THE VOTE
Georgia’s new election law sparks a debate over voter suppression vs. election security.
What To Know.
Why It Matters.
Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.
Georgia’s new election law sparks a debate over voter suppression vs. election security.
What To Know.
Why It Matters.
“We quickly began working with the House and Senate on further reforms to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. The bill I signed into law does just that.”
“I told him exactly how I felt: that these bills were not only voter suppression, but they were in fact racist, and they are an attempt to turn back time to Jim Crow.”
“There’s a real — and bipartisan — misunderstanding about whether making it easier or harder to vote, especially by mail, has a significant effect on turnout or electoral outcomes. The evidence suggests it does not.”
Remember - states remain in charge of state/federal elections but Georgia's law already faces a number of legal challenges by critics. Separately, the federal govt. is also weighing the establishment of federal election standards. The "For the People Act" passed the Democrat-controlled House in March.
Political forces face off.
The road ahead for America’s most populated state (and a peek at its unique past) as California’s governor confronts a recall effort.
This recall effort against Gov. Newsom beginning last year – some report February; others say June – is the sixth recall attempt since his 2018 election.
The momentum to recall Gov. Newsom gathered steam as controversy over his strict COVID policies (and his behavior at times, such as violating his own COVID rules at a famous upscale restaurant) received national attention.
“Unaffordable housing. Record homelessness. Rising crime. Failing schools. Independent contractors thrown out of work. Exploding pension debt. And now, a locked down population while the prisons are emptied. Hold Gavin Newsom accountable. Gavin Newsom must go.”
“It’s about immigration. It’s about our health care policies. It’s about our criminal justice reform. It’s about the diversity of the state. It’s about our clean air, clean water programs, meeting our environmental strategies.”
Why It Matters: California, the most populated state in the nation, has one of the largest economies in the world. Gov. Newsom has been a rising star in the Democratic party, with eyes towards the White House. The deadline to collect signatures supporting the recall is March 17th – signatures will need to be verified before next steps.
The final step in the 2020 U.S. presidential election prior to Inauguration Day happens in Congress.
What Happens
Why It Matters
Under the 12th Amendment:
We’ve only seen formal objections twice since 1887.
Recent history: In Jan. 2017, then-Vice Pres. Biden oversaw the joint session. It took 41 minutes to count the 2016 Electoral College votes. Democrat members of the House tried to object – but failed because they could not get a senator to sign off on an objection.
A growing number of Republican lawmakers plan to object to electoral votes in several states. The objections are expected to fail, however, since Republicans do not have enough votes in either the House or Senate. How long this joint session and electoral count will take is unknown.
In 2021, the spotlight remains on two 2020 Senate races.
What to know about the high-stakes Georgia runoff elections
While past precedent favors Republicans winning GA runoff elections, Pres-elect Biden became the first Democrat since 1992 to win the state as a presidential candidate (by approx. 12,000 votes). Voter participation in GA's runoff races is historic, with early voting surpassing past records; results expected in several days.
Putting aside the headlines, ongoing ballot counting, and lingering lawsuits —
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
WHAT ABOUT THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN'S LAWSUITS CHALLENGING RESULTS? Given the upcoming federal deadlines, the courts will likely expedite the remaining lawsuits (many others have already been dismissed). However, most legal scholars agree the suits are unlikely to change the ultimate outcome of the election.
Two words you’ll likely hear often in the days & weeks ahead…
What they mean
Why they matter
FYI: Under federal law, different deadlines exist for receipt of ballots from citizens serving in the U.S. military or living overseas; many of these ballots have yet to be incorporated into the state counts currently reported. In Georgia, as of Friday nearly 9k votes cast by U.S. military personnel and those living abroad had yet to be counted.
It’s not just about the presidency.
Here’s a sampling of the 100+ measures – in 32 states and D.C. – which may change American life.
Legalizing medicinal marijuana: Mississippi and South Dakota.
Legalizing recreational marijuana: Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota.
Legalizing psilocybin (aka magic) mushrooms: Oregon. Meanwhile, a ballot measure in D.C. would make psilocybin crimes a “low priority” for police.
Colorado: Whether to ban abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless needed to save the life of the mother.
Louisiana: Whether to amend the state constitution to add language declaring that nothing in the constitution should be interpreted as protecting the right to or funding of an abortion. Otherwise, the state constitution would remain as is – w/o specific language on abortion rights.
California voters will weigh in on a ballot measure to decide whether rideshare and delivery drivers who work for app-based businesses (ex: Uber) should continue to be treated as independent contractors - exempting them from a law that would treat them as employees (with workplace protections, like minimum wage).
The New York Times says it has what many have sought for decades – the personal and business tax records of Pres. Donald Trump.
What To Know
Critics of Trump: Records prove a long history of tax avoidance and show Pres. Trump is not as financially successful as he claims, and thus vulnerable to foreign influence for his own financial gain.
Supporters of Trump: The NYT report is a “hit piece” based on records obtained illegally, which show Pres. Trump paid millions in taxes, and took advantage of legal tax credits and depreciations.
“Their numbers were wrong.”
“I think he really is not a very good businessman … The fact that he’s a bad businessman does not mean that he’s not also cheating on his taxes.”
“The New York Times account of President Trump’s tax returns reveal far more than his personal ability to avoid taxes. They show how the tax law can make it easy for the very wealthy to avoid taxation. And they reveal more than deficiencies in the tax law.”
“No law barred The Times from publishing its article and if there had been one it would in all likelihood be unconstitutional.”
We can't confirm NYT's reporting, but we can confirm that nearly half of all Americans don't pay federal income taxes because they make either too little or too much (and have accountants to help them "strategically plan" avoiding taxes). No person with direct knowledge of Pres. Trump's taxes has corroborated the NYT report.
A report in the New York Post ignites allegations against the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden, while raising questions about the actions of the former Vice President himself.
What To Know
The report has many allegations – here’s the main one:
“Hunter Biden’s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign.”
“…the FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing investigation or persons or entities under investigation…”
“The New York Post never asked the Biden campaign about the critical elements of this story … we have reviewed Joe Biden’s official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.”
“I have heard Joe Biden say he has never discussed his dealings with Hunter. That is false.”
BIG PICTURE: We can't confirm the NY Post reports OR the existence of the alleged FBI investigation into Hunter Biden. The story could be false, in which case nothing will come of these reports. Or it could be true, and part of a larger story.
A deeper dive on some of the states up for grabs in this presidential election & why they matter.
These aren't the only states to watch this year. Expect to hear a lot about others that have voted consistently for one party but where margins have tightened in recent years - like Minnesota, which has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1972. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the state, but by less than 45,000 votes.
A Supreme Court ruling on voting in a critical swing state highlights why we *might* not know the results of the 2020 election on Election Day.
“The longer it takes for the election results to be known, the greater the risk that they’re going to be questioned and second-guessed, and that we’re going to be that national news story that we really don’t want to be.”
“A lot of people are worried that if it takes a long time to count, people are going to use that to say we can’t trust the results, when in fact it’s the exact opposite. It’s taking so long because of all these security measures to make sure the count is as accurate as possible.”
Proceed cautiously with reports of early, absentee, and mail-in voting numbers - early reports indicate more Democrats are voting early or by mail, whereas more Republicans are expected to wait until Election Day. Concerns about election fraud and reliability of results is a truly bipartisan issue according to one recent poll. Read more on our source page.
Some candidates running for President won’t appear on the debate stage … but they may still shape the race.
Why they matter.
“… potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
There’s no single reason.
One famous French sociologist theorized American politics supports only two political parties.
Why? A “winner-take-all” system. A candidate who wins the most votes gets the win. With no reward for runner-up, voters want to vote for the *likely* winner, and the two parties stay in power.
Every year, hundreds of people may run for President. Here are the three you’re most likely to hear about:
Jo Jorgenson (Libertarian Party) – She’s on the ballot in all 50 states.
Howie Hawkins (Green Party)
Kanye West (Birthday Party)
They may not make it onto the ballot; candidates need to meet state-imposed signature thresholds.
They may not make it onto the debate stage; they need to meet a polling threshold (for presidential debate, they need 15%+ support on major polls).
Regardless, they absolutely can influence the ultimate outcome of the election.
In the following “swing” states, third-party candidates collectively won approx:
President Trump won all these states by a margin of less than 4% (with the tightest race being in Michigan, which he won by just .3%).
“Every minor party or independent candidate who has run in modern history has taken some votes from (both parties).”
Has a third-party candidate ever won the presidency in modern times? No. But former President Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate and came in second to Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Ross Perot won 19% of the votes in 1992 but still didn't win any electoral votes.