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A NOTE FROM FRED
Following the defeat last month of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, essential voting rights legislation, by a vote of 52-to-48, a small bipartisan group of Senators turned their focus to repairing the Electoral Count Act of 1877 (ECA).
This effort to develop ECA reforms is being led by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Susan Collins (R-ME), three Senators who played key roles in killing the voting rights legislation.
The ECA lays out the rules for the counting of presidential electoral votes and the certification of presidential electors once the election takes place. The law was passed following the disputed 1876 election of President Rutherford B. Hayes and is in need of repair.
While the ECA needs to be reformed, it is important to recognize that it has zero impact on the more than 465 House and Senate elections held each election cycle.
And, the ECA in no way addresses the urgent need to override the wave of state voter suppression laws or to combat the election sabotage laws enacted by GOP-controlled state legislatures in 2021. Those laws are a grave threat to our democracy – with more such laws expected to be enacted in 2022.
These voter suppression and election sabotage laws could, by themselves, determine the outcome of future presidential elections, before we even get to any issues regarding the counting of electoral votes.
Repairing the language of the Electoral Count Act simply would not address the democracy crisis facing our nation as a result of the widespread attacks on voting rights and the empowering of partisan officials to rig federal elections.
In response to this new Senate effort, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 230 national organizations, and 53 individual groups, including Democracy 21, wrote yesterday to thank Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his leadership on critical voting rights reforms and to urge Senator Schumer and Members of Congress who supported voting rights legislation to ensure that voting rights reforms are included with any effort to reform the ECA.
According to the letter, “The conversations regarding reforms to the Electoral Count Act (ECA) are needed and welcome, but they simply are not adequate to meet the current moment. […] [W]e must ensure that any revised legislation also includes components of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act that are necessary to address the problems faced by eligible voters in their attempts to cast votes and have those votes counted.”
President Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 presidential election is becoming clearer by the day.
The House Jan. 6 Committee is building a powerful case that authoritarian Trump and his allies attempted a political coup to steal the presidency. They were stopped by Democratic and Republican state and local officials and by judges, all loyal to our democracy and Constitution.
But, the impact of Trump’s Big Lie didn’t end on January 6. It continues today as Republican state legislatures have enacted – and continue to enact – voter suppression laws and election sabotage measures to rig and steal federal elections, beginning with this year’s midterms.
The bottom line is this: While the Electoral Count Act needs to be repaired, fundamental voting rights reforms are essential to preserve our democracy and must be part of any such repair.
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VOTING RIGHTS: THE FIGHT GOES ON
Leadership Conference On Civil And Human Rights And 53 Other Groups, Including Democracy 21, Urge Congress To Remain Focused On The Fight For Voting Rights
Reforms to the Electoral Count Act (ECA) are “needed and welcome, but they simply are not adequate to meet the current moment,” via coalition letter.
Civil Rights Activist Joe Madison Speaks About His Hunger Strike, Voting Rights, And Why We Need To Keep Fighting, via The Root.
Republicans Must Stop Sabotaging Voting Rights, opinion via The Hill.
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BIG LIE SPOTLIGHT
Tracking The Election Deniers Running For Statewide Office In 2022
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VOTER SUPPRESSION & TRUMP’S BIG LIE IN ACTION
5 Egregious Voter Suppression Laws From 2021
“The substance of these laws and the processes used to enact them should raise a red flag for anyone concerned about the health of our democracy,” via Brennan Center.
This Is Gerrymandering At Its Worst. It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way, via The Washington Post editorial board.
Florida’s New Restrictive Voting Law Put Under The Microscope In Federal Court, via NBC News.
We Uncovered How Many Georgians Were Disenfranchised By GOP Voting Restrictions. It’s Staggering.
During Georgia’s municipal elections in November 2021, “voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail ballot applications rejected—and ultimately not vote as a result—than in 2020,” via Mother Jones.
It’s Been A Rough Start To 2022 For Texas Election Officials, via The Fulcrum.
New Hampshire Republicans Are Throwing Voting Restrictions At The Wall And Seeing What Sticks
State Sen. Becky Whitley (D): “New Hampshire in many ways has become sort of the Texas-lite. They’re weaponizing blatant lies about voter fraud to justify the bills. … The national narratives have just really invaded the statehouse,”via The Intercept.
Michigan GOP’s Loophole Plan For Voter Suppression, via MSNBC.
Campaigning To Oversee Elections, While Denying The Last One
“Brazenly partisan candidates who insist that Donald Trump won the 2020 election are transforming races for the once-obscure office of secretary of state,” via The New York Times.
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EDITORIAL OF THE WEEK
Trump vs. Democracy
“We can’t say we weren’t warned, and warned, and warned, and warned again. As he continues to inflame a hellbent American minority, Donald Trump is loudly and proudly advertising his plans to undermine our democracy and the rule of law as he runs for the presidency again in 2024.”
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TRUMPWATCH
Trump Just Can’t Stop Inciting The Mob
“Trump continues to pose an existential threat to our democracy, to law and order, and to the safety of state and federal officials. […] Unless Trump faces consequences for his actions, he will not stop,” opinion via The Washington Post.
Trump’s Words, And Deeds, Reveal Depths Of His Single-Minded Drive To Retain Power, analysis via The New York Times.
Memos Show Roots Of Trump’s Focus On Jan. 6 And Alternate Electors, via The New York Times.
Confederate Flags, Conspiracies, Grifters, and the Ghost of JFK Jr.: What I Saw at Trump’s Bananas Texas Rally, via Rolling Stone.
Trump Escalates Racist Rhetoric And Plays On White Grievance At Recent Rallies, via National Public Radio.
MONEY, MIDTERMS & MORE
5 Midterm Takeaways From The Latest Fundraising Disclosures, via Roll Call.
Fourth Quarter Takeaways: Vulnerable Democrats And GOP Groups Build Big War Chests, George W. Bush Weighs In, via CNN.
Trump’s Fundraising Extends Massive $122 Million War Chest
Trump’s $122M in cash on hand was more than double the $56M in cash on hand at the RNC as of December 31, via ABC News.
Republicans Lead 2022 Money Race As Both Parties Hit Record Levels Of Cash On Hand, via The Washington Post.
House Republicans Close Money Gap In Hunt For The Majority, via Politico.
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