Democracy Happy Hour – June 30, 2021

Meeting Recordings & Chat:

• Speaker View Recording

• Gallery View Recording

• Chat (Link to download the file)

Upcoming July Topics

• 07/07/21 – History of the Filibuster
• 07/14/21 – Oligarchy vs Democracy
• 07/21/21 – Anti-Corruption & Accountability in Government
• 07/28/21 – Fair & Impartial Courts: How do we get there?

Actions, Events & Misc. Links:

DONATE to Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

BECU People Helping People Awards – Nominate “Fix Democracy First Education Fund” - EIN is 26-1499049. @ https://www.becu.org/members-matter/community-involvement/people-helping-people

59th Annual FREEDOM AT THE ARBORETUM 2021 – Spokane, WA – July 4th - More info @ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-AVrAel9pqNr-5VCyAzCIh3VY-5MgpKp/view

• Our Stir the Pot Speaker will be Rusty Nelson, “The Sound of Freedom”  
• Online - Our E Pluribus Unum Conversation: “What to Do About Democracy”  

Deadline for Democracy – June 28th- July 10th  – ACTIONS & EVENTS:

• Deadline for Democracy: WA State Virtual Rally on July 10th @ 12 pm PT: https://act.indivisible.org/event/deadline-for-democracy/163338
• Deadline for Democracy – Sign-up for Updates: https://deadlinefordemocracy.org/?source=fixdemocracyfirst&s=0

Social Justice Film Institute – A Discussion of Voting Rights and the Films on July 16th – Recording available starting @ 1 pm PT - Suppressed 2020: The Fight to Vote & Suppressed 2021: The War on Democracy by Brave New Films – Register @ https://socialjusticefilmfestival.us13.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=e0e4e6f2e5e2c92c9879ba1b2&id=2c0feeae60

• Panelists include:

• Moderator: Cindy Black, Executive Director of Fix Democracy First
• Giovanni Severino, Lead Policy Organizer of the Latino Community Fund
• Breanne Schuster, Staff Attorney at ACLU - Washington

WA Redistricting Links:

• Redistricting Justice for WA - https://www.redistrictingjusticewa.org/
• WA State Redistricting Commission - https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/

Upcoming WA Redistricting Hearings in July:

• 1st & 2nd CD: July 24, 10am–12pm

• 1st CD includes parts of Legislative Districts (LDs) 1, 5, 10, 37, 39, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, and a small portion of LDs 40.
• 2nd CD includes all of Legislative Districts (LD) 38, most of LDs 10 and40 and parts of LDs 1, 21, 32, 38, 39, 42, 44.

• 4th & 5th CD: July 24, 1–3pm

• 4th CD includes all of Legislative Districts (LDs) 8 and 15 and parts of LDs 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 16.
• 5th CD includes all of Legislative Districts (LDs) 3, 4, and 6 and parts of LDs 7, 9, 13, and 16.

• 3rd & 6th CD: July 26, 7–9pm

• 3rd Congressional includes all of Legislative Districts( LDs) 17, 18, 49, most of LD 20, and parts of LDs 2, 14, and 19.
• 6th CD includes all of Legislative Districts (LDs) 23, 24,and 26 and parts of LDs 19, 27, 28, 29, and 35.

• 7th & 9th CD: July 31, 10am–12pm

• 7th CD includes all of Legislative Districts (LDs) 34, 36, and 43 and parts of LDs 11, 21, 32, 33, 37, 46.
• 9th CD includes most of Legislative Districts (LDs) 11, 33, 37, and 41 and parts of LDs 5, 27, 30, 47, and 48.

• 8th & 10th CD: July 31, 1–3pm

• 8th CD includes parts of Legislative Districts 2, 5, 11,12, 13, 25, 28, 30, 31, 33, 41, 45 and 47.
• 10th CD includes all of Legislative District (LD) 22, most of LDs 25 and 28, and parts of LDs 2, 20, 27, 29, 31, and 35

Democracy in the News Links:

• A Proclamation on the 50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment - https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/30/a-proclamation-on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-26th-amendment/
• Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License, Citing Trump Election Lies - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/nyregion/giuliani-law-license-suspended-trump.html
• The Trailer: This law helped the Capitol riot happen. So why does nobody want to change it? - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/29/trailer-this-law-helped-capitol-riot-happen-so-why-does-nobody-want-change-it/
• ‍Justice Dept. sues state of Georgia over new voting restrictions - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/georgia-voting-law-justice-department-lawsuit/2021/06/25/8bc3cd08-d5bd-11eb-a53a-3b5450fdca7a_story.html
• Eight Years Ago, the Supreme Court Gutted the Voting Rights Act. Widespread Voter Suppression Resulted. - https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/eight-years-ago-the-supreme-court-gutted-the-voting-rights-act-widespread-voter-suppression-resulted/
• Filling the Voting Rights Hole Left by SCOTUS in Shelby County v. Holder - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/filling-voting-rights-hole-left-scotus-shelby-county-v-holder
• The Cybersecurity 202: Election security could be set back by the partisan audit in Arizona - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/29/cybersecurity-202-election-security-could-be-set-back-by-partisan-audit-arizona/
• Trump audit excitement meets with fear from election officials - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/2020-election-audit-arizona-497049
• Arizona’s Maricopa County won’t reuse voting machines after GOP ‘audit’ compromised their security - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/maricopa-county-arizona-dominion-audit-b1874837.html
• DOJ to launch task force to address rise in threats against election officials - https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/politics/justice-department-election-officials/index.html
• Threats Against Election Officials Are a Threat to Democracy - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/threats-against-election-officials-are-a-threat-to-democracy
• 2 secretaries of state undercut Trump’s fraud claims in key, GOP-controlled states. Republicans have now voted to strip both of power. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/27/gops-brazen-move-strip-power-fraud-narrative-busting-secretary-state-again/
• Exodus of election officials raises concerns of partisanship - https://apnews.com/article/election-officials-retire-trump-2020-threats-misinformation-3b810d8b3b3adee2ca409689788b863f‍
• Congressional Democrats Introduce Bill to Prevent Election Subversion - https://www.democracydocket.com/2021/06/congressional-democrats-introduce-bill-to-prevent-election-subversion/
• What will Democrats do now that the voting bill is blocked? - https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2021/0623/What-will-Democrats-do-now-that-the-voting-bill-is-blocked
• Why Democrats Are Reluctantly Making Voter ID Laws a Bargaining Chip - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/us/politics/democrats-voter-id-laws.html
• America’s CEOs: Will the Sleeping Giant Wake Up? - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/political-donations
• Civil rights leaders announce another March on Washington after voting rights bill fails in Senate - https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/23/us/march-on-washington-2021/index.html
• The Supreme Court will issue its final opinions Thursday. These are the two major cases - https://www.wdsu.com/article/the-supreme-court-will-issue-its-final-opinions-thursday-these-are-the-two-major-cases/36877083#
• The U.S. has become more segregated. That could make gerrymandering worse. - https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/racial-segregation
• Why States Should Wait for Census Data to Draw Voting Districts - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/why-states-should-wait-census-data-draw-voting-districts‍
• FEC sued by watchdog group for refusing to investigate Trump campaign - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-campaign-lawsuit-fec-probe-b1871585.html‍
• FEC reviewing rules on salaries, benefits for candidates - https://www.rollcall.com/2021/06/29/fec-reviewing-rules-on-salaries-benefits-for-candidates/
• One Man’s Quest to Break Open the Secretive World of American Voting Machines - https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/25/voting-machines-costs-election-technology-democracy-matthew-caulfield-483080
• They Seemed Like Democratic Activists. They Were Secretly Conservative Spies. - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/us/politics/spies-conservatives-left-political-enemies.html
• Millions of people with felonies can now vote after widespread reform. Most don’t know it. - https://www.freep.com/story/news/investigations/2021/06/23/push-voting-rights-still-leaves-many-former-felons-off-state-rolls/7654051002/
• NY Mayoral Race - Live Updates: New Tally Suggests the Mayoral Race Has Tightened - https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/30/nyregion/nyc-mayor-election‍
• New York Primary Election Results - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/22/us/elections/results-nyc-mayor-primary.html
• Despite tally blunder, New York gets positive reviews for ranked-choice election - https://thefulcrum.us/voting/new-york-ranked-choice-voting-2653605208
• More U.S. locations experimenting with alternative voting systems - https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/29/more-u-s-locations-experimenting-with-alternative-voting-systems/
• That voting-rights bill Congress rejected? Most of it is WA law - https://crosscut.com/politics/2021/06/voting-rights-bill-congress-rejected-most-it-wa-law
• Seattle Voters Increase Use of ‘Democracy Vouchers’ in Mayoral Contest - https://readsludge.com/2021/06/25/seattle-voters-increase-use-of-democracy-vouchers-in-mayoral-contest‍