Democracy Happy Hour – May 26, 2021

Topic for May 12, 2021: Challenges to the Right to Protest.

• Speaker View Recording

• Gallery View Recording

• Chat file
  

Upcoming Democracy Happy Hour Topics:

• 06/2/21 – "We the People" Meaning & Impact on Democracy
• 06/9/21 – Possible Effects of New Voting Restrictions in 2022 Election
• 06/16/21 – Proposed Changes to State & Federal Courts

Actions, Events & Misc. Links:

Freedom to Vote: Expanding and Ensuring Democracy for All – WA Indivisible Town Hall - June 1 @ 6 pm

• Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/290153299372794/
• Register @ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZModOGopzMtGtEoE5hWVtqccjq-0y8nKYFZ
  

Racially Charged: America's Misdemeanor Problem - Screening & Panel Discussion – June 6th @ 6 pm

• Register @ https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_haKy7PIxTfaOPqZC46MDCQ

Democracy Rebellion - Screening & Panel Discussion – June 9th @ 6 pm

• Register @ https://vol.represent.us/a/june-2021-movie-night

WA Redistricting Updates:

• WA State Redistricting Commission

• New website - https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/
• Public Outreach Meetings - https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/outreach-meetings

• Testimony Links:

• Testimony Outline: Telling your story
• Quick and easy fill-in-the-blank document
• A "HANDy" Guide

• Redistricting Justice for WA

• New website - https://www.redistrictingjusticewa.org/
• Redistricting Justice for WA's priorities and demands

• Redistricting South King County Mapping Session - June 3rd @ 5 pm PT

• Register @ https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4xsLQr6MQ2COGJJIJxaNTg

• Redistricting Mapping Session: South King County – June 15th @ 5:30 pm PT

• Register @ https://ppallianceadvocates-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAucuihqjkqH9Kjvs7BTYmCpWgnVbF9tWrR

• Manager Position for the Meaningful Movies Project (MMP) - https://docs.google.com/document/d/13by9ybuFEY9FYc9T_31MT9vXWSdZzlny-nYJdAzpk-w/edit?usp=sharing

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

Challenges to the Right to Protest Links:

• Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html

• Lawmakers Push For Protest Restrictions In The Year Since George Floyd's Killing - https://www.npr.org/2021/05/24/999897198/lawmakers-push-for-protest-restrictions-in-the-year-since-george-floyds-killing

• GOP pushes record number of anti-protest bills to ‘silence dissent,’ critics say - https://news.yahoo.com/gop-pushes-record-number-anti-211424689.html

• FACT SHEET: ANTI-PROTEST LEGISLATION AND DEMONSTRATION ACTIVITY IN THE US - https://acleddata.com/2021/04/30/fact-sheet-anti-protest-legislation-and-demonstration-activity-in-the-us/

• US Protest Law Tracker - https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/

• States are passing laws targeting peaceful protesters - https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/26/opinions/laws-target-peaceful-protesters-eidelman/index.html

• State-level Republicans are making it easier to run over protesters - https://www.vox.com/2021/4/25/22367019/gop-laws-oklahoma-iowa-florida-floyd-blm-protests-police

• PEN AMERICA FINDS SURGE IN ANTI-PROTEST BILLS AS STATE LEGISLATORS ESCALATE FIRST AMENDMENT CRACKDOWN - https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-finds-surge-in-anti-protest-bills-as-state-legislators-escalate-first-amendment-crackdown/

• 5 Ways Officials Have Cracked Down on Protests Since the Floyd Uprisings - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/crackdowns-protests-since-george-floyd
• The Wave of GOP Anti-Protest Bills Will Criminalize Protesters—and Sabotage Police Reform, Too - https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2021/05/the-wave-of-gop-anti-protest-bills-will-criminalize-protesters-and-sabotage-police-reform-too/

• LAW ENFORCEMENT GROUPS DRIVE ANTI-PROTEST LAWS, NEW ANALYSIS SHOWS - https://theintercept.com/2021/05/09/police-anti-protest-greenpeace-voting-rights/

• How so-called libertarian Charles Koch drove a national wave of anti-protest laws - https://www.salon.com/2021/05/25/how-so-called-libertarian-charles-koch-drove-a-national-wave-of-anti-protest-laws/

• Experts call 'anti-protest' bills a backlash to 2020's racial reckoning - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/experts-call-anti-protest-bills-backlash-2020-s-racial-reckoning-n1267781

• Anti-Protest Laws Threaten Indigenous and Climate Movements - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/anti-protest-laws-threaten-indigenous-and-climate-movements

• Voting and Protesting Go Hand-in-Hand — and There Are Barriers to Both - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/voting-and-protesting-go-hand-hand-and-there-are-barriers-both

• The stifling of protest around the world paves the road for authoritarian rule - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/24/george-floyd-protest-stifling-global-threat-civil-human-rights

• Senate Republicans scramble to derail creation of Capitol riot commission - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/24/senate-republicans-capitol-riot-commission-bill

Democracy in the News Links:

• Most Republicans still believe 2020 election was stolen from Trump – poll - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/24/republicans-2020-election-poll-trump-biden

• The Consequences of Not Creating a Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Commission - https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-consequences-of-not-creating-a-jan-6-commission-11621861473

• Opinion: The threat of violence now infuses GOP politics. We should all be afraid. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/20/trump-republicans-violent-threats-election-2024/

• The mess in Maricopa - Votes are still being counted in Arizona. It won’t change the winner. But it might change America. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/05/21/arizona-election-audit-trump-maricopa/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most

• Voting Machines in Arizona Recount Should Be Replaced, Election Official Says - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/us/politics/arizona-recount-voting-machines.html

• It’s not just Arizona: Push to review 2020 ballots spreads - https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-arizona-election-2020-election-recounts-government-and-politics-4d5038b2bea05d2132cb4ada43516f67

• Michigan’s top election official and Dominion warn counties about the risks of vote audits by outside groups - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michigan-election-audit-warnings/2021/05/25/d00b8802-bd62-11eb-b26e-53663e6be6ff_story.html

• They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one. - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/24/2020-election-republican-official-races-490458

• Leaked Video: Dark Money Group Brags About Writing GOP Voter Suppression Bills Across the Country - https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/05/heritage-foundation-dark-money-voter-suppression-laws/

• New Southern voter suppression bills face challenges in state and federal court - https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/05/new-southern-voter-suppression-bills-face-challenges-state-and-federal-court

• GOP legislators shift from voting rights attacks to election interference schemes - https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/05/gop-legislators-shift-voting-rights-attacks-election-interference-schemes

• The numbers are grim. Republicans are winning at normalizing voter suppression - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/19/republicans-are-winning-at-normalizing-voter-suppression

• How The Republican Push To Restrict Voting Could Affect Our Elections - https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-the-republican-push-to-restrict-voting-could-affect-our-elections/

• The Trump-inspired battles over new voting laws will shape the 2022 governors' races - https://www.businessinsider.com/voting-wars-election-laws-trump-loom-large-2022-governors-race-2021-5

• Joe Manchin’s surprisingly bold proposal to fix America’s voting rights problem - https://www.vox.com/22434054/joe-manchin-voting-rights-act-for-the-people-john-lewis-preclearance-filibuster-senate

• CHUCK SCHUMER REJECTS JOE MANCHIN’S VOTING RIGHTS STRATEGY - https://theintercept.com/2021/05/19/voting-election-reform-chuck-schumer-joe-manchin/

• Democrats searching for a path forward on stalled voting rights bill - https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/21/politics/voting-rights-bill-senate-democrats/index.html

• The For the People Act: Separating Fact from Fiction - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/people-act-separating-fact-fiction

• Lawmakers are targeting the courts that could shoot down voter suppression laws - https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/05/19/voter-suppression-laws-states/

• Legislative Assaults on State Courts — 2021 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/legislative-assaults-state-courts-2021

• Shareholders fight to rein in risk by demanding transparency into public companies’ political spending - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/shareholders-fight-to-rein-in-risk-by-demanding-transparency-into-public-companies-political-spending-11621471534

• Corporations are funding Trump-supporting, anti-democratic Republican lawmakers again - https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/corporations-are-funding-trump-supporting-anti-democratic-republican-lawmakers-again-ncna1268559

• How ‘dark money’ is shaping redistricting in 2021 - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/05/dark-money-redistricting-reshaping-redistricting/

• DNC, RNC already breaking fundraising records ahead of 2022 - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/05/dnc-rnc-breaking-records-2022/

• Americans lack faith in institutions and each other, according to new report - https://thefulcrum.us/trust-in-institutions

• Ranked Choice Voting Elections Benefit Candidates and Voters of Color - https://www.fairvote.org/report_rcv_benefits_candidates_and_voters_of_color

• How Auto Dealers Lobbyist Wrote an Exemption Into Washington's New Capital Gains Tax Law - https://www.chronline.com/stories/how-auto-dealers-lobbyist-wrote-an-exemption-into-washingtons-new-capital-gains-tax-law,266582

• Voting-rights battle in Washington state raises allegations of diluting Latino votes - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/voting-rights-battle-in-washington-state-raises-allegations-of-diluting-latino-votes/

• Seattle’s diverse mayoral race: Are Democracy Vouchers bringing equity? - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/democracy-vouchers-bringing-some-equity-to-mayoral-race-but-more-needs-to-be-done/

• A HIGHLY COMPELLING SESSION: AN EVALUATION OF THE 2021 WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE - https://southseattleemerald.com/2021/05/05/a-highly-compelling-session-an-evaluation-of-the-2021-washington-state-legislature/