Democracy Happy Hour – Dec. 9, 2020

This week's topic: Voting Rights Restoration. Fix Democracy First hosts a weekly Democracy Happy Hour on Wednesdays @ 5-6pm PT. Grab a drink and join us and  learn about the latest democracy efforts, challenges, solutions, as well upcoming events and actions.

Recording from Wednesday, December 9th, 2020:

December 9, 2020 Links:

In the News & Protect the Results Updates:

• Interactive Map Reveals Which Indigenous Lands You’re Living On - https://mymodernmet.com/interactive-map-indigenous-lands/ - Native Land - https://native-land.ca/
  
• Supreme Court denies Trump allies’ bid to overturn Pennsylvania election results - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-trump-pennsylvania-election-results/2020/12/08/4d39e16c-397d-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html
  
• Democracy regains some order in the courts but Trump vows to press on - https://thefulcrum.us/trump-election-results-2649429265
  
• Texas sues four states over election results in effort to help Donald Trump - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/08/texas-lawsuit-donald-trump-election-georgia-michigan-pennsylvania-wisconsin
  
• 17 states tell Supreme Court they support Texas bid to reverse Biden win - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/states-tell-supreme-court-they-support-texas-bid-to-reverse-biden-win.html
  
• Poll: Just A Quarter Of Republicans Accept Election Outcome - https://www.npr.org/2020/12/09/944385798/poll-just-a-quarter-of-republicans-accept-election-outcome
  
• Republicans Pushed to Restrict Voting. Millions of Americans Pushed Back - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/us/politics/2020-election-turnout.html
  
• Trump's false fraud claims are laying groundwork for new voting restrictions, experts warn - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/trump-s-false-fraud-claims-are-laying-groundwork-new-voting-n1250059
  
• Trump tactics to overturn election could have staying power - https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-michigan-elections-christine-todd-whitman-9a4ef9a6e934e72d0ca55fac46eb7854
  
• What We Know About the Voting in Georgia So Far - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/us/politics/georgia-senate-runoff-election.html
  
• Young voters look to play key role in Georgia runoffs, Senate control - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/young-voters-look-play-key-role-georgia-runoffs-senate-control-n1249594
  
• GEORGIA REPUBLICANS ARE GOING ALL-IN ON VOTER SUPPRESSION - https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/georgia-republicans-are-going-all-in-on-voter-suppression
  
• Voting rights groups alarmed after Cobb County cuts half of its early-voting sites for Ga. Senate runoffs - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/07/voting-rights-groups-alarmed-after-cobb-county-reduced-early-voting-sites-ga-senate-runoffs/
  
• Super PACS Run by Former McConnell Aides Are Pouring Money Into Georgia Runoffs - https://truthout.org/articles/super-pacs-run-by-former-mcconnell-aides-are-pouring-money-into-georgia-runoffs/
  
• RNC's highest-paid vendor of the 2020 election: A mystery company formed nine months ago - https://www.salon.com/2020/12/04/rncs-highest-paid-vendor-of-the-2020-election-a-mystery-company-formed-nine-months-ago/
  
• ‘Old-school revolving door’: Private-sector ties complicate Biden’s efforts to staff incoming administration - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-transition-ethics-conflicts/2020/12/04/a36d783a-34b1-11eb-a997-1f4c53d2a747_story.html
  
• 20 Things We Learned About Money in Politics in 2020 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/20-things-we-learned-about-money-politics-2020
  
• Campaign Finance Victories in 2020 Elections - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/campaign-finance-victories-2020-elections
  
• Senate votes allow campaign finance agency to tackle 400-case backlog - https://thefulcrum.us/campaign-finance/fec-nominees
  
• How Democrats Lost a Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Remake the Political Map - https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/how-democrats-lost-a-once-in-a-decade-chance-to-remake-the-political-map/

Georgia Senate Runoff Efforts:

• New Georgia Project - https://newgeorgiaproject.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer/
  
• Georgia Election Voter Hub - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGtsoXcTzXT8LznXZXTyRGVTR9A10OoEnblp0DA8mQ9KRuZg/viewform
  
• Fair Fight - https://fairfight.com/
  
• Common Power - https://commonpower.org/

Voting Rights Restoration:

• Felony disenfranchisement in the United States - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_disenfranchisement_in_the_United_States
  
• FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT LAWS (MAP) - https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-map
  
• Voting Rights – The Sentencing Project - https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/voting-rights/
  
• Locked Out 2020: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights Due to a Felony Conviction - https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/locked-out-2020-estimates-of-people-denied-voting-rights-due-to-a-felony-conviction/
  
• Voting Rights Restoration – Brennan Center Analysis - https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/voting-rights-restoration
  
• VOTING RIGHTS – Prison Fellowship - https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/advocacy/collateral-consequences/voting-rights/#
  
• Why Shouldn’t Prisoners Be Voters? - https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-future-of-democracy/why-shouldnt-prisoners-be-voters
  
• Restore Your Vote: I have a felony conviction. Can I vote? - https://campaignlegal.org/restoreyourvote
  
• Why restoring voting rights to former felons is “one of the key civil right issues of our time” - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/20/restoring-voting-rights-to-former-felons-is-one-of-the-key-civil-right-issues-of-our-time.html
  
• International Comparison of Felon Voting Laws - https://felonvoting.procon.org/international-comparison-of-felon-voting-laws/
  
• Civil Survival - https://civilsurvival.org/
  
• SB 6228 – (Senate bill - new # will be issued in next session) - Restoring voter eligibility for all persons convicted of a felony offense who are not in total confinement under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections. - https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6228&Year=2019&Initiative=False
  
• HB 2292 - (House bill - new # will be issued in next session) - Restoring voter eligibility for all persons convicted of a felony offense who are not in total confinement under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections. - https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2292&Chamber=House&Year=2019

Actions, Events & Links:‍

Upcoming Democracy Happy Hour Topics:

• 12/16 - Democracy & the Courts
  
• 12/23 - Citizen Initiative Review
  
• 12/30 - CANCELED for the Holidays
  
• 01/06 - Democracy Legislation in 2021
• FDF Donation Page - http://fixdemocracyfirst.org/‍
• Donation $35 or more to FDF and receive a FREE copy of Becoming a Democracy by Kristin Eberhard - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate-book-fundraiser‍
• LWV of WA – Speak Up School - https://lwvwa.org/speakup/‍
• FDF Events Page - Past Events- https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/events#past-events