Updated April 30, 2021 and June 5 2021
Maybe the GOP might want to leave some rocks unturned as they attempt to make the case that Trump won the election because the otherside stole it. This guy is charged with murdering his wife and then voting as his dead or missing wife. It will be interesting to follow the trial to see how he was caught or if he is found guilty as charged.. Fraud-free elections do not mean people do not try to commit fraud. It means if they try, they will get caught in Colorado. The layers are safeguards are very large. The system of mail-in ballots with built-in safeguards against such fraud was devised by Republicans years ago and it has not been changed, even when administered by Democrats.
Mitch McConnell's line has been that GOP attempts in states they control to make it harder for people to vote is not intended to hurt African American turnout. Obviously, that bit of deceptive denial is aimed at those left in the GOP still with some degree of conscience..He is not speaking on behalf of the victims who see right through his BS. In fact, he has no sympathy or standing to be qualified to make that silly and hypocritical statement. Perhaps McConnell meant GOP voter suppression tactics were intended to stop the nonexistent widespread fraud they hyped and lied about in order to mask their true intentions.
:That argument got so little traction, he tried another argument June 19 in the face of a compromise worked out by Sen. Manchin. He is making it a states rights issue and an attempt to take power away from GOP-dominated state legislatures. McConnell rejects Manchin's voting rights compromise - Axios
What is so puzzling though, is the damage it will do to one group of GOP core supporters for whom mail-in ballots were designed by GOP-dominated state governments in the first place: white seniors. For that group, GOP strategists have shot their party in their own feet. It will be interesting to see the reaction the GOP gets when their own voters realize they got screwed, too...and their party leaders made their access to the ballot an unsurmountable hassle. Democrats in those states should make the new barriers to convenient voting the GOP erected a campaign issue that hurts all voters. https://www.axios.com/mitch-mcconnell-state-voter-suppression-19a21da7-0015-4fad-9105-0699e5600f70.html .
Bogus voter fraud claims hurt us all, but some more than others. Our ability to vote conveniently in Colorado was under attack for some flawed reasoning. In Colorado, a GOP Monument legislator introduced Senate Bill 7 that would have fundamentally upended Colorado's mail-in voting system by requiring all to request a mail-in ballot in advance. Currently registered voters are automatically sent a ballot. It was sponsored by the legislator in the name of fraud prevention, a problem which Colorado did not have in 2020. Fortunately for Colorado, the bill died in committee on February 23. Failing that, the same" break what's fixed"/ folks tried to get initiative 38 on the ballot that would have destroyed Colorado's popular mail-in ballot system as SB7 and/or requiring fingerprinting ID for any mail-in vote. This initiative will not be on the ballot in November because the state ballot title commission ruled it dealt with more than one subject and rejected it per provisions of state law limiting initiatives to a single subject.
The Colorado mail-in voting system in effect since 2013 is considered by many to be the national gold standard of a system,with little fraud and greater voter participation. Over 99% of votes cast in Colorado in November 2020 were by mail and Colorado had the second-highest percentage of voter participation in the US. Colorado's model law has layers of administrative safeguards against fraud, as well. There has been no evidence of fraud increasing in Colorado since mail-in voting was instituted in 2013 per a study conducted by a professional statistical organization. .https://www.Westword.com/news/colorado-mail-ballots-voter-fraud-American-statisticians-study-11835239
While the bill to upend our mail-in system failed, legislators in GOP-dominated statehouses across the country are fixing what "ain't broke" while helping themselves politically by passing legislation to keep down the numbers who were likely to vote for their opponents.
Nationwide, there is no evidence of fraud that was significant enough to overturn the 2020 outcome, either. From Trump's attorney general Bill Barr and in over 50 courtrooms, that was the conclusion. Instead, Trump loyalists still controlling the GOP have attempted to explain this inconvenient truth away by a series of "what ifs" and "what about" and a few anecdotes.
If nationwide, the system "ain't" broke, the GOP attempts would break it by adding unnecessary inconvenient hoops for voters to jump through. Here are some of the techniques similar to those included in the legislation already passed in Georgia and now in Florida in April. Shortening in-person voting hours, closing in-person polls after 5 pm so 9 to 5 or four tens employees cannot make it to the polls on time, permitting bias clerks to remove drop boxes for mail-in ballot returns, and to limit polling places for those voting in person in certain targeted neighborhoods, to cause them to stand in line for hours without drink or food, making mail-in ballots go away, ending no-fault absentee voting, and to require an excuse to vote by mail, and to require the extra step of applying for an absentee ballot first, or requiring government-issued photo identification even for mail-in ballots. Such tricks are geared to reduce the number of those groups able to vote who have limited transportation, who have no driver's licenses, and who are more often brown or black than white. Extending early vote days is no offset against such practices. The new Georgia law is backed by the GOP with a claim African American voters would not be harmed." Just read the law's text", Sen Tim Scott opined in his GOP rebuttal to President Biden's state of the union address in April. The victims of these new laws, who did read it, found so many of these tricks noted above included or allowed in it, there are too many to list here. Just because some tricks are not listed in the law, they are by inference and omission allowed. Instead, go to. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/pol Florida just passed its own similar version. Texas is on its way. The chances of federal legislation to prevent these kinds of suppressive efforts are slim, given the narrow Democratic margin in the Senate. The one factor that could change the Senate is the revolt of their funders, big business. It must have come as a shock when businesses expressed opposition to such legislation. Why would they since they have always benefitted from the GOP position on low taxes and lax regulation? What is more important to their bottom line? Roger Altman believes it is the demographics of their employees and consumers. That one factor has changed as millennials increased in both groups who are more progressive than their elders. https://www.ft.com/content/f15d39d8-7261-4d59-bea5-b318e56775a1
Losers have a tendency to blame anything but themselves for coming up short. However, Trump loyalists and conspiracy theorist partisans in Arizona are still trying to audit ballots based on theories of "what about" or "what if", months after independent and official audits and lost court challenges. This is taking this "sore loser " attitude to a dangerous level. Such fraud claims without evidence to support them have been pretexts for legislation that already resulted in making it harder for all older and younger Americans to vote, whether white, black, or brown. We already are aware that the "stop the steal" slogan is what motivated the rioters on January 6 who meant to terrorize the legislators to vote against the certification of Biden as president. Some rioters even wanted to kill the leadership of both parties as the conviction of neo-Nazi Brendon Hunt revealed in testimony early this May. The January 6 attack failed to stop the certification, but with so many cheering the violent participants on, including Trump and a handful of GOP senators, that may not be the last time trying to overturn an election by violence happens. That January 6 riot was no soccer fan hooliganism that ends a sporting event. It is a taste of how democracy as the way we are governed can end.
May 5, 2021 update. Facebook continues its ban on Trump but will re-examine in 6 months. The reason: the threat of violence is still real. I see what this means. This is an implication that Trump's posts incite violence and that "stop the steal" is still the slogan Trump continues to exhort. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/05/05/facebook-trump-ban-permanent-oversight-board-ruling/4377852001/
Trump has no one to blame but himself as he continues to foment his "stop the steal" rhetoric which fueled Jan. 6. He has not stopped and neither have his violent followers or the fellow travelers who call them patriots.
Thomas Friedman May 4 posted an opinion piece in the New York Times that GOP actions suppression voters are trying to be a minority party to rule over the majority.. In time, fears Friedman, the only end is a civil war.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/opinion/gop-trump-2020-election.html
Friedman is no raving lefty...but one of the most thoughtful and supportive of the kind of democracy we have now. Coming from him, this column is just darned scary. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/5/5/2029049/..
_More commentary below. Also see the posting about Liz Cheney and the Emporer has no clothes_________________________________________________________
In order to find fraud in voting in 2020 five months later the GOP and Trump loyalists are still searching either to vindicate Trump's claim the election was stolen or to try to oust Biden and replace him with Trump. In Arizona, the effort has taken some wacky turns. Biden won the state by 10,000 votes and finding enough fraud overturns the outcome looks like a fool's errand given the number of audits taken with the Arizona vote subsequently certified after intensive audit scrutiny. That partisan conspiracy theorists are running that show and impartial observers have been denied entry, the findings will not be taken seriously. There are no provisions in the Constitution for replacing an already Congressional certified and sworn-in president for that reason anyway.
Such voting laws making it harder and more inconvenient for certain demographic groups to exercise their Constitutionally given rights have already been signed into law in Georgia and in Florida in April Concerted attempts by the GOP to do the same are being made in all fifty statehouses whether dominated by the GOP or not.
The attempt to find fraud in 2020 elections happened in Colorado. A Grand Junction County clerk tried to claim fraud, but could not provide evidence. Claims made like the Grand County clerk's that Dominion voting systems would permit multiple votes have lately resulted in huge defamation suits by the Denver-based company against perpetrators of the unproved theory, including against Rudy Guiliani. For states that truly care about making it easy for all to vote with confidence that elections are secure, they should give serious consideration to Colorado's legislation model.. There has been no evidence of fraud increasing since mail-in voting was instituted in 2013 per a study conducted by a professional statistical organization. .https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-mail-ballots-voter-fraud-american-statisticians-study-11835239
Stopping fraud is not the real game; it is a cover for another agenda. However, keeping the lie of widespread voter fraud alive is part of the strategy to garner public support for restrictive voter legislation. Coded words delivered with a wink to those in on the joke are no longer necessary because some in the GOP actually spilled the beans to the rest of us.. ‘Everybody Shouldn’t Be Voting,’ Republican Blurts Out (nymag.com) An Arizona state legislator, Representative John Kavanagh, a Republican who chairs Arizona’s Government and Elections Committee was not the first to publicly claim only "quality" voters should vote and. the goal was not quantity. What the rest of us need are quality legislators who can comprehend and honor the Constitution and legislate fairly and intelligently. I am trying to find the word "quality" in the Constitution as a condition for approved voters. It just is not there. Literacy tests were declared unconstitutional years ago and intelligence tests and current affairs knowledge, we can assume, would be off-limits, too. What those like Kavanaugh really mean is no secret now, thanks to his slip of a loose tongue. Black and browns are just assumed to be "low quality", it appears. That may be what the GOP thinks or wishes, but the emperor now has no clothes Until then, the GOP had been cloaked in the piety of preventing fraud, real, imagined, fantasy, or feared. Their real goal is now bared naked for the world to see. Their agenda is to make it inconvenient for particularly those of low wealth and limited access to transportation who are more likely to be black or brown and not likely to vote for Republicans.
The left calls the Trump loyalist claim that Biden was elected because of widespread voter fraud "the big lie". Their justification of concluding this is there was no evidence of any significant numbers to make a difference in the outcome in the presidential race. they pointo to the fact that the GOP had 60 chances before judges of all ideological ilk to present their evidence of enough widespread fraud to change the local or state outcome, and they failed. Trump loyalists still controlling the GOP have attempted to explain this inconvenient truth away by a series of "what ifs" and "what abouts" and a few anecdotes Those who made such arguments in court in November and December and provided no evidence were tossed out of court by judges. In response, even to this day Trump loyalists are attempting to prove Qanon type theories are true. In Arizona, the fantasy continues with a partisan-backed attempt to recount ballots cast five months ago to show fraud, that Trump really won that state, and should be sworn in as president unhorsing Biden somehow. There are no provisions in the Constitution for that kind of action after Congress certifies the vote, as they did in the evening of January 6. Those in Arizona recounting the ballots hired a conspiracy theorist-headed company to try to prove theories advanced by QAnon that indeed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. No non-partisan independent observers were not permitted in this process well after the count was underway when the State finally sent in such qualified observers. The fear was that in their ballot handling, these partisan counters could be altering the original ballots. The exercise could not result in overturning the election of already sworn in Joe Biden since there is no provision in the Constitution for that.
Here are some of the techniques included in the legislation already passed in Georgia and now in Florida. Shortening in person voting hours, closing in-person polls after 5 pm so 9 to 5 or four tens employees cannot make it to the polls on time, removing drop boxes for mail in ballot returns and polling places for those voting in person, in certain targeted neighborhoods, causing them to stand in line for hours without drink or food, making mail-in ballots go away, ending no-fault absentee voting, or requiring an excuse and the extra step of applying for an absentee ballot, or requiring government issues photo identification even for mail-in ballots. Such dirty tricks are to reduce the number of those with limited transportation, who have no driver's licenses, and have low income who are more often brown or black than White. The new Georgia law is backed by the GOP with a bogus claim African American voters would not be harmed."Just read the law's text, they claim. That is not the view of the victims of these new laws, but so many of these tricks noted above are included in it, they are too many to list here. Instead, go to. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/546099-georgia-election-law-prevents-african-american-latinx-others. This is Jim Crow 2021 by another name.
In Arizona, the fantasy continues with a partisan-backed attempt to recount ballots cast five months ago to show fraud, that Trump really won that state, and should be sworn in as president unhorsing Biden somehow. There are no provisions in the Constitution for that kind of action after Congress certifies the vote, as they did in the evening of January 6. Those in Arizona recounting the ballots hired a conspiracy theorist-headed company to try to prove theories advanced by QAnon that indeed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. No non-partisan independent observers were not permitted in this process well after the count was underway when the State finally sent in such qualified observers. The fear was that in their ballot handling, these partisan counters could be altering the original ballots. The exercise could not result in overturning the election of already sworn in Joe Biden since there is no provision in the Constitution for that.
The danger of such suppression and false claims now is not only questioning democracy as the best system of reflecting governance by the people's will, instead of by some self-serving autocrat, but what it would portend for the future. The danger is that partisans will use this same excuse in the future to question any election outcome. This same lie the election was stolen was used to incite the January 6 rioters who tried to scare Congress into overturning the 2020 fifty state-certified election results that endured extensive court scrutiny and were motivated by their allegiance to their leader, Donald Trump with their blind belief that the vote was stolen by fraud because he told them so, ignoring lack of evidence and/or such lack of evidence being excused by "what if" unproved theories. The peaceful transition of power as provided in the Constitution was at stake, opening up further violent acts of sedition conducted by any disgruntled group who wants to overturn an election and established some dear leader as their ruler, instead of adhering to the system that has served us for so well for 250 years.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/experts-call-for-federal-monitors-of-arizona-election-audit-citing-violations-of-voting-laws/ar-BB1gfMMh?ocid=msedgdhp
https://fortune.com/2021/04/14/ceos-republican-voting-laws-voter-suppression-apple-amazon-blackrock-facebook-warren-buffett/
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-colorado-grand-junction-elections-pat-toomey-37210b8c548325a7976be4bff2f87d00
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/politics/rudy-giuliani-dominion-tru
https://www.businessinsider.com/everyone-dominion-smartmatic-suing-defamation-election-conspiracy-theories-2021-2
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But that is really not these GOP goals. We know that now because they could enact such workable laws if they wanted to. There are successful models to follow if they cared to encourage all to vote and still guard against fraud.. Since 2013 I have been voting by mail in Colorado and I am a big city (Denver) former election official. I marvel at the checks and double-checks built into the system to prevent fraud. It can be done. It was devised by a GOP-dominated legislature and shaped by a GOP Secretary of State and the implementation continued by a Democrat Secretary of State with an agenda to make it easy to vote and to prevent fraud. You have to get into the weeds of rule making and administrative procedure conforming to the legislation to grasp it, but given the history of a lack of voter fraud since the Colorado law was enacted years ago, it has worked to protect against fraud.
Better informed voters are not really GOP goals either. We know that now. If that kind of quality is your concern, do it by mail. I have found that I am also able to take time, study the issues and candidates, at home. The Blue Book and whatever information I need to understand the issues and candidate is sitting on the kitchen table as I go through the ballot since I got the ballot in the mail sent to registered voters. I do not need to get a doctor's permission slip or take the extra step to fill and send a mail request to get an absentee ballot. I have no excuses. There it is staring at me on the table so I can get it right without having to wing it in a voting booth.. I am making more informed decisions than ever have. If the quality of decision-making is defined as an informed voter is the goal, doing it by mail makes it more possible. But that is not what those legislators mean by "quality", is it? We know that now, don't we.
These suppression attempts are springing up in over 40 states. This points to a need for passage of federal legislation like HR-1 and SB-1to stop these voter suppression tactics. They cropped up because Supreme Court decisions gutted many enforcement provisions of prior voting rights laws and GOP leaders felt free to revert to past laws. Many formerly slave states with GOP-dominated legislatures and statehouses were alarmed that nonwhite voters made the difference in their Senate and House races and cost them elections. Other states whose politics were dominated by Trump-aligned state government officials have followed Trump's party line or used their sponsorship of such voter suppression tactics to establish their Trump follower bonefides.
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Colorado Vs. Georgia Voting Laws: What Are The Differences? | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org) The MLB will play their All-Star game at Coors Field in Denver as a protest to Georgia's proposed voter suppression laws. Colorado is considered the gold standard on voter participation laws and there is a very significant difference, per the CPR article. Fraud fears in Colorado?None: Colorado does require voter ID to vote in person but it does not require voter ID to vote by mail, unlike Georgia. Voter ID in Colorado permits 16 kinds of ID, but in Georgia, only 6 kinds. Georgia's new law does enlarge early voting in person a few days more than Colorado, but 99.3 of Colorado voters vote by mail with out the two step hassle of request ballot, provide ID mail in voting as in Georgia. Per the CPR report" Kemp and others also have said that Colorado requires photo identification to vote, which is false." .https://www.5280.com/2020/05/no-fraud-isnt-rampant-in-colorados-mail-in-voting-system/ Colorado has mail-in voting and it has very effective ways to deal with fraud.
Per the NYT aritcle "Representative John Kavanagh, a Republican legislator who chairs Arizona’s Government and Elections Committee and is shepherding through a bill to make voting more cumbersome and therefore rare, described his party’s motives with blundering candor."“There’s a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans,” he told CNN. “Democrats value as many people as possible voting, and they’re willing to risk fraud. Republicans are more concerned about fraud, so we don’t mind putting security measures in that won’t let everybody vote — but everybody shouldn’t be voting … Not everybody wants to vote, and if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that they’re totally uninformed on the issues. Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well.”
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