The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 16, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

In the last report of our series on protections against overturning the Presidential election, we consider what happens if the state official authorized to certify your state’s election results refuses to do so.   It’s not as far-fetched as you think.  

Ohio’s hyperpartisan Secretary of State Frank LaRose made no attempt to hide recent partisan attempts to change the rules for citizen ballot initiatives, try to stop initiatives his party didn’t like, and aggressively purge Black and Brown voter registrations.  Pro-democracy organization Public Wise is also tracking statewide officials considered “election threats,” including the election board chair and vice chair in Wisconsin, the secretary of state in Florida, and the lieutenant governor of Georgia, among seven battleground states.   

Democracy Docket disturbingly pointed out that in states including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Nevada, candidates elected November 5th could be sworn in BEFORE the federal December 11th certification deadline, meaning an incoming governor or secretary of state election denier COULD be the executive authorized to certify.  A good reason to do your homework, and vote the whole ballot. 

Most states have penalties for willful obstruction of election proceedings. Failing that, the U.S. Justice Department could enforce the new Electoral Count Reform Act, Voting Rights Act, or civil rights laws.  But those deterrents may not keep rogue officials from trying. 

We’ve linked analysis at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Protect Democracy – Report: Election Certification Is Not Optional
National Conference of State Legislatures – Election Certification Deadlines & Procedures by State
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) – Full Report ‘Election Certification Under Threat”
Public Wise – Election Threat Index
Democracy Docket – What Happens When Election Officials Refuse to Certify Results?

Democracy Docket – This November’s State Legislative Elections Are Key To Protecting the Presidential Election

Groups Taking Action:
Public Wise, Protect Democracy, CREW

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
  
  

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ElectionProtection #ElectionCertification

The post What if Your State’s Chief Election Executive Blocks Certification of the Presidential Election? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 11, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

Disinformation spread about the 2020 election by candidates & partisan groups mobilized extremists to harass or threaten election officials. Many of those officials resigned.  But a large national study also found other reasons for large-scale turnover, and some hope for the 2024 election.

The Bipartisan Policy Center surveyed over 18,000 chief elections officers in all 50 states and confirmed that turnover reached a 20-year high in 2022 of 38.7%. While the survey acknowledges that threats and harassment are factors, it also found that older election officials are retiring, due to an increasing workload, underfunding, and an increasingly complex election system.  Turnover is not just limited to specific states, either, but both red and blue states, and large and small communities.

Despite the turnover nationally, the researchers found that most officials were being replaced with election workers with recent experience.  For 2024, 65% of local election officials will have run a Presidential election previously, down only slightly from 2020.  

It also found that turnover was highest for election officials in large jurisdictions, reaching 46% between 2018 and 2022.  Sixty-seven percent of those officials also reported being abused, harassed or threatened.  The good news is that researchers found most replacement chief election officers have multiple years of experience in running federal elections.

You can find the Bipartisan Policy Center study linked from our website, AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Bipartisan Policy Center – Election Official Turnover Rates from 2000-2024
American Democracy Minute – Rules, and ‘Election Integrity’ Vigilantes Led to an Election Official Brain-Drain
Pew Research Center – Older people account for large shares of poll workers and voters in U.S. general elections
Brennan Center for Justice – Election Officials Under Attack
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Be a Poll Worker!
Power the Polls – HELP STAFF YOUR LOCAL POLLING PLACE

Groups Taking Action:
Issue One, Election Official Legal Defense Network, Power the Polls, Center for American Progress

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers #BeaPollWorker

The post National Study of Elections Officials Confirms Turnover from Harassment, But Also Finds An Aging Workforce and Increasing Workloads are Factors appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 7, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

The nonpartisan Fair Elections Center released a report to state and local election officials in February suggesting ways voter participation can be expanded.  Recommendations include expanding voter registration options, making use of public/private partnerships to distribute voting information, developing communication plans, and expanding poll worker training.

Fair Elections Center urges local governments to expand access points for online voter registration in the 42 states which offer it.  Instead of just the election department website, it suggests linking voter registration at DMV, employment security and other government sites.  It also suggests libraries and other public places make computers and voter registration forms available for those without broadband or computer access.  

See it on the Fair Election Center’s website: https://www.fairelectionscenter.org/_files/ugd/85cfb4_2cdf3014a70c4e9781c916f55d92a156.pdf

Highly mobile populations often don’t re-register to vote.   Fair Elections Center recommends banks and other lenders, and landlords and other housing providers offer voter registration information.  It also recommends election officials work with schools to conduct voter registration events, and with local organizations in underrepresented communities.   

Voter information outreach continues to be a struggle for smaller election offices. The report recommends a communications plan which includes all modes of social media, voting information in additional languages, and in media for all disabilities.

Share the Fair Elections Center report with your local officials from AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Fair Elections Center – LOCAL INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE THE VOTING EXPERIENCE:
Recommendations for Local Elected Officials and Election Officials
U.S. Election Assistance Commission –  Election 2024 Toolkits

Groups Taking Action:
Fair Elections Center, Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RegistertoVote #BeAPollWorker #ProtectElections

The post Nonpartisan Report Recommends Ways Local Officials Can Expand Voter Participation and Recruit Election Workers Using Public/Private Partnerships appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 16, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

Election security experts warned the country’s secretaries of state to take immediate steps to harden their election systems in both cities and rural precincts,  and prepare for cyber and AI election interference from both foreign and domestic bad actors.

Stateline News reports that representatives from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA,  and the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the FBI, spoke at the winter meetings of the national associations of Secretaries of State and State Election Directors.  

Attendees were warned of a heightened risk of election interference using cyber attacks from U.S. adversaries, including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.   This includes the possibility of attacks on election and other infrastructure, including ransomware attacks.  Fulton County, Georgia experienced such an attack in early January.    

CISA announced new webpage last week called Protect2024, making recommendations to states and municipalities on hardening infrastructure. 

Concerns were also raised about AI, which could make it easier to trick voters with misinformation, such as the fake Biden robocall in New Hampshire, or targeting legal immigrant citizens in their languages.

All this, in addition to continued threats of violence to election officials from homegrown domestic extremists.  After fentanyl-laced letters were sent to election offices, officials were advised to have the overdose reversal drug Narcan available.

We have links to the Stateline News article at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Stateline News –  Feds deliver stark warnings to state election officials ahead of November
Associated Press – (2023) Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigating
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – New webpage: #Protect2024
National Association of Secretaries of State – NASS 2024 Winter Conference Highlights
National Association of State Election Directors – NASED Highlights Reminders for the 2024 Elections

Groups Taking Action:
Committee for Safe & Secure Elections, Brennan Center for Justice, Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Center, Issue One/National Council on Election Integrity

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers #CyberSecurity 

The post CISA & FBI Warn Secretaries of State to Prepare for Potential Cyberattacks and AI Voter Suppression Before the 2024 Election appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 20, 2023

Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

Old habits die hard, especially among election deniers.  Last week, the Republican-dominated Wisconsin Senate voted to remove the state’s nonpartisan elections administrator for recommending pandemic voting accommodations in the 2020 election.  

We reported in June on the effort not to renew Election Administrator Meagan Wolfe’s term, which expired in July.  Wolfe has been vilified by extremists for recommending the mailing of absentee ballots to nursing home residents during the pandemic, rather than putting residents and election officials at risk.  The recommendation was approved by bipartisan members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.  Conspiracy theorists claim Wolfe attempted to sway the election results.  

When the six-member Commission voted in June to reappoint Wolfe, three Democrats strategically abstained, resulting in a 3-0 vote and short of the required majority, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.  A recent state supreme court decision affirmed that such state officials could remain in place until a replacement was confirmed. 

Last month, a Senate Committee held a three-hour public hearing on Wolfe’s reappointment, replete with conspiracy theories and accusations, according to the Milwaukee Courier.   Then last week, the full Senate voted 22-11 to remove Wolfe, despite not having an official nomination.  Governor Tony Evers directed Wisconsin’s Attorney General to sue Senate leaders, claiming the Senate’s removal vote had no legal effect.  

For now, Elections Administrator Wolfe remains on the job.    We have links to great local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute  – June 20, 2023 – Highly-Qualified Election Official’s Job In Jeopardy from Wisconsin Legislators Clinging to Debunked Election Conspiracy Theories
Meagan Wolfe – Letter to Local Wisconsin Election Officials
Milwaukee Courier – Evidence lacking in GOP case against top Wisconsin election official Meagan Wolfe
Associated Press – GOP-led Wisconsin Senate votes to fire nonpartisan official targeted by 2020 election skeptics
Wisconsin Examiner – Embracing election denial, Wisconsin Senate Republicans vote to fire chief election official
Wisconsin Politics – Wolfe on ‘UpFront’ vows to continue serving as elections administrator amid court battle
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause WI, Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, 

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ElectionDeniers #WisconsinPolitics #ProtectPollWorkers

The post Wisconsin Senate Election Deniers Vote to Oust the State’s Election Director for Recommending 2020 Pandemic Voting Accommodations appeared first on American Democracy Minute.