Donald Trump and election denialist allies at Turning Point USA, True the Vote and other Maga stalwarts are spreading conspiracy theories about election fraud in order to lay the groundwork for charging the election was rigged if Trump loses, warn election experts and some veteran Republicans.
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GA Election Board's Controversial New Rules May 'Actually Help Democrats': 'BradCast' 8/19/2024
"Marks tells me that many of the organizations and media outlets misreporting the rule and state law "are from out of state. They are assuming that Georgia is like a normal state, and that Georgia actually has good elections, that numbers reconcile, that ballots are counted well. The problem is that Georgia does not have a reasonable system for counting ballots." She argues that Dems may want to be careful about what they wish for when fighting against "reasonable inquiry" regarding results this year…."What these rules actually do is help the Democrats," Marks argues. "Because they are going to need to do everything possible to protect --- if Harris wins, and you know it's going to be close --- if Harris wins, they'll have to do everything possible to protect that win. And without some of these transparency measures, they would have a hell of a fight.””
NY absentee voting law argued in appellate court ahead of election
A voting law that Republicans claim could lead to rampant voter fraud in New York is now in the hands of a state appellate court, which will decide if it should remain on the books or be struck down as unconstitutional.
At issue is one sentence in state Election Law that was added in 2021 when Democrats changed how absentee ballots are counted.
Maddow: Pro-Trump administrators are already in place to subvert the 2024 election
These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election Deniers
“Mark Elias..the findings in this investigation only represent “the tip of the iceberg,” because Republicans “are counting on not just that they can disrupt the election in big counties, they are counting on the fact that if they don’t certify in several small counties, you cannot certify these statewide results.””
The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024
"The best way to prevent this from happening is to widely publicize their scheme so public opinion will become so intense that they fear the consequences.”
Here’s what I’m hearing Republicans are planning in the event Joe Biden wins re-election & Democrats hold the Senate and take the House this November…
Democracy Undone: The Texas Placebo Ballot Plot
"Independent investigative reporter Greg Palast,... accompanied Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 92-year-old cousin, Christine Jordan, to the polls in Georgia, and poll workers repeatedly refused to give her even a provisional ballot until Palast intervened….After voting for half a century in the same place, she’d been purged from the rolls by Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp in the run-up to his contest with Stacey Abrams. Eventually, after multiple tries with Palast threatening lawsuits and making a scene on camera at the polling place, Jordan got a provisional ballot, although it almost certainly was never counted.”
Vanessa Merton
No to Bar Codes
Don't miss your chance to RSVP for Thursday's town hall.
You’ve been hearing a lot from us about the ExpressVote XL – that’s the costly new touchscreen voting machine that has election security experts seriously worried.
With a track record of miscounting votes and your vote represented by an unverifiable barcode – plus a pricey burden on taxpayers – this machine has no place in our New York elections. But it may soon be adopted by counties all across the state.
Join us this Thursday. You’ll hear speakers from Common Cause New York, Free Speech for People, and the Long Island Progressive Coalition, along with other election experts to discuss the threats this machine poses to voters and where it stands in your county.
Click the image to register for the Zoom meeting.
Mark Ruffalo advocates to keep paper ballots for New York
Mark Ruffalo: “I’ve helped to pass the [Voting Integrity and Verification Act of New York.] … in the State Senate three times, but it keeps getting blocked in the Assembly,” Ruffalo wrote. “It’s frustrating and needs to pass this year.”
In 2022, Rufffalo shared a City & State article on the issue on X. “@CarlHeastie please protect NY voters & pass A1115C so that we don’t have the same voting machines & issues as states like Georgia,”
Georgia governor signs election changes into law
Buried in a controversial bill that many feel will disenfranchise voters, there’s one bright note. Georgia will no longer allow the kind of voting machine which is now legal in New York. To keep those voting machines out of New York and protect our right to make sure the ballot is counted the way we intended, let your legislators know you support keeping our current system of hand marked paper ballots.
Push grows to mandate paper ballots as N.Y. counties eye touch-screen voting
"After nearly 14 years, New York's voting machines need an update — and it's raising questions about how a possible switch to all touch-screen voting in New York elections will impact election security after news reports both Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island will spend millions of dollars to purchase the touch-screen ballot devices next year..."They will radically change the way that we vote and they have some very serious negative repercussions," said Lulu Friesdat.. Before session ends June 6, organizations focused on election law and good-government groups are pushing for a bill to clear the Legislature to prevent the machines like the XL from replacing hand-marked paper ballots. The bill, named the Voting Integrity and Verification Act, would ensure voters can always vote using pen and paper if their polling place offers touch-screen devices. It would also prevent votes from being encoded with a bar code on the ballot."
On the Media : What Bush v Gore revealed about contested elections
Many of us were involved and distressed by what happened to the vote count in Florida in 2000. Today’s On the Media retells the story of the Brooks Brothers riot. This may seem like the distant past but it set the stage for Jan 6. Of interest is that a study of the race a few months later found that hand counting undervotes and overvotes would have narrowly given the election to Gore.
Four members of the current US Supreme Court were involved in the effort to stop the recount in Florida. Justice Clarence Thomas voted to suspend the vote count in Florida. Three other justices worked on the Bush team including John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Comey Barrett. All three were later appointed to the Supreme Court.
This county undercounted 4,000 Biden votes in 2020. Now the head of elections is looking to win back trust
“Since 2020, improvements have been made,” the release said….Among those improvements is a decision by the office to post all ballot scanner tapes, the primary document used to count votes, on its website, which it has done since last year. “You can take that and compare it to the data on the state website, if you want, to make sure that we’re tabulating stuff correctly,” Olsen said.
COMMENT: A bill introduced in Albany would require similar public posting in New York. Unfortunately, the Ballot Image Transparency Bill S2333 (MYRIE), A7147 (Levenberg) is stuck in committee, leaving New Yorkers vulnerable to distrust in election results. Such distrust has resulted in death threats to election officials in other states.
Barcodes on paper ballots: the good, the bad, and the stealth
New York State Board of Elections has certified a new voting machine that has the “bad" kind of barcode, the kind that is printed on the ballot after you cast it. Common Cause has a lawsuit against the Expressvote XL to ban it for this reason. The outcome is pending. The NYS Senate has passed laws three times to prevent this type of voting machine, but the Assembly Election Law Committee has not acted. Let your legislators and the governor know that you support the Voting Integrity and Verification Act of NY (VIVA NY) S6169 and A5934. Preserve our current system of voter marked paper ballots.
Pa. GOP, Dems agree on election cybersecurity threats
Sharon Herald, PA: " system’s vulnerabilities to a malicious cyber attack ...When Republicans and Democrats agree on an election threat in 2024, everyone needs to take notice.”
Comment: Last summer, New York certified the ES&S ExpressVote XL voting machine that concerns Pennsylvania officials of both parties. Common Cause has sued to keep it out of New York and save our hand marked paper ballot system which has worked for us since retiring the lever machines. We have also been working to get it banned in the budget because of the huge potential cost of $250 million just to purchase. (That’s a quarter of a billion dollars!).
Bills have been introduced in Albany to ban this type of voting machine. Let your New York state representatives and the Governor know that you want to keep our “gold standard” of voting on hand marked paper ballots. Ask them to support the Voting Integrity and Verification Act of NY (VIVA NY) S6169 and A5934. VIVA NY S6169 passed in the Senate last year but so far the Assembly has not put VIVA NY A5934 out for a vote.
The Trump Effort to Infiltrate Voting Systems Was Worse Than We Knew
Slate: "What we know for sure is that allies of Donald Trump who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election gained copies of the voting software used in Georgia and in other states. These events present serious threats to the 2024 election and future elections. Yet, as the Curling trial has established, they’ve been plainly ignored by the Georgia secretary of state and attorney general….It’s well past time for the Department of Justice to step in and investigate. This matter is too serious for the federal government to continue to stand by and rely on local officials, who clearly couldn’t be bothered to act on their own.”