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Opinion
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Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republican Senators have stalled long enough, writes former GOP Rep. Claudine Schneider.
Time's up, Republican senators: Pay for a safe election!
Aug 07 2020
Schneider is a creator of both the civic education site VoteSmart and Republicans for Integrity, an organization of former GOP members of Congress "who place people before partisan politics." She represented Rhode Island in the House from 1981 through 1990.
<p>In a cybersecurity and disaster exercise less than two years ago, President Trump's Homeland Security secretary at the time <a href="https://republicansforintegrity-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1nlh4J7uWpdgJBn9b3J0b9UXrDKMhBzNOMRz63PPv66g-876932229&key=YAMMID-96083890&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedenverchannel.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fhomeland-security-head-colorado-tops-us-in-vote-security" target="_blank">praised Colorado</a> as a "national leader in safeguarding elections," saying "we'd love to continue to use you as an example of what other states can adopt."</p>
<p>Why did Kirstjen Nielsen offer such high praise for Colorado's election system?</p>
<p>As a resident of the state for much of the past 25 years, I am pleased to say it's because Colorado has implemented nothing but successful elections conducted almost entirely by mail for the past seven years. They have boosted turnout, lowered costs and increased the security of the overall voting process.</p>
<p>George Stern, the top elections official in Jefferson County, which takes in the suburbs just west of Denver, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/opinions/colorado-debunking-myths-mail-in-voting-trump-stern/index.html" target="_blank">summed up</a> the success story well: "Colorado has proven year after year that voting by mail not only increases accessibility (we regularly have one of the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/states-with-the-highest-voter-turnout-in-presidential-and-congressional-elections?slide=12" target="_blank">highest turnouts</a> in the country) and efficiency (our costs <a href="https://republicansforintegrity-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1nlh4J7uWpdgJBn9b3J0b9UXrDKMhBzNOMRz63PPv66g-876932229&key=YAMMID-96083890&link=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__www.pewtrusts.org_-7E_media_assets_2016_03_coloradovotingreformsearlyresults.pdf%26d%3DDwMGaQ%26c%3Dtq9bLrSQ8zIr87VusnUS9yAL0Jw_xnDiPuZjNR4EDIQ%26r%3DRwtJ4kEfZtJ6aaO8r1GI95013GV694hE9LKSgF6Tc8o%26m%3Db_o8zgGutGCwOfb5x3f3oOdtn2XW1cEAVMeuZAuWGmI%26s%3DEx8JdqQagw3IQ8uYZTt-1iWBxXxvwMyWtoTfvgZXCBs%26e%3D" target="_blank">decreased by 40 percent</a> when we switched to universal mail-in voting and made voting more accessible, according to a Pew Charitable Trust funded study) — it also delivers acclaimed security."</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Clearly, during a presidential election in the middle of an unprecedented public health crisis, conducting a safe, secure and efficient election is more important than ever, despite frantic tweets from President Trump attempting to discredit this proven process.</p>
<p>That's why half of Congress — the House — passed an economic relief package <a href="https://republicansforintegrity-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1nlh4J7uWpdgJBn9b3J0b9UXrDKMhBzNOMRz63PPv66g-876932229&key=YAMMID-96083890&link=https%3A%2F%2Fappropriations.house.gov%2Fnews%2Fpress-releases%2Fhouse-passes-heroes-act" target="_blank">in May</a> that includes sufficient funding for the states (and the Postal Service) to do their parts to conduct a fair and orderly election this fall.</p>
<p>Yet the Senate, led by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refused to even begin negotiating until the end of July — just days before the expiration of the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit that has helped keep millions afloat during this economic meltdown, which resulted from poor federal preparedness for the pandemic.</p>
<p>This Senate has stalled long enough. It is essential senators pass a bill now in time to secure the November election.</p>
<p>Already, at least <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/vote-by-mail-states/?hpid=hp_visual-stories-8-12_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans&itid=hp_rhp__visual-stories-8-12_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">77 percent</a> of Americans can cast ballots by mail, without having to get an excused absence from going to the polls. Passing legislation in the Senate will help ensure that the Postal Service will be able to deliver our ballots to us on time, and get them back to election offices on time, while providing health and safety protections for those who vote in person.</p>
<p>A group of nearly 200 former members of Congress has weighed in on this critical issue, sending a letter to incumbent senators urging them to fund safe, secure elections. </p>
<p>Spearheaded by <a data-linked-post="2638675064" href="https://thefulcrum.us/issue-one" target="_blank">Issue One</a>'s bipartisan ReFormers Caucus, this effort represents the largest bipartisan group of former members of Congress, governors and Cabinet officials ever assembled to advocate for political reform.</p><p>"At a time when our nation is facing a dual economic and public health crisis, Congress must act to ensure state and local election officials have what they need to carry out a safe and credible election process that Americans have confidence in, said <a href="https://www.issueone.org/issue-ones-reformers-caucus-urges-senate-to-include-money-for-safe-and-secure-elections-in-next-coronavirus-relief-bill/" target="_blank">the letter</a>, signed by 116 Democrats and 83 Republicans (including me). "Failure to deliver adequate resources for the November general elections — whether states and localities decide to invest in absentee ballots, more early voting, personal protective equipment, or recruitment of younger poll workers — will risk more chaos and confusion on Election Day, and will, ultimately, sow doubt in this sacred democratic process."</p>
<p>Though I am a Republican, my concern here is as an American citizen — one who's worried about the survival of America's unbroken practice of peaceful election outcomes.</p>
<p>If Republican senators want to ensure a peaceful, safe and secure election, their last chance to act is now.</p>
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Civic Ed
True
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Alumni of Houston's Jack Yates High School participate in a vigil honoring George Floyd, who played football at the school.
Twelve years of school never taught me Black lives matter. Time to fix that.
Aug 06 2020
Before graduating in June from high school in Sugar Land, Texas, Tangirala launched the Anti-Racist Curriculum Reform effort to persuade school districts to teach more about racism and include more perspectives of people of color in social studies.
<p>"I come here today to talk about how I feel. And I feel like we are treated differently from other people." </p><p>The voice is from the elegant, determined, cocoa-tinted but tear-streaked face of a girl who's no more than 10 years old, imploring an online audience that includes me. And this was not the only such video I've seen recently.</p><p>Since the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor joined the deaths of countless others who have perished due to the stigmas of race, so many of our social media feeds have been filled with flicks of violence, pleas for change — and seeds of hope that our world can be converted from black and white to technicolor, once and for all. </p><p>"I don't like how we're treated, and just because of our color," the girl continues. "It doesn't mean anything to me." But the color of her skin makes what she's saying all the more powerful — and should assure her voice reverberates in the minds of people of every color on the spectrum.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>I don't like how Black students are treated, either. I have seen firsthand the immunity non-Black students receive in the classroom justice system versus the Black students. </p><p>My own skin color is not exceedingly lighter than those who have perished because of police brutality. It's a shade somewhere in the middle, dark enough that I know this is my fight, too. </p><p>The United States is a lofty name for a nation torn so pathetically asunder. And as our political polarization widens to create an increasingly unstable climate, today's teenagers face more mental burdens than the older members of Generation Z. As just one example, we have been told white mass shooters deserve impunity because they're mentally ill, but nonviolent Black protestors are "thugs."</p><p>Approaching graduation led me to realize something blatantly obvious: Never in 12 years of school, not once, was I taught anything about present-day racism. There was instruction on the civil rights movement back in the 1960s and the reasons behind it — but not a single instance where we learned in-depth about the manifestation of present-day racism, or even had a school-sponsored conversation regarding today's prevalent racial bias. </p><p>My teachers and school administrators were great educators and people, so ultimately this came down to a failure of our curriculum. </p><p>Discussion and civic education are the keys to societal reform; if we aren't striving for that, we have nothing left to be proud of. </p><p>This was the reasoning behind my effort to press school districts to do two things: First, incorporate more voices of people of color, especially their views on history and social thought, in lesson plans. Second, sponsor dialogues in schools to talk about the realities of present-day racism and its diverse manifestations.</p><p>Present-day racism may not necessarily include lynching or apartheid. It often has a subtler presence on and off campus — the haughty undertones of a condescending voice, or the affinity for rules and regulations that only stifle people of color. These seemingly minor infractions may not appear to put lives at risk, but they still encourage mindsets that put people's lives at risk every day. </p><p>This is what racism looks like. Why is this not explicitly taught in our schools? These crucial developmental years are the perfect time to expel any unjust biases lingering in mind.</p><p>More than a thousand students and graduates of five districts in the Houston area have signed up to support us in just a few months — and we're already working on expanding our initiative into New Jersey, California and Arizona. </p><p>We're eager to have more help, and to take our cause to more places. Don't wait for someone else to do it tomorrow. You can't keep social justice on hold. </p>
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Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Trump can't delay the election, but he can derail it
Aug 05 2020
Ben-Yehuda is president and CEO of the Truman National Security Project, a progressive defense and foreign policy think tank, and the allied Truman Center for National Policy.
<p>The United States has a long history of voting during periods of intense conflict and division. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton devised the absentee voting system to <a href="https://www.military.com/military-life/how-absentee-voting-us-troops-won-civil-war-and-ended-slavery.html" target="_blank">hold elections during</a> the Civil War and to ensure soldiers on the front lines could exercise their right to vote. </p><p>Today, you might say, it's time to vote like it's 1864. </p><p>Last week, President Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288818160389558273" target="_blank">suggested on Twitter</a> that the national election be delayed beyond Nov. 3. His supposed reason: a fear of fraud. Let's be clear about three things: First, The president of the United States does not have the authority to change the date of the election. That is a date set by Congress. Even Republican lawmakers <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/509790-senate-republicans-dismiss-trump-proposal-to-delay-election" target="_blank">have distanced themselves</a> from the remark. Second, fraud associated with mail-in ballots is extremely low. Even the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank has<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-vote-by-mail-explainer/explainer-fraud-is-rare-in-us-mail-in-voting-here-are-the-methods-that-prevent-it-idUSKBN2482SA" target="_blank"> conceded this point</a>. Third, the president is spreading disinformation to undermine trust in the democratic process. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Record numbers of Americans will turn to vote-by-mail options this year and there's much work to be done to ensure full enfranchisement. But the purpose of Trump's tweet is to cast doubt, distract and lay down rhetorical track in an effort to discredit the election and its outcome. </p><p>Consider the timing. His statement came on the heels of the country passing 150,000 deaths from Covid-19 — the highest number in the world. It was posted just minutes after the Commerce Department announced the national economy in the second quarter <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/07/30/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">contracted more than at any time on record</a>. And he tweeted just as 19 polls in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/06/25/nearly-20-swing-state-polls-were-released-todaybiden-leads-in-all-of-them/#37e993f67594" target="_blank">swing states were released </a>— every one of them showing former Vice President Joe Biden in the lead. </p><p>Trump is on the ropes and he knows it. And manufacturing controversy in such moments is his go-to tactic — as true today as it has been over these past weeks, when he deployed federal law enforcement to combat a threat in Portland, Ore., that did not exist.</p><p>Ultimately, however, the president's stated intentions themselves present a very real threat. These are well-worn tactics straight out of the<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-07-22/turkey-mirror-united-states" target="_blank"> authoritarian playbook</a>. Indeed, the last year has brought a steady trickle of democracy-erosion, in which Trump has followed the well-worn path of authoritarian demagogues. </p><p>He has <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-warns-2020-election-could-rigged-his-administrations-investigation-found-no-widespread-1506501" target="_blank">sowed doubt</a> about the legitimacy of future elections; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/politics/donald-trump-mail-voter-fraud-most-corrupt-election/index.html" target="_blank">predicted election fraud</a>; questioned the reliability of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-attacks-on-mail-voting-are-turning-republicans-off-absentee-ballots/2020/07/07/640b6126-bbd4-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html" target="_blank">election procedures</a> (in this case, absentee ballots, whose reliability is at least as good as in-person voting); suggested he <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/asked-what-he-d-do-if-he-loses-trump-hedges-n1234360" target="_blank">might not leave</a> even if voted out of office; <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/04/july-4th-trumps-white-house-party-scaled-back-over-coronavirus/5355855002/" target="_blank">invented domestic enemies</a> whose defeat requires the aggrandizement of his own power — and, not coincidentally, the preparation of a domestic security force loyal to him; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/upshot/trump-portland.html" target="_blank">trampled local authority</a>; and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/opinion/letters/trump-coronavirus-mount-rushmore.html" target="_blank">telegraphed</a> to anyone familiar with the pattern that he is happy to gut the democratic process to preserve his position.</p><p>We cannot doubt that, given the opportunity, the president would follow further in the footsteps of those authoritarian strongmen — led by Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Russia's Vladimir Putin — whom he has so publicly admired. </p><p>There is compelling evidence he might get that chance: Absentee ballots could take weeks to count after Election Day, offering ample space for accusations of "election rigging" as Americans' expectations of a rapid resolution are dashed. States might fail to certify their members of the Electoral College for so long that the election is ultimately decided by Congress rather than with voters. Federal law enforcement has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/gop-recruits-army-poll-watchers-fight-voter-fraud-no-can-n1217391" target="_blank">threatened</a> to send "monitors" around the country who might discourage voting, and local militias have threatened to do the same. And foreign governments, as well as malicious domestic actors, continue to attack our democracy without fear of reprisal. </p><p>In short, we face the greatest credible threat to a national election in our lifetimes. The chief architect of that instability and corruption: our own president.</p><p>The late great John Lewis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html" target="_blank">told us</a>, "Democracy is not a state. It is an act." This election's credibility will be bolstered in part by high levels of voters acting — by turning out in big enough numbers to produce a margin of victory too big to credibly challenge.</p><p>But we need to do more than vote. We need to vote now — to help reduce the flood of ballots to be counted in November and ease the burden on local election officials. Go to <a href="http://vote.org/" target="_blank">vote.org</a> to see if your registration is current and request an absentee ballot. It's especially important for the 3 million eligible voters who live overseas and know all too well the implications of Trump's withdrawal from the world — but who vote at shockingly low levels, with just a <a href="https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/OCPANewsRelease_20180911_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">7 percent turnout</a> two years ago. They should go to <a href="https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter/overview" target="_blank">fvap.org</a> to request an absentee ballot today.</p><p>But don't stop there. Help family and friends do the same. If you're healthy and able, sign up to work at your local polling location. The <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/06/older-people-account-for-large-shares-of-poll-workers-and-voters-in-u-s-general-elections/" target="_blank">majority of poll workers </a>are older than 60 and more susceptible to dire outcomes after catching Covid-19, meaning our polls are likely to be more under-resourced than usual.</p><p>Trump can't delay the election, but he can derail it. Voting early is the best thing to do to keep our election on track.</p>
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Civic Ed
True
vladwel/Getty Images
Online politics is rough, sure, but wading in makes for a better electorate
Aug 04 2020
Cahill is a rising senior at Marquette University and founder of the school's chapter of Bridge USA, a national student-run organization seeking to depolarize campuses and boost their civic engagement.
<p>There are no two ways about it: Political discourse is increasingly taking place online, and not only because of Covid-19 lockdowns. More than 70 percent of American adults were using at least one social media platform as of last year, according to <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media" target="_blank">a Pew Research Center survey</a>. As would be expected, the figure soars above 90 percent among adults younger than 30.</p><p>Social media platforms have become home to far more than just edited selfies and passive-aggressive posts about your ex. Platforms led by Facebook and Twitter have evolved to include political-ideology gladiator rings, with young champions like conservative Ben Shapiro and progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez duking it out while hordes of screen-tethered spectators call for blood. </p><p>In recent years there has been no shortage of lip service given to proclaiming this sort of online combativeness to be disastrous and regressive. But is it? </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Healthy democracy is predicated on the ability of citizens to deliberate and espouse their opinions and grievances, and the internet is the most accessible means for doing so in world history. Many Americans balk at the high degree of vitriol online. But if that is an honest display of the American mindset, does the fact that it's typed into a tweet — as opposed to shouted through a megaphone — make it any less viable or reflective? No. </p><p>The difference between traditional and online political discourse can be summed up in these two key observations: More independent voices are able to express their views on the internet, and people expressing political views on social media have lowered social inhibitions. </p><p>The mass criticism of online politics stem from these two realities, but actually they are the reason online discourse is so valuable. </p><p>There are very few barriers to being able to plaster any opinion all over the internet. Which is a good thing, considering how the ability to do so can empower countless people not only to express themselves but also to connect with people from whom they can learn and refine their ideas. </p><p>However, to see the benefit is also to see the perceived problem. The easy access to the internet means individuals and groups who share controversial or unpopular opinions are empowered in the same way. Bigots, hate groups and members of the extreme fringes of existing political parties all have the capacity to find and reinforce their own views. </p><p>Because of the safety online activity offers — it preserves relative anonymity and is a shield from immediate physical backlash to a controversial statement — the social inhibitions one might typically feel when personally addressing a large group tend to melt away. </p><p>While the generally more hyperbolic nature of online speech may lead some to conclude that social media is filled with lies and deception, there are compelling arguments to the contrary. Stanford communications professor Jeff Hancock has found that, on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, the presence of an "inside world" of friends, family and fans that can see someone's online activity — and to some degree hold them accountable for inconsistencies or lies — results in people actually being <a href="http://stanfordmag.org/contents/the-truth-about-online-lying" target="_blank">more truthful online than in person</a>.</p><p>Other platforms like Reddit, which are more prone to pseudonyms and anonymity, hold their users accountable in a more systematic way. It's based on content rather than consistency, with every comment and post subject to being upvoted or downvoted by the Reddit community — or removed by moderators. </p><p>Arguing that accountability online is more stringent than in person is a difficult horse to bet on, but asserting there is no accountability for statements made on social media is equally ludicrous. This has become particularly apparent in the world of #MeToo and cancel culture, which have resulted in very tangible consequences for people behaving badly online. </p><p>When it comes to politics, this online accountability is especially harsh. In a study of the social media behavior of more than 12,000 Americans, half of self-identified Democrats but also two in five self-identified Republicans said that they had at least one time <a href="http://www.journalism.org/2020/02/05/a-sore-subject-almost-half-of-americans-have-stopped-talking-politics-with-someone/." target="_blank">called a permanent halt to political discourse</a> with someone over a statement made online.</p><p>This readiness to totally dismiss others is real trouble. To insulate yourself from diverse and dissenting opinions online is as simple as the click of a mouse. But to shield yourself from people you need to deal with in person but find politically disagreeable — family members and coworkers, for starters — is far more difficult both in a practical and social sense. </p><p>The devil you know is better than the devil you don't. Online political discourse isn't problematic because it's raw, largely unfiltered and oftentimes ugly. It's problematic because Americans can too easily blind themselves to those opinions that don't appeal to them, pretending they don't exist. </p><p>In a world where presidential campaigns can be sustained by small-scale online donations and viral memes, online politics isn't going anywhere. We need to learn how to navigate distanced and potentially uncomfortable online political discussions better — not keep pretending as though they are nothing but radical noise. </p>
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