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An open letter to Trump voters

An open letter to Trump voters

Trump's Desecration of the Flag

Trump's Desecration of the Flag

Bruce Springsteen Launches Protest Tour as Warning for American Democracy

Bruce Springsteen Launches Protest Tour as Warning for American Democracy

A close up of American coins.

Congress Bill Spotlight: Banning Dollar Coin Depicting Trump

Just the Facts: Where the Iran War Really Stands Now

Just the Facts: Where the Iran War Really Stands Now

The Fulcrum Digest: Voting Access Proposals Are Sweeping the Nation

David Meyers
By David MeyersMay 06, 2019
David Meyers

David Meyers is the Executive Editor of The Fulcrum. Before launching The Fulcrum, David spent more than two decades at CQ Roll Call, a leading publisher of political news and information. During his time there, David served as managing editor of Roll Call (“the newspaper of Capitol Hill”) and as managing editor of member information and research, which included co-editing the definitive biographical directory of Congress, “Politics in America.” David went on to lead all of CQ Roll Call’s congressional research teams as vice president of research and content development before shifting to a revenue and strategy role as vice president of business operations for Roll Call, working with the advertising and editorial teams to develop new revenue models and expand the company’s events business. David lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife, two daughters and rottweiler. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a past president of the Tufts University Alumni Association. He is also a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which works to celebrate and advance the role of women and minorities in the media. David currently serves on the board of directors for Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station.

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There has been a surge in legislation to ease access to the polls during the early days of state legislative sessions across the country.

The New York University School of Law's Brennan Center counts at least 230 bills that have been filed or pre-filed at state capitals since the midterm election – with bipartisan efforts to place automatic voter registration, vote-by-mail, same-day registration or the restoration of voting rights for convicted felons on the legislative agendas in 31 states.

Hawaii Moves Toward Always Voting by Mail

Legislators in Hawaii this week began debating a range of election measures including a proposal to make the archipelago the fourth state in the nation that conducts all voting by mail.

Mail ballots are now an option and have outnumbered those cast at traditional polling places since 2014. A bill starting to move in the legislature would shift Hawaii to an exclusively mail-in system in 2022. Previous have been passed by the state Senate but ignored in the state House. However, Democratic majority leaders in both chambers say they are supportive of the reform this session, Honolulu Civic Beat reports.

Ranked-Choice Voting Gets Next Test in D.C. Suburbs

One of the hottest concepts in the world of election modernization is "ranked-choice voting" – where rather than selecting one candidate per contest, voters list candidates for each office in order of preference. Whenever no one secures majority support in the first round, an automated runoff among top finishers kicks in.

It's hailed by supporters as a means of giving more power to voters, enhancing the prospects of outsider candidates, boosting civility in campaigns and producing more consensus-minded lawmakers. Detractors see the system as confusing and in someway disenfranchising.


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Scarier Than the Boogeyman
boy sitting while covering his face
Photo by Ksenia Makagonova on Unsplash

Scarier Than the Boogeyman

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. Going to college, I took a child welfare class to become a social worker, and we were taught about child abuse and neglect. We were taught that there are times when the government has to intervene to protect the welfare of a child and act in the child’s best interest. Growing up, I had no trust in the government. Child Protective Services (CPS) workers were labeled “baby snatchers,” and they were to be feared rather than trusted.

Early in my career, I went on home visits, and I supported women who were involved with child welfare. I saw firsthand cases of extreme neglect. I will never forget walking into a woman’s apartment where I saw three children, a baby on the floor next to a pile of milk and cereal caked into the carpet, a toddler staring blankly at a TV, and a five-year-old who smiled at me with silver teeth. The TV was blaring, and we had to announce ourselves multiple times before Mom came out of the bedroom. Mom had issues with drugs and the kids had been taken away on numerous occasions. I walked away from that visit conflicted. There were other occasions where CPS intervened, simply because mom was a survivor of domestic violence and the system was being used against the survivor by her abuser, labeling her as a bad mother, in a vindictive agenda.

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Capitol Building of USA

Senate votes increasingly pass with support from senators representing a minority of Americans, raising questions about representation, rules, and democracy.

Getty Images, ANDREY DENISYUK

Record Number of Bills and Nominations Passed With Senators Representing a Population Minority

From taxes to the environment to public broadcasting like PBS and NPR, the Senate has recently passed record levels of legislation and confirmed record numbers of nominations with senators representing less than half the people.

Using historical data, GovTrack found 56 examples of Senate votes on legislation that passed with senators representing a “population minority.” 26 of those 56 examples, nearly half, have occurred since President Donald Trump’s current term began.

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The Fahey Q&A with Elizabeth Rasmussen

An in-depth interview with Elizabeth Rasmussen of Better Boundaries on Utah’s redistricting battle, Proposition 4, and the fight to protect ballot initiatives, fair maps, and democratic accountability.

The Fahey Q&A with Elizabeth Rasmussen

Since organizing the Voters Not Politicians 2018 ballot initiative that put citizens in charge of drawing Michigan's legislative maps, Fahey has been the founding executive director of The People, which is forming statewide networks to promote government accountability. She regularly interviews colleagues in the world of democracy reform for The Fulcrum.

Elizabeth Rasmussen is the Executive Director for Better Boundaries, a Utah-based organization fighting for fair maps, defending the citizen initiative process, preserving checks and balances, and building a better future. Currently making headlines in the state, Better Boundaries is working to protect Proposition 4, and with it, the rights of Utah voters.

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