Democracy Clips: February 6, 2023
BIG LIE AND ELECTION DENIALISM
Trump campaign staff pushed 2020 election lies in newly released audio. “A newly released audio recording offers a behind-the-scenes look at how former President Donald Trump’s campaign team in a pivotal battleground state knew they had been outflanked by Democrats in the 2020 presidential election. But even as they acknowledged defeat, they pivoted to allegations of widespread fraud that were ultimately debunked — repeatedly — by elections officials and the courts. The audio from Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, is surfacing as Trump again seeks the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the outcome and Democrat Joe Biden’s win.” [AP, 2/3/23]
Analysis: Republican Party brings election fraud allegations back into the fold. “Donald Trump wasn’t the first Republican to suggest that American elections were riddled with fraud. Part of the reason his gambit was so successful, in fact, was that Republican voters had long viewed unfavorable election results with suspicion. In 2007, for example, President George W. Bush’s Justice Department announced that a five-year investigation had turned up no evidence of systematic voter fraud in American elections, a probe meant to respond to the hum of allegations from Bush’s base.” [Washington Post, 2/1/23]
Kari Lake, Still Refusing to Accept Defeat in One Race, Teases Arizona Senate Run. “Kari Lake, the fiery former news anchor who narrowly lost a race for governor of Arizona last year, said in an interview that she is considering a Republican campaign for the U.S. Senate in Arizona next year. She has also scheduled campaign-style events this month in Iowa — home to her party’s first presidential nominating contest — that typically signal White House ambitions. Additionally, she is still contesting her November defeat in the Arizona governor’s race, despite her claims of misconduct being rejected in court. She has continued raising money to help finance legal bills related to her court challenges, and has also given several paid speeches, but declined to say for whom.” [New York Times, 2/3/23]
VOTER SUPPRESSION AND INTIMIDATION
Bill That Would Limit Who Can Vote Absentee Introduced In Committee. “A bill that would limit who can request an absentee ballot was introduced in House State Affairs committee Thursday morning. Currently, if you want to request an absentee ballot, you don't need a reason. Rep. Joe Alfieri’s (R-Coeur d’Alene) bill would mean only the following can request an absentee ballot:.. Rep. Alfieri says someone would have to check one of those boxes when requesting an absentee ballot. Providing false information to a government agency or personnel could result in a misdemeanor.” [Idaho News, 2/3/23]
Florida Lawmakers To Tweak Laws To Help Desantis’ Voter Fraud Cases. “After seeing two of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ voter fraud cases tossed out on technicalities, Florida lawmakers will change state law when they reconvene in Tallahassee next week. Legislators will clarify that the Office of Statewide Prosecution can, indeed, bring voting-related charges, after two different judges in Miami ruled otherwise. The proposal, Senate Bill 4-B, is one of a handful of “glitch” bills lawmakers will consider when they reconvene for a special legislative session on Monday. Lawmakers are also expected to pass legislation to reverse their decision to dissolve Walt Disney World’s special taxing district and to expand DeSantis’ program that flew migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last year.” [Tampa Bay Times, 2/3/23]
House Passes Bill To Restore Voting Rights To People Released From Prison. “The Minnesota House passed a bill to restore voting rights to people still on parole or probation. The bill heads to the state Senate for a vote. “People for years and sometimes decades have no stake, have no investment, have no way to be heard,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon at a press conference ahead of the vote. “After this bill passes, they will have that voice. They will have that power. They will reclaim that for themselves.” More than 50,000 Minnesotans would be able to vote if the bill (HF28) is signed into law. Current Minnesota law allows formerly incarcerated people to vote after finishing every part of their sentence, including probation, parole or any form of supervised release. Minnesota has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country but some of the longest probationary periods of any state.” [Minnesota Reformer, 2/3/23]
Nevada Republicans Introduce Voter ID Proposal, Additional Mail-In Ballot Verification. “Nevada Republicans have officially filed legislation to try again to require identification when voting in person and provide additional steps when voting by mail. Republican Assem. Gregory Hafen II, of Pahrump, introduced the legislation Monday. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo said in his State of the State Address last month that he would support such a measure. “Signature verification is a time-intensive and cumbersome process,” the governor said in his Jan. 23 speech. “We require people to have a valid form of identification to get on a plane, to operate a motor vehicle or to purchase alcohol or cigarettes, but not to cast a vote in an election. That is illogical.” Similar attempts to require voter identification in Nevada have failed in past legislative sessions, including the last, which ended in May 2021. With a Democratic-controlled state Senate and a Democratic-super majority in the Assembly, it is unlikely the proposal will move forward.” [8 News Now, 2/3/23]
After Key Hearing, NC Supreme Court Could Roll Back Voting Rights For 56,000 People On Parole, Probation For A Felony. “They packed the courtroom early, filling so many seats that a line stretched out the door of the building in downtown Raleigh that houses the North Carolina Supreme Court. In years past, many of the onlookers had been in handcuffs, jails and prison cells. Now, they wanted access to the ballot box. Those in line were told the courtroom was full shortly before oral arguments began. The overflow crowd walked down the street to First Baptist Church to watch the hearing streamed live in a basketball gym. Below the projection screen was a sign with a simple demand: ‘Unlock Our Vote.’ The state Supreme Court on Thursday held a hearing on whether North Carolinians should have the right to vote while on probation or parole. The case, CSI vs. Moore, is a challenge to North Carolina’s felony disenfranchisement law, which bars people from voting if they are incarcerated and if they are on some form of supervision over a felony conviction.” [NC Policy Watch, 2/3/23]
GERRYMANDERING
Voters Could Tip Wisconsin Supreme Court Left On Abortion, Gerrymandering. “For 14 years, conservatives have controlled the Wisconsin Supreme Court, issuing decisions that upheld limits on unions, affirmed a voter ID law, expanded gun rights, curbed the powers of the Democratic governor, banned absentee ballot drop boxes and established political districts that ensured Republican dominance in the state legislature. Now, a reliably conservative justice is retiring, and voters will decide in April whether liberals or conservatives have a majority. It’s a decision that will have sweeping consequences, as the court in the coming years is likely to decide whether to uphold the state’s near-total ban on abortion. It also could wade into disputes over gerrymandering and the outcome of the next presidential election.” [Washington Post, 2/3/23]
Florida city starts legal fight highlighting local gerrymandering. “Not far from the postcard images of Jacksonville — the white sand beaches, the riverfront fountain, the upscale shopping district — is another side of the city. Here, neighborhood roads are pitted with potholes and sometimes unpaved. Weeds swallow abandoned cars in empty lots. Grocery stores are sparse. The people who live in this other Jacksonville are mostly Black, and many of them lay blame for their neighborhoods’ lack of services on the city’s politics. They point to a lack of representation resulting in part from the way the districts have been drawn for the city council, the decision-making body for Jacksonville’s 950,000 residents.” [PBS, 2/2/23]
Cases decided on two months prior will get a rehearing by NC Supreme Court. “The North Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to rehear cases that could significantly impact the state's election process. Harper v. Hall ruled the state constitution outlawed gerrymandering. Holmes v. Moore struck down the state's voter identification law. The State Supreme Court upheld both rulings less than two months ago. The NC Supreme Court held a Democratic majority in December when the cases were first heard. Now, that majority is held by Republicans. In hopes of getting different results, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger asked that the justices rehear the case at the end of January.” [AP, 2/4/23]
DISINFORMATION
Analysis: House GOP embraces mainstream media after years of bashing ‘fake news’. “Awakening from a traditional media hibernation, House Republicans have begun to blitz the airwaves they previously shunned with brushoffs about the ‘lamestream media.’ On any given day now, the new GOP majority posts a half-dozen or more members on CNN and MSNBC — two networks that increasingly became no-go zones for conservative lawmakers in the Trumpian era of ‘fake news’ attacks. Republicans have appeared on streaming network news shows online and done interviews on those nightly news shows for cable.” [Washington Post, 2/4/23]
DARK MONEY
Fox News: Green groups targeting blue-collar lobstermen are largely funded by dark money. “Environmental groups that have led litigation targeting the lobster fishing industry have been heavily funded by various liberal dark money groups that don't disclose their individual donors, a Fox News Digital review of tax filings found. The organizations — the Center For Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Defenders Of Wildlife — first filed a joint federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2018, arguing a rule issued by the agency years earlier failed to properly protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales from lobster fishing equipment. In April 2020, a federal judge ruled in favor of the groups, ordering the NMFS to issue tighter restrictions.” [Fox News, 2/5/23]
FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY INFLUENCE
New California oil well ban put on hold for voters to decide. “Opponents of Senate Bill 1137 gathered more than 623,000 valid voter signatures to put a referendum on the Nov. 5, 2024, general election ballot, California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber announced. The challenge means the law, which took effect in January, will be on hold until after voters decide. The bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last September, bans new wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of locations including schools, homes, day care and health care centers, parks, jails and businesses open to the public. […] But days after the bill passed, Nielsen Merksamer, a law firm that specializes in ballot measures, filed a referendum to overturn SB 1137 on behalf of Jerome Reedy, a board member of the California Independent Petroleum Association. That association has opposed several state and local measures to regulate oil and gas drilling, including bans and phase outs in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles.” [AP, 2/3/23]
The gas industry is under fire. It’s hiring Democratic politicians to help. “What she didn’t mention, however, is that the nonprofit group was created by a half-dozen gas companies, with the explicit goal of convincing Democratic voters that gas is a ‘clean’ energy source. The group, dubbed Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, comes as Democratic leaders across the country restrict gas use to fight climate change. The bans threaten customer losses for gas utilities, which dominate the liberal strongholds in cities and on coasts. To resist these efforts, the nonprofit group has enlisted prominent Democratic politicians and pollsters to help enhance gas’s reputation among liberal voters. […] Natural Allies is backed by TC Energy, the Canadian pipeline giant behind the controversial Keystone XL project, and Southern Company, one of the biggest U.S. utilities. Launched shortly before the 2020 election, the group is led by Susan Waller, a former executive at the pipeline firm Enbridge.” [Washington Post, 2/2/23]