News. Debate. Community. Levers for a better democracy.
MOST READ
Get some leverage.
Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter.
Protecting the Integrity of U.S. Elections: A Conversation with Rep. Rodney Davis
Jun 29 2020
Organizer: Lincoln Network
Lincoln Network invites you to join us for a 30-minute virtual discussion with U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois. From his position as the ranking member of the House Committee on Administration, which has jurisdiction over U.S. elections, Rep. Davis has been a leader on efforts to promote election integrity and oversee our election system.
Now policymakers are facing new challenges as states and local governments prepare to administer elections during the pandemic, including by expanding absentee balloting. Rep. Davis will discuss the findings of his oversight and recommendations for protecting the integrity of U.S. elections.
We will reserve the final 10 minutes of this discussion for a Q&A with Rep. Davis. This event will be moderated by Dan Lips, Lincoln Network's director of cyber and national security.
Location: Webinar
Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Illinois Gov. BJ Pritzker signed into law on Tuesday legislation that will make it easier for citizens to vote by mail. A settlement of a lawsuit in Minnesota on Tuesday will have a similar impact.
Voting by mail gets boost in Illinois and Minnesota
Jun 17 2020
New laws in Illinois and the settling of a lawsuit in Minnesota will ease voters' ability to use mail-in ballots.
On Tuesday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed two bills that collectively require vote-by-mail applications be sent to all recent voters, expand early voting hours and allow for curbside voting, amend the process used to verify signatures on mailed-in ballots, and designate Election Day a state holiday.
"In the face of a pandemic, massive economic upheaval, and renewed calls for racial justice, it's more important than ever that Illinoisans can hold accountable a truly representative and transparent government," Pritzker said.
The changes to voting procedures only apply to the Nov. 3 general election.
<p>As with most states, voters in Illinois are required to sign their mailed-in ballots and that signature is verified by comparing it to what election officials already have on file. Voting rights advocates say those checking the signatures often have little or no training.</p>
<p>The new laws raised the standard for rejecting a mailed-in ballot. There is also a provision calling for creation of a bipartisan panel of three election judges to verify signatures. Now, one judge does that.</p>
<p>In Minnesota, a partial settlement of a lawsuit that challenged several rules regarding absentee ballots was announced Tuesday.</p>
<p>Under the agreement between Secretary of State Steve Simon and the ACLU, the requirement that absentee ballots include the signature of a witness is waived. Also, the deadline for absentee ballots to arrive at election offices will be extended to two days after election day. Normally, the deadline is 8 p.m. on the day itself.</p>
<p>Both of these changes are in response to the coronavirus pandemic and apply only to the August primary.</p>
<p>The agreement comes one day after a court ruled in favor of members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party and threw out the method used to decide the order of candidates on the ballot.</p>
<p><a href="https://thefulcrum.us/voting/minnesota-ballot-position" target="_self">A lottery will be used</a> to determine the order on the ballot. Previously, the candidates from the major party with the least votes were placed atop the ballot, which meant that the GOP candidates were above Democrats.</p>
<p>Research cited during testimony in the case found that Republican candidates got a 2- to 3-percentage-point boost simply from being ahead of the Democrats on the ballot.</p>
Keep reading...
Show less
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice offers a "how to" for officials conducting an election in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Election officials need to be prepared for the worst, report says
Jun 09 2020
Election officials have begun raising the alarm about the additional costs and pitfalls associated with a huge increase in the numbers of people voting by mail this fall.
Now the Brennan Center for Justice is offering guidelines for how to deal with the cybersecurity and technical challenges of putting on an election that is mainly by mail in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new report deals with every aspect of the election, from advance preparations all the way through reporting the results to the public.
<p>It calls for making sure proper cybersecurity practices are in place to deal with the many election office employees and vendors who are working on computers from home. People connecting to the voter registration database from their home computers, for example, need to take extra care in order to avoid hacking.</p><p>The report, posted Friday, calls on election officials to plan now for how to respond to failures in voter registration systems, the systems for requesting and returning absentee ballots, and breakdowns of electronic poll books and voting machines at in-person voting sites.</p><p>Having a communication strategy in place to let the public know what is going on and when to expect election results is also critical, the report states.</p>
Keep reading...
Show less
Cheddar
Meet the reformer: Christina Harvey, progressive pushing to spend on healthier and easier voting
Jun 05 2020
The progressive Stand Up America, created after the 2016 election, became particularly visible last year pressing Congress to spend more on election security — and is reprising that role now in pushing for more federal funding to boost voting options in light of the pandemic. Christina Harvey became managing director, or No. 2 staffer, last year after her employer of 15 years, Eric Schneiderman, resigned as New York attorney general when four women accused him of physical abuse. She had joined his state Senate staff in 2003 after her first job, as a union organizer. Her answers have been edited for clarity and length.
What's the tweet-length description of your organization?
Working to strengthen our democracy by empowering our members to advocate for policies that increase voter participation and unrig a corrupt system that stands in the way of progressive change.
<p><strong>Describe your very first civic engagement.</strong></p><p>I'm a coal-miner's daughter from West Virginia, raised by a single mother. I stood on my first picket line when I was 6 years old and my mom was on strike. </p><p><strong>What was your biggest professional triumph?</strong></p><p>Repealing New York's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, passing the original millionaire's tax and ending prison-based gerrymandering in a single session of the state Senate. All three were in my legislative portfolio. </p><p><strong>And your most disappointing setback?</strong></p><p>Driving 330,000 calls to Congress to impeach President Trump — but then the Senate not removing him. </p><p><strong>How does your identity influence the way you go about your work? </strong></p><p>I was fortunate enough to be working class growing up, because my mom had a steady union job, but I was always conscious of how easy it would be to slip into poverty like many of the kids around me. One set of layoffs and a month or two of unemployment and we would have been there. I was able to stay in a Sandinista cooperative in Nicaragua in high school, study liberation theology with the Jesuits in El Salvador and volunteer in an orphanage in Guatemala while in college — and saw conditions similar or worse than in rural West Virginia.</p><p> These experiences ingrained in me a sense of just how lucky I am in every moment, and probably a fear of ever resting because you might turn around and not be one of the lucky ones anymore. Every time I turn on the faucet and clean water comes out, or I have a meal too big to finish, I think about how I am literally among the most privileged people on this planet. That perspective gives me a visceral sense of some inequalities that need righted in the world. It also makes it harder to complain or sweat the small stuff, and easier to focus on the work at hand and the big picture. </p><p><strong>What's the best advice you've ever been given?</strong></p><p>"Se hace camino al andar." You make the way as you go. It's one of the most famous lines by the early 20th century Spanish poet Antonio Machado. </p><p><strong>Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.</strong></p><p>SUA — Strawberry, Ugli-fruit, Apple.</p><p><strong>What's your favorite political movie or TV show?</strong></p><p>"Homeland."</p><p><strong>What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?</strong></p><p>Read Politico Nightly. </p><p><strong>What is your deepest, darkest secret (something fun!)? </strong></p><p>I only make my child take a bath twice a week since the quarantine started. Yeah, it's disgusting.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Coronavirus alters democracy reform world's priorities - The Fulcrum ›
- The case for spending more to ease voting in a pandemic - The ... ›
- Stand Up America - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep reading...
Show less
