters to register) don’t enable full on-line registration at this level.
- You’ll be simply shocked, shocked to be taught that every one of them are run by Republicans.
And considered one of them is Texas, which jogs my memory …
Hanginaround: As Texas Home Democrats stay out of state to interrupt quorum (thus depriving the Home of sufficient members to conduct enterprise and consequently stopping voter suppression, anti-transgender, and different terrible payments from passing), GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has known as a second particular legislative session—and he intends it to start this Saturday, instantly after his failed first particular session is about to conclude.
- Have in mind, greater than three weeks have passed by since Texas Home Dems to got here to DC to forestall these measures from passing within the GOP-majority state Home and to foyer federal Democrats to get off their duffs and go a voter safety invoice.
- That’s a very long time to be away from your private home, your loved ones, your mates, your different obligations …
- However Abbott has listed his voter suppression laws on the high of his 17-point record of priorities for Particular Session II: The Empire Strikes Again.
So what are Texas Democrats to do?
In a nutshell, here are their options:
- Return to the Capitol in Austin
- Return to Texas however keep put of their districts and danger arrest below Home guidelines that enable members to be compelled to attend session
- Lengthen their keep in DC or head to a state the place they might proceed to interrupt quorum exterior the attain of Texas legislation enforcement’s jurisdiction.
What’s it gonna be?
We’ll discover out quickly sufficient.
Daylight Fading: IT’S ALMOST HERE: The U.S. Census Bureau will release the population data mandatory for redistricting at a press convention on Aug. 12 (a reasonably critical delay from the unique April 1 deadline, however Trump + COVID = ???).
- After that, the brand new spherical of map drawing that can assist decide the stability of energy within the U.S. Home and in state legislatures nationwide for the following decade will start in earnest.
However extra on that … quickly.
Within the meantime, thanks for hanging in! You’re a champ who deserves to get pleasure from your weekend, perhaps even add an additional day to it.
As a result of no matter you’re doing it, you’re doing it onerous.
And that’s superior.
However taking a break helps you to recharge so you’ll be able to come again and do it more durable … or higher … or simply in any respect!
As a result of no matter you give is effective.
And it’s all the time sufficient.
Simply bear in mind: You’re necessary.
We’d like you.