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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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Abortion and the economy are not separate issues
Sep 27, 2024
Bayer is a political activist and specialist in the rhetoric of social movements. She was the founding director of the Oral Communication Lab at the University of Pittsburgh.
At a recent campaign rally in Raleigh, N.C., Vice President Kamala Harris detailed her plan to strengthen the economy through policies lifting the middle class. Despite criticism from Republicans like Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) — who recently said, “The American people are smarter than Kamala Harris when it comes to the economy” — some economists and financial analysts have a very positive assessment of her proposals.
Respected Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs recently gave Harris high marks in a report compared to former President Donald Trump’s plan to increase tariffs. “We estimate that if Trump wins in a sweep or with divided government, the hit to growth from tariffs and tighter immigration policy would outweigh the positive fiscal impulse,” the bank’s economists wrote.
However, missing from these conversations is the interconnectedness between the economy and another top issue for voters: reproductive rights.
Even though intimately connected, the economy and abortion access continue to be cast as distinct issues. As an economic variable, abortion is as much a kitchen table issue as the cost of groceries or housing. Laws restricting abortion not only lead to poorer economic outcomes for women and their families, these laws undercut the overall economy by handicapping women’s presence in the workforce, a variable essential to economic growth and prosperity.
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Women denied an abortion have higher levels of debt, housing and food insecurity, eviction, poor credit, and significantly higher rates of household poverty throughout their lives than women able to abort an unwanted pregnancy.
In a study conducted by the University of California San Francisco of 1,000 women — half of whom were able to obtain an abortion and half of whom were not — researchers found that being denied an abortion, rather than having one, resulted in greater harm. Women denied an abortion had significantly higher pregnancy-related medical emergencies, physical and emotional complaints, and ongoing financial hardship compared to women able to have an abortion. Most tellingly, the financial trends between these groups were similar until those women seeking an abortion were turned away.
The medical costs of prenatal care and childbirth — even for women with health insurance — is significant, averaging $4,500 on out-of-pocket expense. Women without insurance coverage often skimp or forgo essential prenatal care. These costs are amplified since childbirth invariably interrupts a woman’s paid work, resulting in lost income. With less than 10 percent of workers currently eligible for paid medical leave, lost wages compound the financial stress of an unwanted pregnancy. It’s not surprising that the rate of childhood poverty decreased following the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion.
The financial hardship for women denied an abortion tends to be greatest during the four or five years following birth, but the struggle continues. The cost of returning to work when daycare is needed, ongoing expenses of supporting another child, and the secondary costs of emotional and medical complications for an unwanted pregnancy handicap a woman and those dependent on her. Sixty percent of women seeking abortions are already mothers who cannot support, on multiple levels, another child. Women able to obtain an abortion are largely spared from these handicaps.
Women able to abort an unwanted pregnancy achieve higher educational, employment and income levels than women denied an abortion. And while some women do report sadness or regret regarding the “situation” prompting them to choose an abortion, they do not report regretting the decision itself, a fact confirmed by 95 percent of women in the Turnaway Study who were able to obtain an abortion.
Information on the actual effects of abortion on women, their families and the larger cultural environment has grown significantly in the decades following Roe. Yet misinformation has remained essentially unchanged. Common myths such as “abortion is dangerous to a woman’s health,” “abortion casts a long, painful shadow over her emotional well-being” and “killing a fetus and is akin to murder” are still prevalent in the narrative.
These chilling claims are reminiscent of the same statements I heard from anti-abortion protesters 50 years ago as a clinic escort for Planned Parenthood, and that continue to dominate anti-abortion rhetoric. We have an opportunity now to broaden the discussion of abortion based on what we have learned from decades of research rather than legitimizing arguments against abortion that are little more than subjective religious views.
Anti-abortion politicians like Scott find it “cruel” and “callous” to talk abortion within an economic framework, as if the financial hardship women face is inconsequential. Even if correct, economic consequences are insignificant to protecting a fetus.
Abortion rights have been protected in every state voting on the question thus far, demonstrating that women aren’t willing to sacrifice their autonomy and material well-being to protect the religious beliefs and sensibilities of anti-abortion politicians. Rather than talking about the need to lift the middle class and restore full abortion rights as mutually exclusive policies, we must talk about lifting the middle class by restoring abortion rights.
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Why the cost of water for poor Black Detroit voters may be key to Kamala Harris winning – or losing – Michigan
Sep 27, 2024
Ronald Brown is a professor of political science at Wayne State University. R. Khari Brown is a professor of sociology at Wayne State University.
The threat of violence was in the air at the TCF Center in Detroit on Nov. 5, 2020, after former President Donald Trump claimed that poll workers in the city were duplicating ballots and that there was an unexplained delay in delivering them for counting.
Both claims were later debunked.
Emboldened by Trump’s rhetoric, dozens of mainly white Republican Trump supporters banged on doors and windows at the vote-tallying center, chanting, “Stop the count!”
But Detroit’s poll workers, most of them Black, finished tallying the ballots. In the end, 95% of voters in Detroit, the largest city in Michigan and the one with the most African Americans – 78% of residents – cast their ballot for Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee.
We are political science and sociology professors at Wayne State University in Detroit, where we teach about the relationship between race, religion and politics. Our research has identified two groups of African American voters in Detroit – one that will clearly support Kamala Harris and another that is critical for her to win over if she wants to win Michigan.
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Firmly in Kamala’s camp
Those African Americans most likely to vote for Harris in November 2024 are strong Democratic partisans who feel that Trump threatens Black political strides toward democracy.
Harris can also rely on members of Detroit nonprofits like the NAACP, Black Greek organizations, and religious congregations connected to advocacy groups such as MOSES, the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee.
But what of the working-class and poor Black Detroit residents who tend not to be as heavily connected to the Democratic Party and are less involved with grassroots organizations that advocate on their behalf? These are the individuals who inconsistently vote in presidential elections but that recent history has shown could be key to winning Michigan, a crucial swing state.
Small bumps in voter turnout matter
While Detroit’s voters helped Biden win the state and the White House in 2020, such was not the case for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The difference was due in part to lower voter turnout.
In 2016, 95% of the Detroiters who voted in the presidential election opted for Democratic nominee Clinton. Still, she lost Michigan by 0.2% – fewer than 11,000 votes.
One contributing factor to the difference in Michigan’s presidential election outcomes between 2016 and 2020 was Detroit’s lower voter turnout in 2016 relative to 2020.
In 2016, Detroit’s voter turnout was 48.6% – compared with 50.88% in 2020. Detroit’s higher voter turnout in 2020 contributed to Biden winning Michigan in 2020 by a margin of less than 3%.
Let us suppose that 2016 and 2020 are guides to 2024. In that case, Harris’ ability to win Michigan in November is less about losing Black voters to Trump than her ability to motivate Black voters in Detroit and across the state to show up to the polls. This is key because African Americans, at roughly 13% of the U.S. electorate, overwhelmingly vote Democratic when they vote.
In many respects, 2020 served as a referendum on Trump’s management of the COVID-19 epidemic, which had an outsize impact on Black Americans, who were nearly twice as likely as white Americans to die from the virus.
That election also served as a referendum on Trump’s racial politics. During the summer of 2020, with the nation embroiled in protests against anti-Black police violence, Trump framed the protesters as anti-American and criminals.
It therefore makes sense that in 2020, the vast majority – over 90% – of African Americans nationwide stated that concerns about racism and COVID-19 motivated their vote.
Looking toward the 2024 election, a question that looms large is: Will the Black voter turnout in Detroit be closer to 2016 or 2020?
Quality-of-life issues key in 2024
In early 2024, quality-of-life concerns about crime, vacant buildings and affordable housing were the top three issues that Detroit residents want their city and the U.S. government to address, according to the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study.
Similarly, an August 2024 poll by Suffolk University and USA Today found that roughly 6 in 10 Black voters in Michigan mentioned the rising cost of living, crime and health care as motivating their willingness to vote.
These same issues are at the top of Black voters’ minds nationwide. A February 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation Poll reported that over 90% of Black Americans believe that the presidential candidates should discuss the rising cost of living and health care, and three-quarters believe they should discuss protecting the Affordable Care Act.
The 2024 election is a crucial moment for these issues to be addressed.
Detroit’s ongoing water concerns
When it comes to working-class and low-income people in Detroit, a key cost-of-living issue is the cost of water.
As Detroit’s city government attempted to shore up its finances following its 2013 bankruptcy, it began to more aggressively target residents who were delinquent in their water bills. The city shut off the water of more than 141,000 residents between 2013 and 2020.
As of 2023, 27% of Detroit households – about 170,000 people – are at risk of having their water shut off due to unpaid water bills. The 60,000 people in arrears for unpaid water bills owe an average of US$700.
In response to this crisis, local grassroots organizations, many of them faith-based, like the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, organized community members to push for legislation that ties water bill rates to residents’ income.
In October 2023, Michigan Democrat State Sen. Stephanie Chang introduced a series of bills to do just that, but the bills have languished in the Housing and Human Services Senate Committee.
An April 2024, a metropolitan Detroit survey we conducted revealed that 87% of Black Detroiters support these water affordability bills.
Harris’ ability to generate Black voter turnout in Michigan that’s similar to 2020, particularly in Detroit, may hinge on her ability to articulate the federal government’s plans to address cost-of-living concerns. This includes securing federal grants for cities, like Detroit, to subsidize water rates for its working-class and low-income residents.
While Harris did not explicitly address the issue of water affordability during her Labor Day visit to Detroit, she did tell the audience that, unlike Trump, she would not impose a national sales tax on everyday items. She also pledged to keep prescription drug prices affordable and strengthen the Affordable Care Act.
Will Harris’ message that Detroiters’ cost of living will fare worse under a Trump administration be enough to energize Black Detroiters to vote for her?
This is a crucial question for her 2024 campaign in Michigan, where she and Trump are in a statistical tie among likely voters.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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