Democracy Happy Hour - January 26, 2022

Democracy Happy Hour, January 26, 2022 - Meeting Recordings, Chat & Closed Caption Files:

• Speaker View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/9MFTEo3ZbFe4_3iH8e0D8ZSUvbGMikO16B7fo_4Fuj_IZyTqdvnUiRBSOzRcKrwaY3gYMSMup8jsKP4l.Mgbq3LjOpYNx4vzc
• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/PEsozL_VK-bwY8OvoaZRX-K7STrgK-R955Ko9sCX6xnfL6r6qvoIf0Oom71KQ42dm6qSY0Masvk_5v4.pnqkzyIALL1u11Wm
• Chat (Link will download a text file to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/tz0uwzBoMzHPFsWhSUkCjmQFkUXh4GIuj3p4G-Nwso19ZSI312d7wmhVUFSuNlxeorN-UgUX1pACF8ZJ.SuzuYY6FgFpI-Rme

Actions, Events & Misc. Links:

DONATION Links:

• Fix Democracy First or Fix Democracy First Education Fund - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate
• YO VOTE! - https://www.yo-vote.org/donate

Upcoming Democracy Happy Hour topics:

• Feb 2nd - Saving Democracy: Where do we go from here?
• Feb 9th - Voter Fraud vs. Election Fraud
• Feb 16th - The Advance of Authoritarianism in the U.S.

FDF – Current Democracy Legislation - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/legislation

• Sign the Petition: End Gerrymandering: Stop letting partisan politicians silence voters - https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-letting-partisan-politicians-silence-voters?source=122021swap-fdf&referrer=group-fixdemocracyfirst
• Sign the petition: Close the Citizens United Loophole. - https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-congress-get-foreign-money-out-of-us-elections-close-the-citizens-united-loophole?source=direct_link&referrer=group-fixdemocracyfirst

TAKE ACTION for Voting Rights:

• Thank Senators & Accountability Action – Thank Senate champions and hold detractors accountable - https://docs.google.com/document/d/14i7SJ8jQFNM1ZHkWaGjIoDsRv3n5iui3axXbG17Blig/edit#
• Volunteer Phonebanks with Common Cause - https://www.mobilize.us/commoncause/event/376178/

The History of Voting in the U.S. Links:

Voting Rights: A Short History - https://www.carnegie.org/topics/topic-articles/voting-rights/voting-rights-timeline/

History of Voting - https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/history-voting/

Voting in the U.S.A. - https://www.britannica.com/story/voting-in-the-usa

Voting Rights Milestones in America: A Timeline - https://www.history.com/news/voting-rights-timeline

Vote Suppression - https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/vote-suppression

Voter Suppression - Election Strategy - https://www.britannica.com/topic/voter-suppression

Block the Vote: How Politicians are Trying to Block Voters from the Ballot Box - https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/block-the-vote-voter-suppression-in-2020/

61 Forms of Voter Suppression - https://www.votingrightsalliance.org/forms-of-voter-suppression

How Does Systemic Voter Suppression Work - https://fairfight.com/voter-suppression-awareness/

Fighting Voter Suppression – LWV - https://www.lwv.org/voting-rights/fighting-voter-suppression

7 Things You Can Do to Fight Voter Suppression - https://www.glamour.com/story/7-things-you-can-do-to-fight-voter-suppression

Democracy in the News Links:

Democrats Fail to Change Filibuster Rules as Republicans Block Action on Voting Rights - https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/19/us/biden-voting-rights-filibuster

Last straw: Fed-up Arizona Democrats censure Sen. Sinema - https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-kyrsten-sinema-phoenix-arizona-voting-af9409b7dbab996a1a8df329c053fce0

After Democrats’ historic defeat on voting rights, what happens next? - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/20/after-democrats-historic-defeat-on-voting-rights-what-happens-next

The Fight Isn’t Over - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fight-isnt-over

Election reform advocates regroup, plan next steps - https://thefulcrum.us/voting-reform-2656441557

Voting rights fight moves to state ballots - https://www.axios.com/voting-rights-state-ballots-a1970552-9a61-4af1-9460-0b1395fa0cd7.html

Fixing the Electoral Count Act Is Suddenly the Most Popular Policy Idea in Washington - https://newrepublic.com/article/165136/electoral-count-act-angus-king\

Dangerous precedent': Jan. 6 committee trains its sights on false pro-Trump electors - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/january-6-committee-precedent-pro-trump-electors-527528

Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states - https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html

As Giuliani coordinated plan for Trump electoral votes in states Biden won, some electors balked - https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/electors-giuliani-trump-electoral-college/2022/01/20/687e3698-7587-11ec-8b0a-bcfab800c430_story.html

Read the never-issued Trump order that would have seized voting machines - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/read-the-never-issued-trump-order-that-would-have-seized-voting-machines-527572
Trump held secret meetings in days before Capitol attack, ex-press secretary tells panel - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/20/trump-secret-meetings-january-6-capitol-attack-stephanie-grisham

Jan. 6 Panel Seeks Testimony From Ivanka Trump - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/us/politics/jan-6-committee-ivanka-trump.html

Atlanta D.A. Requests Special Grand Jury in Trump Election Inquiry - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/us/politics/georgia-trump-election-investigation.html

Georgia Has a Very Strong Case Against Trump - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/georgia-path-potentially-prosecuting-trump/621326/

For Many Who Marched, Jan. 6 Was Only the Beginning - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/us/jan-6-attendees.html

Republican Lawmakers Seek New Powers Over Elections - https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/01/26/republican-lawmakers-seek-new-powers-over-elections

Trump followers zero in on secretary of state campaigns - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/24/trump-secretary-of-state-campaigns-00000473

Republicans Want New Tool in Elusive Search for Voter Fraud: Election Police - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/us/voting-rights-election-police.html

DeSantis' proposed election police force alarms voting rights advocates - https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/politics/ron-desantis-pushes-election-police-force/index.html

Perdue proposes election police force in Georgia - https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/590549-perdue-proposes-election-police-force-in-georgia?rl=1

Why Texas election officials are rejecting hundreds of vote-by-mail applications - https://www.npr.org/2022/01/20/1074296368/why-texas-election-officials-are-rejecting-hundreds-of-vote-by-mail-applications

In a Georgia County, Deep Distrust Over a Plan to Close Polling Places - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/us/lincoln-georgia-voting-rights.html

New study finds voting by mail does not increase risk of voting fraud - https://www.courthousenews.com/new-study-finds-voting-by-mail-does-not-increase-risk-of-voting-fraud/

State lawmakers move to confront threats against election workers - https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/politics/bills-penalties-threats-against-election-workers/index.html

Pro-Trump death threats prompt bills in 3 states to protect election workers - https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-trump-death-threats-prompt-bills-3-states-protect-election-workers-2022-01-24/

Top WA election official plans to focus on fighting misinformation - https://www.kxly.com/top-wa-election-official-plans-to-focus-on-fighting-misinformation/

Polling shows a Republican surge in Washington and beyond - https://crosscut.com/politics/2022/01/polling-shows-republican-surge-washington-and-beyond

Redistricting: A Mid-Cycle Assessment - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/redistricting-mid-cycle-assessment

Democrats make surprising inroads in redistricting fight - https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-new-york-legislature-state-legislature-redistricting-1511d08eb2ec109644439713eb9d44fb

Black and Latino voters have been shortchanged in redistricting, advocates and some judges say - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/25/redistricting-black-latino-voters/

Federal racial gerrymandering cases heat up in three states - https://thefulcrum.us/Elections/Redistricting/racial-gerrymandering

New legislative maps illegally dilute Latino votes in Central Washington, lawsuit says - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/new-legislative-maps-illegally-dilute-latino-votes-in-central-washington-lawsuit-says/

CLC Sues Over Washington State Legislative Map Diluting Voting Strength of Latinos - https://campaignlegal.org/update/clc-sues-over-washington-state-legislative-map-diluting-voting-strength-latinos

Justice Stephen Breyer to Retire From Supreme Court - https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/26/us/stephen-breyer-retirement

Chief Justice John Roberts created the legal landscape that doomed the voting rights bill, author says - https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/politics/john-roberts-voting-rights-mystal-blake-cec/index.html

Supreme Court denies abortion providers’ request to return Texas case to judge who blocked state’s six-week ban - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-texas-abortion/2022/01/20/16256cc4-7a35-11ec-9102-d65488c31bb1_story.html

Sotomayor blasts Supreme Court over handling of Texas abortion case - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/01/21/nation/sotomayor-blasts-supreme-court-over-its-handling-texas-abortion-case-calling-it-disaster-rule-law/

What the fallout from the Supreme Court's Texas abortion ruling means for the future of Roe - https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/politics/texas-supreme-court-roe-abortion/index.html

The Supreme Court adds affirmative action to its potential hit list - https://www.npr.org/2022/01/24/1003049852/supreme-court-adds-affirmative-action-to-its-potential-hit-list

Supreme Court takes up case that could limit federal government's jurisdiction over wetlands - https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/politics/supreme-court-waterways-wetlands-epa-clean-water-act/index.html

Analysis: 'Aggressively conservative' Supreme Court plunges into U.S. culture wars - https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/aggressively-conservative-supreme-court-plunges-into-us-culture-wars-2022-01-25/

Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court? - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/31/is-ginni-thomas-a-threat-to-the-supreme-court

Supreme Court Seems Ready to Back Ted Cruz in Campaign Finance Case - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/supreme-court-ted-cruz-campaign-finance.html

How Cruz Supreme Court case could lead to unlimited anonymous election spending - https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/591266-how-cruz-supreme-court-case-could-lead-to-unlimited-anonymous?rl=1

Record spending floods state supreme court races - https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/591134-record-spending-floods-supreme-court-races?rl=1

The Politics of Judicial Elections, 2019-20 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/politics-judicial-elections-2019-20

Army of millionaires fuel Senate primary spending spree - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/24/millionaires-flood-senate-cash-00000895

BILLIONAIRES ARE SPENDING 39 TIMES MORE ON FEDERAL ELECTIONS SINCE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION IN 2010 - https://americansfortaxfairness.org/issue/billionaires-spending-39-times-federal-elections-since-citizens-united-supreme-court-decision-2010/

A push to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks gains momentum - https://www.npr.org/2022/01/19/1073865837/a-push-to-ban-members-of-congress-from-trading-individual-stocks-gains-momentum

Senators propose bill to ban corporate PACs - https://www.axios.com/mark-kelly-jon-ossoff-bill-ban-corporate-pacs-f7dc32a4-824a-4b50-baee-fdc9be941f27.html

Ban Corporate PACs Act - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21182977-ban-corporate-pacs-act?responsive=1&title=1

WA Supreme Court upholds $18M campaign finance fine against grocery industry group - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/washington-supreme-court-upholds-18m-campaign-finance-fine-against-grocery-industry-group/

Alaska Supreme Court upholds elections ballot measure, state will use ranked-choice voting - https://www.adn.com/politics/2022/01/19/alaska-supreme-court-upholds-elections-ballot-measure-state-will-use-ranked-choice-voting-in-november/

Gov. Inslee's budget seeks to expand voting access in WA county jails - https://crosscut.com/politics/2022/01/gov-inslees-budget-seeks-expand-voting-access-wa-county-jails