Screwing With Your Vote

  By Russ Feingold The Guardian (9/5/17) So much news in the US recently has been upsetting, and rarely uplifting; but the champions of voting rights have reasons to be both aghast at recent headlines and encouraged by them. On the one hand, the Trump-Pence “election integrity” commission’s every move continues to underscore concerns that it is driving at 90mph towards national voter suppression. Then there is the sudden decision by Donald Trump and attorney general Jeff Session’s Department of Justice to support purging voter rolls in Ohio. It’s enough to make voters feel like they have a target on their…

  By Julia Conely Common Dreams (8/10/17) Identifying it as part of the “slippery slope to dictatorship,” critics are pointing to a new poll as evidence that Trump’s base would likely support him even if he were to propose postponing the 2020 elections. Sixty-eight percent of voters polled by two researchers believed the president’s repeated claims that widespread “voter fraud” cost him the popular vote in the 2016 election, and 52 percent said they would support postponing the 2020 election in order to make sure only “legal” citizens cast ballots. Fifty-six percent answered that they would support the measure if Trump and…

By Russ Feingold Reader Supported News (7/8/17) President Trump and Vice-President Pence’s “election integrity” commission is unequivocally declaring war on voters — and right now, two prominent Democrats are helping. The commission recently sent a letter to all 50 states requesting the very same data that Republican state governments have used to create hyper-partisan gerrymandering and enact restrictive voter ID laws across the country. This commission is laying the groundwork for nationalized voter suppression. It is completely illegitimate and will harm our elections. But the presence of the secretaries of state for Maine and New Hampshire on this commission —…

The Commonercall.org   By Sarah K. Burris The Raw Story (6/30/17) Richard Clarke is the former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counter-terrorism for the United States, so when he warns of President Donald Trump’s ignorance, he’s not kidding around. In his new book, Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes, he talks about Cassandra of Greek Mythology, who was blessed by the gods to see the future but cursed that no one would believe her. The first thing Maher asked him about was the election of 2018 and 2020. “They’ll be back,” Clarke warned. “The Russians will be back… What…

  Democracy Now! (6/15/17) The race for the 6th District in Georgia is the most expensive congressional race in U.S. history. On Tuesday, voters will head to the polls to fill the seat left vacant after Tom Price resigned to become secretary of health and human services. Polls show Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel in a virtual tie. But civil rights leaders fear that racist voter suppression tactics could cost Ossoff the election. For more, we speak with investigative reporter Greg Palast and air a report he produced in Georgia. Link to Story and 12-Minute Video

  Empire Files (4/25/17) With all the discussion of the contentious 2016 election, the most shocking fact is often ignored: that millions of people had their votes stolen through malicious, means. The Republican Party is currently working to purge millions more voters leading up to the 2018 election. To explain this major attack on our supposed democratic process, Abby Martin interviews investigative reporter Greg Palast, who has done the most extensive work uncovering this massive disenfranchisement campaign. Link to Story and 27-Minute Video

Comedian and “Redacted” host Lee Camp begins this episode with a take-down of Trump Joseph Goebbels clone Stephen Miller but then goes on to give one of the best full spectrum assessments of the attack on voting rights across the country. The very concept of democracy has become a cynical myth through a bipartisan attack on the rights of all Americans to vote. Link to 10-Minute Video