The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 2, 2022

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Reuters – Republicans in one Arizona county refuse to certify election results
Democracy Docket – Arizona Secretary of State Sues Cochise County for Failing to Canvass Election Results
Democracy Docket – Cochise County, Arizona Attempts Another Hand Count
NPR – Counties in Arizona, Pennsylvania fail to certify election results by legal deadlines
National Review – Apparently, No Lawyer Wants to Defend Cochise County’s Refusal to Certify Election Results
Associated Press – 100% ballot hand-count blocked; Arizona county plowing ahead

Groups Taking Action:

 Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans,  All Voting is Local

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

November 28th, an Arizona county board of supervisors refused to certify the November 8th election, defying the state’s deadline and inviting litigation.  

Reuters reports that two of the three county supervisors refused to certify, saying they wanted to hear more from residents claiming that the county’s optical ballot vote tabulators were not properly certified before the election.   Arizona’s Secretary of State’s office responded with supporting documents on the voting machines, and has now filed a lawsuit against the county to compel them to certify the election.

In the filing, the Secretary of State’s office said the County Commission was pointing to unfounded allegations about “ the testing, certification, and accreditation of electronic voting equipment” that serve to “sow further confusion and doubt about the integrity of Arizona’s election system.”

But wait, there’s more.  In October, the county commission had voted to hand count the November 8th election, but the Secretary of State, and the county attorney warned against it.  Then on November 7th, an Arizona judge ruled that Arizona law wouldn’t allow a hand-only count.  Despite that ruling, now that the election is done, the same two county commissioners are suing their own elections director to compel her to hand count the entire vote.

Electronic tabulating of ballots has been shown to be more accurate, faster, and less costly than hand tabulation.

We have articles about the chaos in Cochise County at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Election Denier Chaos in Cochise County, Arizona appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for November 15, 2022

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources: 

Associated Press – Voting snag in Arizona fuels election conspiracy theories
USA Today – Fact check: Printing glitches caused temporary vote-counting halt in Arizona
Fox News – Trump blasts Maricopa County after Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly defeats Blake Masters: ‘Do Election over again!’
AZ Central – Kari Lake taunts Maricopa County election officials after stoking fears on mail-in ballots
Axios Detroit – Benson rejects baseless claims after electronic poll book error
Kristina Karamo – Tweet claiming fraud in Detroit (and Twitter’s flag for misinformation) 
Michigan Live – Michigan says no one voted twice during Detroit’s e-poll book issue

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause Michigan, Election Protection Arizona

Today’s Script  (Variations occur due to editing audio for time) 

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Yesterday, we detailed some of the routine challenges that popped up during the midterm election, including ballot reader malfunctions, power outages & gas leaks.  Election deniers irresponsibly seized on some of these issues to cast doubt on an election which reputable election experts hailed as a mostly trouble-free process.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, optical ballot tabulators failed, possibly due to faint printing of the tracking number on the paper ballot itself.   Instead, voters placed their ballot in a secure ballot box to be counted by a bipartisan team.    

Former President Donald Trump said on social media Friday, “This is a scam and voter fraud, no different than stuffing the ballot boxes.”  His choice for Arizona Governor, Kari Lake, told Fox News that problems with voting machines in 60 precincts occurred “primarily in Republican areas of town.” Lake’s claim was later contradicted by her lawyer and a lawyer for the Republican National Committee.   

In Detroit, an electronic poll book software problem was averted by using paper backup voter lists.  Candidate for Michigan Secretary of State Kristina Karamo re-posted, “DETROIT FRAUD ALERT:  This is why we filed the lawsuit in Detroit. Voters show up — only to be told they already voted absentee. It’s already happening. This is a CRIME, not an oversight. SHARE THIS EVERYWHERE. #LAWLESSELECTIONS.”  

There is NO evidence of any wrongdoing in Detroit, and Karamo lost her election to incumbent Jocelyn Benson by a 56% to 42% margin.  

We have links to articles and groups taking action  at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Midterm Election Disruptions Cited by Election Deniers as Fraud – With No Evidence appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for November 14, 2022

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
CNN – Voting goes mostly smoothly on Election Day as baseless fraud claims swirl

Associated Press – Minor poll problems twisted into false US election claims
PBS News Hour – Post-election misinformation targets Arizona and Pennsylvania

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause, Center for American Progress, Brennan Center for Justice

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Election officials report that there were few problems in the midterm elections, and issues which did crop up were corrected quickly.   There were also few incidents of intimidation, much to the relief of voters & authorities.

Most issues were related to malfunctioning optical ballot readers, according to reports in CNN, the Associated Press and the PBS News Hour.  The largest disruption with ballot readers occurred in Maricopa County, Arizona. When election officials could not immediately solve the problem, voters left their ballots in a secure box to be counted later by a bipartisan counting team.

Machine malfunctions, power outages and a gas leak also created delays and longer lines in some polling places, and states authorized an extension of voting hours in some of those precincts.  

In Detroit, malfunctioning “poll books,” computer tablets used for checking voters in and out of the polls, duplicated ballot tracking numbers between in-person and absentee ballots.  Backup paper checklists were used instead.

As for intimidation at the polls, in West Bend, WI, a gunman attempting to shut down voting in a precinct was arrested, and voting continued.  In North Carolina, an election worker was followed home.    In Arizona, 18 criminal referrals were made for people staking out drop boxes in tactical gear.   

More on how these issues were spun by conspiracy theorists in our next American Democracy Minute.  

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post The Few Midterm Election Disruptions Were Corrected Quickly appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report and Podcast for Nov. 10, 2022

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources: 

NBC News – Election Results by State
Politico – Election deniers go down in key secretary of state races

CNN – Kari Lake raises unfounded doubts about election results in Arizona governor race that’s too early to call
Reuters – Election denier loses race in Michigan; Arizona and Nevada not yet called

LA Times – Column: Is Arizona paving ‘the road to authoritarianism’ with its slate of GOP election deniers?

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We, like many other Democracy observers, are concerned with the number of election-denying candidates who ran in the midterms.   Many Big Lie candidates lost by big margins. But in some races, the support for candidates who oppose Democracy is breathtaking.  

In Michigan, we’ve reported on Matthew DePerno, who ran for attorney general while being investigated for his involvement in seizing and breaking into optical ballot readers in Michigan counties after the 2020 election.   His opponent and incumbent attorney general asked for a special prosecutor and there is an ongoing investigation.   He lost on November 8th, but 44% of Michigan voters cast their votes for him.  

In Arizona, Mark Finchem, an election denier who attended the January 6th insurrection, is still contending to be Arizona’s Secretary of State.   With 75% of the vote in, Finchem has garnered 47% of the vote to his opponent’s 52.4%.   Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has said she would not have certified the 2020 election, trails her Democratic opponent, but with 49.7% of the vote as of November 10th.

In a race too close to call in Nevada, U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt, who has questioned the outcome of the 2020 election, is leading in the race with 49.4% of the vote, with 84% of the ballots counted.   Nevada Secretary of State candidate Jim Marchant, who opposed certifying the 2020 election, leads with 48% of the vote.  

We have links to articles at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org 

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Election Denier Candidates Mostly Lost, But Still Had Wide Support appeared first on American Democracy Minute.