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Former President Jimmy Carter observes voting procedures in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1990.
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Celebrate Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday and his work on elections
Sep 30, 2024
Merloe provides strategic advice on elections and democracy in the United States and internationally. He worked with former President Jimmy Carter on elections and democratic transitions on four continents.
On Oct. 1, President Jimmy Carter turns 100 years old. According to reports, he is concerned about the dynamics surrounding the 2024 election and hopeful that the United States will turn the page. That is no surprise given his devotion to this country and his dedication to fostering genuine elections around the world.
He first observed a foreign election in 1989 as co-leader, with former President Gerald Ford, of the joint international election observation mission to Panama organized by the nonpartisan National Democratic Institute and what is now the International Republican Institute. His role in helping to expose Manuel Noriega’s attempted fraud in that election had profound effects in Panama and inspired Carter to do more. Often working with NDI, he guided The Carter Center into the forefront of international election observation in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
In my role of almost three decades leading NDI’s international election programs, I had the honor of working closely with Carter in numerous elections. I witnessed him bring together for the first time in years the two antagonistic leaders of Bangladesh and negotiate their renouncing violence in an upcoming election. I saw him help Liberia’s contentious presidential candidates accept electoral results. He brought international attention to the credibility of Palestinian elections and promoted confidence in Peru’s post-Fujimori elections when public trust was fragile.
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His successful bridge building in such hyper-polarized circumstances was aided by his reputation for listening, analyzing and offering recommendations based on ethical principles, rather than an advantage of the moment or some personal transactional consideration. In 2005, Carter joined NDI’s then board chair, Madeleine Albright, and other dignitaries at a commemoration led by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to launch the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, which is now endorsed by more than 50 international organizations in an ongoing implementation process that guides their work.
In keeping with that spirit, on the International Day of Democracy (Sept. 15.), five leading organizations — International IDEA, The Carter Center, NDI, the International Foundation for Election Systems and the Kofi Annan Foundation — launched the Model Commitments for Advancing Genuine and Credible Elections. The commitments, already supported by nine other key international organizations, provide a basis for dialogue around safeguarding and improving electoral processes in any country — including in the United States. While the urgent challenges of securing election administration, protecting the right to vote, addressing disinformation and potential disruptions, plus curtailing threats and potentials for political violence are of immediate concern to countries heading to elections, the commitments provide a wider context.
As one of the people involved in developing the declaration of principles and the model commitments, I can attest that they were inspired by the examples set by Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Madeleine Albright and so many others who dedicated themselves to bringing about genuine elections and advancing democracy.
On the occasion of his 100th birthday it is fitting to shine a bright light on this aspect of President Carter’s rich legacy of accomplishments in this country and around the globe. Hopefully, we will amplify his legacy as we move ahead, both here and abroad.
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When should you start worrying?
Sep 30, 2024
Chaleff is a speaker, innovative thinker and the author of “To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Political Followers to Make or Brake a Toxic Leader.” This is the fifth entry in a series on political followership.
We recently read in The Washington Post that men in Afghanistan are regretting that they did not stand up sooner for the rights of their wives and daughters, now that the Taliban is imposing severe standards of dress and conduct on them.
Duh.
That’s the oldest regret there is when it comes to oppression:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
— Martin Niemöller, Lutheran Pastor
Niemöller was initially a Nazi supporter … until the Nazis began to target the Lutheran Church. Once they come for you, it is too late. Start worrying when they come for your neighbor.
But here’s the trick. You can’t just leave it to the “opposition” to speak up. Of course they are going to speak up. And they will get tuned out.
It’s the loyal supporters who need to speak up early. Theirs is the voice that makes a difference and, as I explain in my new book “To Stop a Tyrant,” they can apply the “brakes” to toxic behavior. Here’s the interesting news: They can do this while still supporting the leader if he or she accepts the boundaries of communal decency.
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Take Anna Kilgore. It was she who filed a police report blaming Haitian immigrants when her cat went missing. Whoops.
Miss Sassy was found several days later in Kilgore’s own basement. But the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates were already using the story to whip up anti-immigrant fever.
What to do? Kilgore is a Trump supporter. Because her cat story is already uber-public, this could make the candidate she is supporting look bad. Despite this, what does she do? Anna Kilgore sends an apology to her Haitian neighbors
In Yiddish there is an expression for that: being a mensch. A mensch, while literally meaning “a man,” colloquially means an ethical person who does the right thing.
We need “menschkeit” (the quality of being a mensch) in every walk of life, on both sides of the political aisle. Ideally, this comes from our political leaders. But let’s not depend on them. We, the political followers, have the power to do what is right and — let’s go out on a limb here — the moral obligation to do so.
A colleague of mine is famous for asking, “How many people did Adolf Hitler kill?” Her answer: none.
There is no evidence of Hitler ever having pulled the trigger on a single person other than himself at the very end. Who did kill the millions of prisoners in extermination camps? His followers who did not stop his frothing hate speech early enough to avoid their own horrible complicity, while they still could.
Look around. Who is being targeted now by political vitriol? If it is not you, surely you can go back to sleep. Or can you? Who should you be speaking up for now, so that later there is someone left to speak for you?
When someone does speak up, here’s another wild idea: Support them! When a neighbor, Erika Lee, heard that Kilgore found Miss Sassy, she was appalled that she had inadvertently triggered a national frenzy by having written a Facebook post about the missing tabby. She took down the post. Lee has publicly regretted contributing to the story based on something she heard from yet another neighbor who also heard it from someone …
Whoops again. Whether online or over the clothesline, we are all responsible for verifying salacious tidbits before spreading them throughout the system. (No need to feel guilty. Just don’t do it again.)
The Taliban is at it once more in Afghanistan. Whose behavior needs standing up to here, in our own political system? If we oppose them, have at it. If we support them, it’s even more important to stand up to their overreach.
After all, if they don’t listen to us, who will they listen to?
Another wise man said, “If not now, when?”
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Close-up of a 2020 mail-in ballot envelope for Maricopa County, Ariz.
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Election Overtime Project kicks off state briefings in Arizona
Sep 30, 2024
The worsening political polarization in America is creating deep anxiety among voters about the upcoming 2024 elections. Many Americans fear what disputed elections could mean for our democracy. However, close and contested elections are a part of American history, and all states have processes in place to handle just such situations. It is critical citizens understand how these systems work so that they trust the results.
Trusted elections are the foundation of our democracy.
In the coming months the Election Overtime Project will help reporters, TV anchors and others prepare America to understand and not fear close elections. Election Overtime is an initiative of the Election Reformers Network developed in partnership with the Bridge Alliance, which publishes The Fulcrum.
The Election Overtime Project held its national launch event last week and will convene the first of many state-level briefings, starting with Arizona, on Sept. 30. All programs are designed for the media but are open to the public.
The briefing will introduce the tools and resources for Arizona included in the Election Overtime Project, including the release of new survey data on voter knowledge of election rules. The online event will also feature commentary from senior political leaders from both parties.
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The Arizona briefing will be followed with events in Pennsylvania on Oct. 2 and North Carolina on Oct. 4 (see the full event schedule). These briefings by election law experts will provide guides for reporting on election transparency, verification processes and judicial procedures.
Speakers at the Arizona briefing, in addition to Heather Balas and Kevin Johnson of ERN , will include:
Arizona state Sen. Ken Bennett. Bennett, a Republican, has served in the Legislature since 2023 and was vice chair of the elections committee. Bennett previously served on the Prescott City Council and in the state Senate for eight years, the last four as Senate president. Bennett was Arizona Secretary of State from 2009 to 2014. He is also a businessman and financial professional with a long history of public service in Arizona.
Ron Barber, senior advisor, Arizona Democracy Resilience Network. Barber, a Democrat, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2012 to 2015, after having been the district director of his predecessor, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D). On Jan. 8, 2011, Barber was standing beside Giffords at a constituent event when a gunman shot the congresswoman. Barber was wounded in the thigh and face. When Giffords resigned from office to focus on her recovery, she asked Barber to run for her seat. He won the special election and took office in June 2012.
Don Henninger, senior advisor, Arizona Democracy Resilience Network. Henninger, a Republican, has been a top media executive and business leader in Arizona for over 35 years, including time as managing editor of the Arizona Republic and publisher of the Phoenix Business Journal. He served on the Governor’s Bipartisan Elections Task Force.
Jackie Salit, president, Independent Voting. Salit leads a national strategy, communications and organizing center that works to connect independent voters across the United States and is a 30-year veteran of the independent and reform movements. She also serves as co-director for the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University.
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On National Civics Day we prepare to party at the polls
Sep 27, 2024
Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
It’s been almost five years since the Bridge Alliance, an organization that I co-founded, held its 2019 annual summit, attended by over 200 political and social change agents/leaders. The theme was strengthening democracy and evolving into the multicultural, pluralistic society that our founders envisioned but could not enact.
In preparation for the summit, we turned to pop culture to build the connection between participants who didn't know each other and who represented diverse backgrounds and opinions. We did so by crafting an agenda based on two songs from the Broadway show “Hamilton” — "My Shot" and "The Room Where It Happens."
These two songs embodied the political situation we found ourselves in five years ago and still do today. Those in the room felt the fierce urgency of that time coupled with the empowerment to make a difference in the nation, and the world, for the betterment of all.
Our country needs more inspiration today as we celebrate National Civics Day. The observance commemorates the date the Federalist Papers, which convincingly made the case for ratification of the Constitution, were first published on Oct. 27, 1787.
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The Federalist Papers were penned by three of the biggest political figures of the day — Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (although they published their writings anonymously).
In 1787, the trio was trying to convince the states to accept the Constitution. Right now, it’s critical that we convince our fellow citizens of the importance of voting. And many pop culture stars are doing just that, including Taylor Swift, who urged her followers to vote while endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 12.
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most,” she wrote on Instagram.
And the cast of "Hamilton" has reengaged, re-writing one of Lin-Manuel Miranda's classic songs into a stirring tribute to democracy. Listen to this incredible song, “The Election of 2024,” and you’ll surely agree that it is time to “party at the polls.”
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Let this wonderful song spark our collective imagination of a people that embraces our diversity as the operating system of our nation. Despite our many frailties, America is exceptional because from the outset its citizens saw themselves as participants in an experiment that would have implications for all of mankind. Our task is far from complete, so tell your friends it’s time to party to the polls and make a difference for America
The video ends by directing viewers to a pair of organizations working hard to get people to vote.
VoteRiders is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure that all citizens are able to exercise their freedom to vote. VoteRiders informs and helps citizens to secure their voter ID as well as inspires and supports organizations, local volunteers, and communities to sustain voter ID education and assistance efforts. When We All Vote is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative created by Michelle Obama with a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap.
You too can join the party by spreading the message.
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Experts pan Georgia’s hand-count rule as we prep for Election Overtime
Sep 27, 2024
On Sept. 17, Georgia’s election board voted to hand-count all ballots cast at polling places across the state’s 159 counties on Election Day, contrary to the legal opinion of the Georgia attorney general and the advice of the secretary of state.
Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, challenged the validity of the decision in a letter to the elections board:
"There are thus no provisions in the statutes cited in support of these proposed rules that permit counting the number of ballots by hand at the precinct level prior to delivery to the election superintendent for tabulation. Accordingly, these proposed rules are not tethered to any statute — and are, therefore, likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do."
Election Board Chairman John Fervier, a Republican, voted against the rule change, saying the "overwhelming number of election officials" who reached out to him were opposed to the change and passing the measure would be ignoring the advice of the board’s counsel.
"I do think it's too close to the election," Fervier said. "It's too late to train a lot of poll workers."
An important fact about this ruling has not been very clear in press coverage: The rule requires counting the number of ballots, to check that the total matches the number shown on tabulators, not the votes. It does not mean officials will hand count the votes for different candidates in all the different races. Nevertheless, this new rule threatens to inject delay and confusion into what should be a standard process. Georgia law has clear deadlines for state and local certification — deadlines that may be threatened by the new requirements.
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A number of independent elections experts have spoken out against the board’s ruling.
Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
“This move by the Georgia Election Board appears to be yet another in a series of ploys to endanger our democratic process. Requiring hand-counting of all votes cast in every polling place across Georgia on Election Day serves no one except those who want to promote chaos. The rule is contrary to Georgia law and risks delaying the counting of the votes to the extent that Georgia could miss the certification deadline for the presidential election. Rather than ensuring the accuracy of the vote, the State Election Board’s action may lead to the votes of every Georgian not counting at all in this consequential election. That is the antithesis of democracy.”
Kevin Johnson, executive director of the Election Reformers Network:
“Unfortunately, there are questions that arise about motivation and partisanship behind this ruling, given the unethical decision by a Board member to attend a campaign rally in support of a presidential candidate. Boards need to be seen as neutral, and Georgia and other states probably need to consider reforms to the structure and ethics of election boards to achieve that neutrality.”
The situation is fluid and the final process is unclear. The Fulcrum will watch in the coming weeks as the specifics of the new hand counting process unfolds as a part of our Election Overtime coverage. Between now and the conclusion of the presidential election, we will counter false narratives about elections being corrupt or stolen.
We understand the public will need a deep understanding of the rules of “election overtime” and through our partnership with the Election Reformers Network we will serve as a valuable resource to provide our readers with up-to-date, accurate information as to how the process of validating close elections works.
“The more people know about the rules of elections, the more they see the guardrails that protect results,” Johnson said. “That’s true in the case of the Georgia Board as well. Georgia law is very clear about the deadlines for state and local certification, and that creates legal avenues to challenge any rules that could put timely election results in Georgia in jeopardy.”
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