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.

Listen! https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandemocracyminute/episodes/2022-06-19T07_10_38-07_00

Articles:   
NM:  Washington Post – “New Mexico county certifies election results, bowing to court order”

NH:  InDepth NH – “Lawsuit Filed Against Affidavit Ballot Bill Soon After Sununu Signs It Into Law“
LA:   AP – “Louisiana asks Supreme Court to delay mostly Black district” ,  Louisiana Illuminator – “GOP lawmakers invoke ‘precedent’ to stall on 2nd Black congressional district”,

Groups Taking Action:
NM:  Common Cause NM,   ACLU NM
NH:  603 Forward, League of Women Voters NH, Open Democracy Action
LA:  Power Coaliltion,  ACLU-LA, League of Women Voters LA

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

Quick updates on court action on election subversion, voting rights and redistricting in the states of New Mexico, New Hampshire and Louisiana.

Last week we brought you the story of New Mexico’s Otero County Commission, which refused to certify the county’s state primary election results because they didn’t trust the state-inspected tabulation machines.  On Thursday, the New Mexico Secretary of State’s request to the courts to compel the commission to certify the results was granted.   The commission then voted 2-1 to certify, with election-denier and convicted January 6th participant Couy Griffin the holdout.

Friday, within hours of signing a New Hampshire voter suppression provisional ballot bill particularly targeted at young voters, Governor Chris Sununu and the NH legislature now face a lawsuit by voting rights groups.  SB 418 throws out a system which currently allows voters lacking a piece of documentation to still vote and have it count.   Now, voters will have to return within 5 days with documentation or the vote is invalidated.  Typically, over 600 people each election used the former system with almost no abuse.  

Finally to Louisiana, where the state’s attorney general has joined in an appeal to the US Supreme Court to derail a lower court ruling allowing a redrawing of the Congressional voting district map.  Gov. John Bel Edwards had vetoed the legislature’s map, saying that the map should include a second African-American district, since one-third of the state’s population is Black.  

Links to articles on these cases, and where you can take action are at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we have, it’s something we DO.” 

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

The post American Democracy Minute for June 20, 2022: NM, NH & LA Court Updates on Election Subversion, Voter Suppression & Gerrymandering appeared first on American Democracy Minute.