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☆ Election officials feel less safe than ever as the 2024 election approaches
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

As the 2024 presidential election approaches, polled election officials said the threats are piling up. Seven in ten local election officials said they think the dangers have increased since 2020. AdvertisementWith about six months until the presidential elections in November, more than a third of polled election officials said they've experienced "threats, harassment, or abuse" while on the job, a new report revealed. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law published its yearly "Local Election Officials Survey" on Wednesday. The survey, which was filled out by 11,678 election officials between late February and March, revealed an increase in reported threats on the job.

Persons: It's, —, they've Organizations: Service, Brennan Center for Justice, NYU Law, Business

☆ Trump’s immunity case is another reminder that all roads now lead to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

CNN —The Supreme Court’s hearing Thursday on former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim will underline a historic power shift. Trump’s relationship has been complex with the court’s conservative majority – despite his instrumental role in establishing it. In sharp contrast, the court’s conservative majority has exerted its influence year after year, without interruption. “There is just much more intense vetting of Supreme Court justices,” said Pierson. “You can tell by the results of the court decisions over the past several years that it is fundamentally different.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, “, ”, Jeff Shesol, Franklin D, John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Paul Pierson, –, Barack Obama’s, Roberts, Joe Biden, Trump, they’ve, Michael McConnell, Jack Smith, Gore, outvoted, George W, Bush, MAGA, Michael Waldman, ” Waldman, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Nixon, Waldman, ” McConnell, McConnell, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, David Souter, George H.W, Pierson, Obama, Brett Kavanaugh, Barrett, Cecilia Munoz, Biden, “ It’s, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Clinton, ” Shesol, FDR, Shesol Organizations: CNN, White House, GOP, Republican Party, Trump, Republicans, University of California, Democratic, House, White, Constitutional, Center, Stanford University Law School, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law, Senate, Republican, Federalist Society, Alabama, Electoral, Citizens, Constitutional Law Center, New, Great Society Locations: Berkeley, Manhattan, Florida, “, George H.W . Bush, Shelby County

☆ Fact checking Trump and Johnson’s election integrity announcement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Facts First: The system, as it is currently set up, is working, and effectively prevents mass voting by non-citizens in US elections. Despite Johnson’s focus on this topic, it is extremely rare, according to decades of voting data and nonpartisan experts. In federal and state elections, where voting by non-citizens is illegal, it occurs on a microscopic level. This system, as shown from decades of data, is very effective at stopping non-citizens from registering and voting in federal elections. Further, from a common-sense perspective, there’s little to gain for an undocumented immigrant who theoretically wants to vote in a presidential election.

Persons: Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, ”, Johnson, ” Johnson, David Becker, Brennan, There’s, they’d, Rick Hasen, you’re, Trump, Hillary Clinton, CNN’s Marshall Cohen, ” Trump, Trump’s, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Daniel Dale Trump, Biden, Trump baselessly, “, Matthew Colangelo, Alvin Bragg, Bragg, Colangelo, Joe Biden, Gainor Trump, ’, Roe, Wade, Roe V, Wade ”, Read, Daniel Dale Organizations: CNN, Election Innovation, Research, Brennan Center for Justice, UCLA School of Law, Trump, Democratic, Mar, Manhattan District Attorney, Biden, Justice Department, US Customs Locations: United States, Venezuela, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, York, Manhattan, Mar

☆ Trump and Mike Johnson zero in on noncitizen voting. It’s already illegal and very rare.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Jane C. Timm | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson pitched new legislation to crack down on noncitizen voting on Friday, despite the fact the practice is already illegal and occurs rarely. It is already a crime to register or vote as a noncitizen in all state and federal elections, though Washington, D.C., and a handful of municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont allow noncitizen voting in local elections. Many have investigated noncitizen voting and found little evidence of it. The Brennan Center found just 30 suspected noncitizen votes amid 23.5 million votes in 2016, suggesting that suspected noncitizen votes accounted for 0.0001 % of votes cast. But Johnson and Trump have both long advanced baseless claims about election integrity.

Persons: Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, Trump's, Johnson, Trump, Sean Morales, Doyle, " Morales, Brennan, Morales, he'd, Justin Levitt, Biden, Levitt, noncitizens Organizations: Mr, Mar, D.C, Brennan Center for Justice, Brennan, Trump Locations: Lago, Palm Beach , Florida, U.S, Washington, California , Maryland, Vermont, Arizona, California

☆ What information is the government actually collecting under FISA?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

They scuttled House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to extend the FISA Section 702 program with minimal tweaks. It is true that the FBI obtained warrants through FISA to wiretap Carter Page, an adviser to Trump’s first presidential campaign. According to the National Security Agency, 60% of what appears in the Presidential Daily Brief has some data that comes from the 702 program. The 702 program has been updated in the years since its inception, including in 2018, to include new protections to minimize Americans’ communications from being accessed without a warrant. Additionally, these proposals would bar the government from sidestepping warrant requirements by simply buying the data of Americans from so-called data brokers.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, “, Mike Johnson’s, Carter, Trump’s, Trump, Read, Katie Bo Lillis, Johnson, Christopher Wray, ”, Leon Panetta Organizations: CNN, Foreign Intelligence, Trump, FISA, Republicans, FBI, Privacy, Civil, National Security Agency, Center for Justice, New York University, Brennan Center, Intelligence Community, National Intelligence, House, CIA, New Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, New York City

☆ A controversial Supreme Court decision could hurt Biden in November
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —A Supreme Court decision related to the election could determine the presidential victor this November, but it has nothing to do with former President Donald Trump. The study also said the “narrow” racial-turnout disparity that the high court heavily relied upon in its Shelby decision was based in part on the 2012 presidential election. Yet the study’s conclusion bolsters critics of the Shelby decision. They ignored it although they knew their decision would hurt Black voters, who tend to vote for the Democratic Party, he says. The bloody history behind the Voting Rights ActThe law was passed in 1965 after King led an epic voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, Brennan, —, Holder, John Roberts, Barack Obama, Shelby, Jim Crow, Alabama —, Lawrence Goldstone, ” Goldstone, Sonia Sotomayor, Joe Biden, Shawn Thew, Biden, Goldstone, Black, George W, Bush, preclearance, “, ”, Elijah Nouvelage, Horace Cooper, Martin Luther King Jr, Cooper, “ That’s, Martin Luther King, that’s, ” Cooper, King, Edmund Pettus, Obama, Lyndon B, Johnson, Jr, Ralph Abernathy, Clarence Mitchell, Corbis, Roberts, Reagan, Brett Kavanaugh, tortuously, it’s, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Brennan Center for Justice, Supreme Court, Southern GOP, GOP, State of, Getty, Black, Democratic Party, George Mason University in, US Justice Department, Edmund, White, Congress, Black voters, North Carolina — Locations: Shelby, Southern, America, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, State, Washington, Alabama’s Shelby County, Atlanta , Georgia, AFP, George Mason University in Virginia, Selma , Alabama, White Alabama, “ Shelby

☆ The presidential race is set, but ‘uncommitted’ remains an option in Louisiana and Missouri.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Nick Corasaniti | Neil Vigdor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Georgia, with its long history of the suppression of Black voters, has been ground zero for fights about voting rights laws for decades. The result has been a slew of laws that included restrictions to voting, like limiting voting by mail and adding voter ID requirements. He found that the growing racial turnout gap since the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby had been felt most acutely by younger voters across the country. In Bulloch County, Ga., Winston County, Miss., and Newberry County, S.C., the racial turnout gap among young voters grew by 20 percentage points or more between the 2012 and 2020 elections. Seeing a more substantial racial turnout gap among young voters cuts against some conventional wisdom about recent changes to voting laws.

Persons: Barack Obama, Lowndes County —, Georgia —, Michael Podhorzer, Lowndes, Obama, Holder, “, Podhorzer, ” Podhorzer, Biden, Bernard Fraga, ” Fraga, Emily Elconin, Donald Trump, I’ve Organizations: Black, Republican, Justice Department, Brennan, Valdosta State University, Emory University, The New York Times, The Times, Times Locations: Georgia, Lowndes County, Shelby County, Shelby, Bulloch County ,, Winston County, Miss, Newberry County, S.C, Atlanta, Dearborn, Mich, Arizona , Georgia, Michigan, Nevada , Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, onpolitics@nytimes.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's legal debts might now exceed a half-billion dollars. The verdict in the civil fraud trial requires Trump to pay interest on some of the deal profits he has been ordered to give up. As part of Friday’s ruling, the judge also ordered both of Trump’s sons to pay $4 million apiece. Last month, he was ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in legal fees to The New York Times after suing the newspaper unsuccessfully. Under the judge's ruling Friday, Trump would still be liable to pay even if the Trump Organization declares bankruptcy.

Persons: — Donald Trump's, Trump, Jean Carroll, Carroll, Letitia James, Hillary Clinton, Will Thomas, “, ” Thomas, that’s, ”, Daniel Weiner, Brennan, ” Weiner, We’re Organizations: Trump, New York, New York Times, New, University of Michigan, D.C, Truth, Trump’s, Commission, Trump Organization Locations: York, New York, Washington

☆ Opinion: The Jennifer Crumbley verdict is a powerful warning to parents
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Opinion Jennifer Tucker | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Prosecutors alleged that the Crumbley parents willfully disregarded warning signs that their son was in crisis, did not heed concerns of school administrators, bought him a gun days before the shooting and failed to lock it up. Yet, research shows that even parents who think their guns are inaccessible to minors are mistaken. Distributed responsibilityMost parents want their children to be safe, yet many continue to enable household access to loaded guns. In fact, a recent study shows that states often loosened gun laws after mass shootings, especially states with Republican legislatures. This case opens the door for parents to be held legally accountable, and reminds all parents of their responsibilities when it comes to gun safety.

Persons: Jennifer Tucker, Jennifer Crumbley, Ethan Crumbley, She’ll, Jennifer Tucker Olivia Drake, Shannon Smith, ”, Sig Sauer, James Crumbley, “, it’s, Payton Gendron, Robert Crimo Organizations: Wesleyan University, Wesleyan’s Center, Guns and Society, Brennan Center for Justice, NYU Law School, CNN, Prosecutors, RMA Armament, Buffalo, Buffalo News, Giffords Law Center, “, District of Columbia, American Medical Association, National Rifle Association Locations: Oxford, Michigan, Buffalo , New York, Buffalo, Chicago, Highland Park , Illinois, Illinois, Virginia, American

☆ Biden has spent millions on gun policy, but future violence prevention depends on who wins the presidency
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Allie Kelly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementThe future of gun violence prevention policy will likely depend on who works in the Oval Office. But continued federal action hangs on whether Congress passes the Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2023, a bill that would cement an office of gun violence prevention in the US Justice Department. As election season gears up, gun-related injuries have surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of death for young people, and 18,874 Americans lost their lives to gun violence last year, per the Gun Violence Archive. Breaking down Biden's investment in gun violence preventionIt's been almost six months since The Biden-Harris Administration created the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention , tasked with reducing gun violence across the country through executive and legislative action. The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, specifically, is funded through Congress' annual executive office appropriations.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley —, It's, Harris, Biden, John Feinblatt, Biden's Organizations: of, Service, US Justice Department, Republican, Fox News, Brennan Center for Justice, Biden, Harris Administration, White, Safer, Democratic, —, Gun Safety, Justice Department, American Civil Liberties Union, Senate, Congress

☆ Opinion: Swatting by Trump’s followers is putting public officials in danger. It has to stop
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Adam Kinzinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“I will tell you that the last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents and thinking that something happened,” the former South Carolina governor told NBC. It’s been in the headlines recently because of a spate of incidents involving public officials. When prominent public officials are victims of swatting, one can’t always prove a cause-and-effect relationship between inflammatory rhetoric posted online or delivered during a speech and a caller’s reckless false emergency call to 911. We need tougher laws to protect public servants, and some states are increasing penalties for perpetrators of swatting. Swatting increases the likeliness of inadvertent harm to the public by the very people whose job it is to protect us.

Persons: Adam Kinzinger, Kinzinger, Tina ”, Tina ’, Nikki Haley, Haley, swatting, Andrew Finch, Finch, ”, It’s, GOP Florida Sen, Rick Scott, Scott, Anthony Gonzalez, Donald Trump ., Trump, Judge Arthur Engoron, “ TRUMP, Engoron, Jack Smith, Tanya Chutkan, Shenna Bellows, Joe Biden, David, Brennan, I’m, I’d, General Merrick Garland, Katherine Schweit, Nikki Haley’s Organizations: CNN, Republican, House Foreign Affairs, Air National Guard, Adam Kinzinger CNN, Police, Congress, Press, South, NBC, FBI, GOP Florida, swatting, Rep, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Washington Post, New, Trump, Maricopa County Board, Brennan Center for Justice, University of Chicago, Justice Department, The Washington Post, Post Locations: Illinois, Washington, DC, South Carolina, Wichita , Kansas, Anthony Gonzalez of, Ohio, Virginia, toning, New York, Trump, Maine, Arizona, Maricopa, Nevada, The

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A group of conservative state lawmakers in Pennsylvania filed a federal lawsuit Thursday challenging three voting-related executive branch actions designed to boost voter registration, including a 2021 executive order by President Joe Biden. One is last fall's introduction of automatic voter registration in Pennsylvania by Democratic Gov. Shapiro's administration said in a statement that it is “frivolous” to suggest that it lacks the authority to implement automatic voter registration. Twenty-three other states and Washington, D.C., already have varying models of what is called “ automatic voter registration,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Still, former President Donald Trump has already accused Democrats of " trying to steal " Pennsylvania in 2024's election through automatic voter registration.

Persons: Joe Biden, ’, Biden, Josh Shapiro, Tom Wolf, Shapiro, Donald Trump, Trump, Marc Levy Organizations: Democratic Party, Trump, Republican, Democratic Gov, Democratic, Brennan Center, Justice, U.S . Justice, D.C, National Conference of State Legislatures Locations: HARRISBURG, Pa, Pennsylvania, Washington

The steps will apply specifically to OpenAI, only one player in an expanding universe of companies developing advanced generative AI tools. Starting “early this year,” OpenAI said, it will digitally watermark AI images created using its DALL-E image generator. “Will there be items that slip through the cracks?”OpenAI's ChatGPT and DALL-E are some of the most powerful generative AI tools to date. But there are many companies with similarly sophisticated technology that don't have as many election misinformation safeguards in place. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that even with all of his company’s safeguards in place, his mind is not at ease.

Persons: —, OpenAI, ” OpenAI, Mekela Panditharatne, “, ChatGPT, ”, Darrell West, Sam Altman, “ We’re Organizations: San, National Association of, State, Brennan Center for Justice, YouTube, Meta, Center for Technology Innovation, Bloomberg, Economic, Associated Press, AP Locations: San Francisco, U.S, Davos, Switzerland

If those population-growth patterns continue for the rest of the decade, it could seriously imperil the Democrats’ long-term chances of winning the White House. The Week in Cartoons Jan. 15-19 View All 5 ImagesFor Democrats, the picture is grim. An analysis by the Brookings Institution found that the main factor driving population growth in 2022-23 was immigration. The two states Democrats are eyeing most urgently to become the new Arizona and Georgia are North Carolina and Texas. In particular, predictions of “Blexas” – a blue Texas – have taken longer to materialize than most Democrats had hoped.

Persons: Donald Trump, University’s, Joe Biden, ”, Alan Abramowitz, Christopher Cooper, Brennan, Biden, Mark P, Jones, it’s, Michael McDonald, Trump, Michael Bitzer, ” Bitzer, “ Biden's, Thomas Schaller, ” Schaller, –, Barack Obama, Cooper Organizations: White, Center for Justice, Biden, Emory University, Democrats, Western Carolina University, “, ”, Republicans, Rice University, University of Florida, Brookings Institution, Brookings, North Carolina’s Catawba, Northern Blacks, Brennan, University of Maryland, American Democracy, Senate, Democratic, Texas, Democratic Party, Electoral College Locations: South Carolina , Florida , Texas , Idaho, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, New, Texas, Florida, Idaho, South Carolina , Tennessee, California, New York, Illinois, Minnesota , Oregon, Rhode, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, U.S, That’s, North, Northern, Baltimore, Arizona , Colorado , New Mexico, Nevada, “ Texas, United States

It also is one of the most substantial exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits using the military for law enforcement purposes. Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by other Republican primary candidates such as Florida Gov. The threats have raised questions about the meaning of military oaths, presidential power and who Trump could appoint to support his approach. William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert in national security law, said a military officer is not forced to follow “unlawful orders."

Persons: Donald Trump, “, I’m, ”, ” Trump, Trump, don’t, Joseph Nunn, Brennan, “ There’s, Nunn, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Michael Flynn, Flynn, Charles Q, Brown, Joe Biden's, Lyndon Johnson, Dr, Martin Luther King Jr, Johnson, John F, Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Eisenhower, George H.W, Bush, Rodney King, Michael O’Hanlon, O’Hanlon, Pat Ryan, Ryan, William Banks, Banks, ” Nunn, Jill Colvin, Michelle L, Price, Linley Sanders Organizations: WASHINGTON, New, Brennan Center for Justice, Florida Gov, South, Army, FBI, Trump, Pentagon, Joint Chiefs, Staff, U.S . Capitol, AP, Republican, Washington, Civil, 101st Airborne, Central High School, National Guard, Brookings Institution, Democratic, U.S . Military Academy, Syracuse University, Associated Press Locations: Iowa, New York City, Chicago, Florida, South Carolina, U.S, Baltimore , Chicago, Rock , Arkansas, Los Angeles, New York, West, Washington

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy. "We spoke.”Gross told Jackson she wasn't ignoring voters but rather was reflecting opponents' concerns that Ohio voters were led astray. Anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates already have pushed back in a handful of states where voters sided generally with abortion rights. Republican state legislative leaders initially pledged that the fight to restrict abortion rights wasn't over after voters had spoken. Florida’s Republican attorney general is attempting to keep a proposed abortion rights amendment off the 2024 ballot.

Persons: We.Are.Not.Done, Jennifer Gross, Gross, Dobbs, Roe, Wade, Douglas Keith, Brennan, “, ” Keith, Emily Jackson, Jackson, ” Gross, ”, Rick Santorum, Brandon Prichard, Ohio, Sophia Jordán Wallace, Myrna Perez, Andrew Whitehead, God, ” Whitehead, Mike DeWine, Dave Yost, Jason Stephens, Matt Huffman, Stephens, Huffman, State Jay Ashcroft, Kara Gross Organizations: Supreme, Justice’s, AP VoteCast, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Republican, Rep, University of Washington, Ohio University, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, Kentucky Republicans, “, Ohio, State, AP Locations: COLUMBUS , Ohio, U.S, ” Ohio, Ohio, Montana and Utah, Alaska and Kansas, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Montana, ”, In Missouri, Michigan, Florida

☆ Federal Prosecutor Asks Judge to Strip New York of Control Over Rikers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Hurubie Meko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The parties also asked that Judge Swain hold the city in contempt for violating a 2015 agreement that required it to make sweeping reforms. A spokesman for the city’s Law Department, Nick Paolucci, said on Saturday that the administration had made progress to address longstanding problems at Rikers and that receivership was not the solution to fix the jail system. Mr. Adams has not named a successor. The city will have a chance to respond to the filings, and then the plaintiffs will have another opportunity to answer, he said, adding that it could be well into next year before Judge Swain makes a determination on the question of receivership. To date, the city has failed to grasp the “urgency and severity” of the crisis it has created, said Mary Lynne Werlwas, director of the Prisoners’ Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society.

Persons: Swain, Nick Paolucci, Williams, Louis A, Molina, Adams, ”, Hernandez D, Stroud, Judge Swain, Mary Lynne Werlwas Organizations: city’s Law Department, Legal Aid Society, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law Locations: Rikers

The lawsuit was filed in January on behalf of 13 Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders who support abortion rights. It seeks a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing its abortion law, and a declaration that provisions of the law violate the Missouri Constitution. The law makes it a felony punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison to perform or induce an abortion. Their lawsuit specifically highlights the Jewish teaching that a fetus becomes a living person at birth and that Jewish law prioritizes the mother’s life and health. In Kentucky, three Jewish women sued, claiming the state’s ban violates their religious rights under the state’s constitution and religious freedom law.

Persons: Louis, Roe, Wade, Brennan, “, Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, Eric Schmitt, Mike Parson, Nick Schroer, ”, Barry Hovis, — Organizations: LOUIS, Unitarian Universalist, Brennan Center for Justice, Pro, Republican, Americans United, & State, National Women’s Law, Rep, Hoosier, Choice Locations: Missouri, ” Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky

☆ Opinion | We Waited 200 Years for This Supreme Court Ethics Code?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“One of the themes we’ve heard from Chief Justice Roberts and others is essentially this message of: Just trust us. In recent months, Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett have publicly supported the adoption of an ethics code. The most glaring defect of the new code is its complete lack of any enforcement power. And yet the absence of any discipline or enforcement was the central flaw that led to calls for an ethics code in the first place. “A justice should not allow family, social, political, financial or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.” Well, sure.

Persons: we’ve, Justice Roberts, ” Alicia Bannon, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, ”, bender, What’s, —, Thomas, Alito Organizations: Brennan Center for Justice, Times

The letters were just the latest worrisome disruption for election workers in Seattle and across the country who have been besieged by threats, harassment and intimidation since the 2020 presidential election. Fulton County has been the target of conspiracy theories since the 2020 election, and its election workers have been harassed and threatened over false claims that they were stuffing ballots to aid Democrats. In Pennsylvania, officials estimate 40 of the state’s 67 county election offices have new directors or deputy directors since 2020. In North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers recently moved to gain more control of state and local election boards, roughly a third of 100 county election directors have left since the 2020 election. About 1 in 5 election workers knows someone who left their election job for safety reasons, and about 70% of local election officials said harassment has increased, according to a Brennan Center survey.

Persons: “ There’s, ”, Julie Wise, we’re, –, Brad Raffensperger, ” Raffensperger, “, Barb Byrum, ” Byrum, Kim Wyman, ” Wyman, Liz Howard, Wise, Ed Komenda, Manuel Valdes, Jeff Amy, Lindsay Whitehurst Organizations: ATLANTA, FBI, U.S . Postal, Service, Authorities, Georgia, Republican, Justice Department, Brennan, Associated Press Locations: King County , Washington, Washington, Seattle, King, Georgia, Nevada , California, Oregon, Atlanta’s Fulton County, Fulton County, Ingham County , Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, Virginia, Tacoma , Washington, Atlanta

☆ Threats against election workers driving exodus of veteran staff, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Election workers process ballots after polls closed for the U.S. midterm elections at the tabulation center at Cobb County Elections and Registration Center in Marietta, Georgia, U.S., November 8, 2022. WASHINGTON — Physical and cyber threats against election workers are driving people away from the industry, potentially endangering the ability of states to conduct off-year elections like those on Tuesday, and the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Some election experts and secretaries of state said the threats have trended upward since former President Donald Trump and his allies allegedly attempted to undermine, then overthrow, the results of the 2020 presidential election. Witnesses urged senators to invest in protections for election workers ahead of the 2024 presidential election. In recent years, election officials have endured death threats, online harassment and other abusive behavior, according to the Brennan Center.

Persons: Sen, Amy Klobuchar, Adrian Fontes, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Howard, Brennan, Laphonza Butler Organizations: U.S, Administration, Justice Department, Force, Associated Press, Brennan Center for Justice Locations: Cobb County, Marietta , Georgia, U.S, WASHINGTON, Arizona, D

☆ Texas Man at Center of Supreme Court Case Says He No Longer Wants Guns
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | More About Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It’s a fundamental strategic goal to present cases in the most favorable light possible, and that would include having a sympathetic and relatable person,” said Clark Neily, the senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute, which has advocated gun rights. A panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit wrote that he was “hardly a model citizen,” even as they sided with him. Mr. Rahimi’s case could expand gun rights protections by undoing a federal law that makes it a felony to possess a gun while under a domestic violence protective order. Although the case has garnered a flood of amicus briefs from groups like the National Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, the organizations have largely shifted focus away from Mr. Rahimi. “You could imagine a different case challenging this same law with a much more sympathetic plaintiff.”

Persons: “, ”, Clark Neily, Mr, Rahimi, Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, Eric Ruben Organizations: Cato Institute, U.S ., Appeals, Fifth Circuit, National Rifle Association, Amendment, Southern Methodist University, Brennan Center for Justice Locations: Texas

Maine is the latest state to address foreign influence in elections. The Maine referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot would ban foreign governments, or companies with 5% or more foreign government ownership, from donating to future referendum races. The Maine proposal is straightforward by targeting foreign governments and companies owned by them, while leaving untouched foreign-based corporations with no government ownership. The idea of foreign influence in U.S. elections is something that unites people in an era of deep partisan divisions. “Of course we shouldn’t have foreign governments meddling in our elections.”___Follow David Sharp on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @David_Sharp_AP

Persons: Aaron McKean, McKean, Daniel Weiner, It’s, ” Weiner, “, Sen, Rick Bennett, —, Janet Mills, Maine’s, ”, Sarah Walker, Bennett, George Washington, David Sharp, @David_Sharp_AP Organizations: —, Hydro, Washington , D.C, Brennan Center for Justice, Hydro Quebec, Central Maine Power, CMP, Canadian, Republican, Democratic Gov, Maine Press Association, Maine Association of Broadcasters, Norges Bank, Qatar Investment Authority Locations: PORTLAND, Maine, — Maine, Hydro Quebec, Canadian, Washington ,, Minnesota, Florida, Idaho, Seattle, Portland , Maine, U.S, ” Maine, Spanish, In Montana, California, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Los Angeles, Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Qatar

☆ Virginia Erroneously Purged Nearly 3,400 From State’s Voter Rolls
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Chris Cameron | More About Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Election integrity has become a key issue in Virginia, with conservative activists using next week’s election as a testing ground for a larger strategy to detect voter fraud in the 2024 election. The affected voters were people previously convicted of felonies who had their voting rights restored after completing their sentences, according to the state’s Department of Elections, and a software error misclassified probation violations as new felonies that would automatically strip the residents of their voting rights under Virginia law. Mr. Youngkin, who took office last year, had rescinded policies enacted by previous governors that automatically restored voting rights to residents who had completed felony sentences. Lyn McDermid, Virginia’s secretary of administration, said that the governor had asked the state’s inspector general to investigate the “causes and circumstances” of the purge of the voter rolls. The potential election impact is likely to be small among the more than six million Virginians registered to vote.

Persons: Brennan, Youngkin, Lyn McDermid, Ragnar Organizations: state’s Department, Elections, Brennan Center for Justice, Virginians, Ragnar Research Partners Locations: Virginia

☆ These redistricting fights could determine which party controls the House
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Before the court action, Alabama – which is 27% Black – had only one Black-majority congressional district out of seven seats. The case is expected to land before the all-Republican state Supreme Court, where DeSantis appointees hold most seats. A separate federal case in Georgia challenges the congressional map on constitutional grounds and is slated to go to trial next month. UtahThe state Supreme Court, in a case it heard in July, is considering whether it even has the authority to weigh in on map-drawing decisions by the GOP-controlled state legislature. Advocacy groups and a handful of voters are challenging a congressional map that further carved up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County between four decidedly Republican districts.

Persons: “, ”, David Wasserman, Amy Walter, Wasserman, Adam Kincaid, Kincaid, it’s, Nick Seabrook, –, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Ron DeSantis, Al Lawson, Steve Jones, Jones preliminarily, Andy Barr, Amy McGrath, Barr, Kareem Crayton, Brennan, Gabe Vasquez –, Chris Cooper, Jeff Jackson, Wiley Nickel, Kathy Manning, Don Davis, Valerie Foushee –, Davis, Roy Cooper, Nancy Mace, Kevin McCarthy Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Republicans, The, Republican, Black, National Republican Redistricting Trust, University of North, House, US, Gov, Black Democrat, Georgia Republicans, – Democratic, Congressional, Republican –, GOP, Louisiana Republicans, Appeals, Brennan Center for Justice . New, Brennan Center for Justice . New Mexico Republicans, New, New York Republicans, North Carolina, Democrats, Western Carolina University, Foushee, North, Democratic Gov, Supreme, Republican Rep, House GOP Locations: North Carolina, New York , Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, New York, University of North Florida, America, Louisiana, Florida, Black, North Florida, Atlanta, Peach, . Kentucky, Kentucky, Frankfort, Democratic, Brennan Center for Justice . New Mexico, New Mexico, Mexico, Empire, “, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, state’s, Carolina, Charleston, Utah, Salt Lake County, Salt, Texas, Tennessee

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