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White House with "stop" barrier in front

If Trump wins, should Democrats turn over the keys to the White House?

Ducks

The 12 worst House districts: Experts label gerrymandering's dirty dozen

Donald Trump walking past a crowd of supporters

Felons are barred from many jobs; president should be one of them

Long-shot constitutional amendment to restrict campaign financing introduced

Our Staff
By Our StaffMay 09, 2019
Our Staff
The Fulcrum staff.
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The most ambitious proposal for curbing money in politics, an amendment to the Constitution, has resurfaced in Congress. Its short-term prospects are statistically zero.

Just nine Democratic House members signed on as sponsors Wednesday when Californian Adam Schiff formally proposed an amendment to permit Congress to regulate campaign finances notwithstanding the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision saying donations are a form of highly protected First Amendment free speech.

Throughout the last Congress, only 19 Democrats agreed to co-sponsor the same proposal. And amending the Constitution requires two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate (meaning plenty of Republican support, which is now non-existent) plus the approval of three quarters of the states.

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Election 2024

Play for the Vote brings music to the polls

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vote pin and Holy Bible on American flag
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Faith leaders unite to mobilize and protect voters

Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Many people are feeling the weight of the presidential election, often carrying concerns about violence at their polling place. This election will be a test of our democracy and our faith, which is why early planning and even more robust strategic engagement by the faith community has been critical.

One organization that has been working to address this concern since 2020 is Faiths United to Save Democracy. The coalition kicked off its work in 2020 amid the big push of the racial reckoning movement. At first, FUSD focused primarily on anti-Black vote suppression, and the lawyers committee for civil rights (dubbed “Lawyers and Collars”) started following 400 voting rights suppression initiatives aimed at suppressing a wider swath of voters.

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Taylor Swift and Elon Musk
John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images; Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

Musk vs. Swift: Will Elon’s payments to voters shift the balance?

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

In September, The Fulcrum shared a new study that offers insights into voter perceptions of political candidates and similar evaluations of celebrities — a study that takes a different approach than the usual favorable/unfavorable polling questions.

This unique study applies insights from the subconscious, human social perception process known as the Stereotype Content Model, or more commonly, the Warmth & Competence model. This widely published and validated framework was developed by social psychologists explains how our perceptions of others trigger predictable emotions and behaviors toward individuals and social groups.

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Person holding a "Stop the steal" sign

Saying an election is stolen or rigged, without good reason, hurts America.

Cory Clark/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Why we must avoid temptations to call lost elections ‘rigged’

Elwood works with Builders, a nonpartisan organization aimed at overcoming toxic polarization, and is the author of “Defusing American Anger.”

Shortly before the 2020 election, a survey found that many Americans — including many Republicans and Democrats — were prepared to view the election as “rigged” if their candidate lost. One of the survey creators said the results were, “in a word, extreme.”

The stability of a democratic republic like ours depends on widespread trust in and acceptance of election results. Without this, things start to fall apart. Political dysfunction can give way to chaos, constitutional crises and even significant political violence.

We must see that when we call elections “illegitimate” without very good reasons, we hurt America.

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Georgia voting stickers
Megan Varner/Getty Images

Election experts prep Georgia media for covering contested elections

Kickols is the communications manager for the Election Reformers Network.

Several prominent election law authorities and administration experts discussed potential election challenges in Georgia during an online event launching the Election Overtime Project, which supports journalists in Georgia and other swing states covering close and contested elections.

Key features of the project, run by the Election Reformers Network, include the curated, user-friendly election procedure briefs available to all Georgia reporters and voters.

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