#Voter Empowerment

[alainamama17]

Steps to Establish Initiatives and Referendums If You Live In a State Without Them

If you live in any of these states, your state does not have the initiative and referendum process.

Alabama Connecticut Delaware Georgia Hawaii Indiana Iowa Kentucky Kansas Minnesota New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin

If you don't know what initiative and referendums are, here's what they are.

Referendum: This is an electoral process where voters can express their opinion on government policy or proposed legislation. It can be obligatory, meaning certain actions, like constitutional amendments, must be put to a popular vote, or optional, where a vote on a law passed by the legislature is required only if petitioned by a specified number of voters.

Initiative: This process allows citizens to propose new laws or constitutional amendments. An initiative can be direct, where the proposal goes straight to a vote, or indirect, where it first goes to the legislature and, if rejected, then to a popular vote.

In the U.S., these are forms of direct democracy that give power to the people to shape legislation and policy directly, rather than through elected representatives. They are tools that can empower citizens to have a more active role in governance, especially at the state level, as there is no federal initiative and referendum process.

Steps to Establish Initiatives and Referendums If You Live In a State Without Them

Residents of states without an initiative and referendum process can push to establish these processes through several steps. Generally, the process includes:

Preliminary Filing: Submit a proposed petition to a designated state official, often the Secretary of State.

Review of Petition: Ensure the petition conforms with statutory requirements and, in some states, a review of the language of the proposal.

Ballot Title and Summary: Prepare a ballot title and summary for the proposed initiative or referendum.

Signature Collection: Gather the required number of signatures from registered voters within the state.

Submission and Verification: Submit the signatures for verification.

Ballot Placement: Once verified, the measure is placed on the ballot for a public vote.

It’s important for residents to organize and campaign effectively to gather support for their cause. They may also need to work with legal experts to ensure that their proposed measures are in line with state laws and regulations. Additionally, public awareness campaigns can help educate voters about the benefits of having an initiative and referendum process in their state.

[trendynewsnow]

Kamala Harris Rally in Atlanta with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen

Kamala Harris Brings Star Power to Atlanta Rally In a vibrant display of support, Kamala Harris held a rally in Atlanta yesterday alongside iconic figures, former President Barack Obama and music legend Bruce Springsteen. The event, filled with energy and enthusiasm, served as a platform for Harris to articulate her vision and address pressing political issues. During her speech, Harris…

[ivygorgon]

End Gerrymandering! Pass the FAIR MAPS Act!

AN OPEN LETTER to THE U.S. CONGRESS

593 so far! Help us get to 1,000 signers!

Rep. Wiley Nickel has introduced a bill, the FAIR MAPS Act, to combat partisan gerrymandering by establishing independent, non-partisan redistricting commissions in every state. I’d like you to support it.

Across the country, partisan gerrymandering has been used as a tool by politicians to manipulate electoral outcomes with almost surgical precision. This leads to hyper-partisanship, a lack of trust in government, and disenfranchised voters. In America today, politicians too often choose their voters instead of voters choosing their elected officials. It's troubling and anti-democratic.

Independent redistricting commissions, which the FAIR MAPS Act promotes, are a common-sense solution to gerrymandering that puts power in the hands of the people – where it belongs. When districts are drawn fairly, all voters – Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike – have a fair shot to make their voices heard.

For that reason, please co-sponsor and work to pass the FAIR MAPS Act. Thanks.

▶ Created on April 25 by Jess Craven · 593 signers in the past 7 days

📱 Text SIGN PDXMVG to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW JESSCRAVEN101 to 50409

[alwaysbewoke]

[isawthismeme]

[ivygorgon]

An open letter to the President & U.S. Congress; State Governors & Legislatures

Implement Ranked-Choice Voting & Election Reforms For Vote Integrity

22 so far! Help us get to 25 signers!

I am writing to urge your immediate action on introducing and passing ranked-choice voting (RCV) and other vital election reforms at both the federal and state levels. As a concerned constituent and advocate for democratic principles, I believe that these reforms are essential to improving our electoral processes and ensuring fair and representative governance.

Ranked-choice voting has proven effective in promoting democratic outcomes by enabling voters to express their preferences more fully and ensuring that elected candidates enjoy broad support from the electorate. RCV mitigates wasted votes, reduces the spoiler effect, and fosters more inclusive and issue-focused campaigns.

In addition to advocating for ranked-choice voting, I strongly support comprehensive election reforms, including campaign finance reform, gerrymandering reform, and initiatives to enhance voter access and participation. These reforms are critical to strengthening our democracy and restoring trust in our electoral system.

The implementation of Ranked-Choice Voting is a crucial step towards enhancing our democratic process. RCV, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, ensures that elected officials have majority support, eliminates the spoiler effect, and encourages positive campaigning. This system is already in use in several U.S. cities and countries like Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Alaska recently became the second state to adopt RCV for statewide offices, following Maine's lead. It is time to consider this reform at both federal and state levels to ensure our electoral systems reflect the diversity of our nation and empower all voices. Therefore, I urge you to introduce and support legislation that promotes RCV and other election reforms.

We must recognize that Americans are more than a two-party system. Let's take meaningful steps to ensure our electoral systems reflect the diversity of our nation and empower all voices.

Thank you for considering my perspective and taking decisive action to improve our electoral processes. I stand ready to support your efforts in advancing these important reforms.

▶ Created on April 9 by Ret. SGT Guild, Independent/Non-partisan

To anyone considering not voting because of the Palestinian genocide, I have this to ask:

How many Palestinian people do you think you're helping by laying back and inviting the GOP to crush you under foot? Self flagellation didn't cure The Plague, and it won't fix this situation either.

If you don't like the idea of voting for Harris, I doubt I'll be able to change your mind, but consider this: 468 congressional seats out of a total 535 are up for re-election THIS NOVEMBER. You want to make the government start actually representing the will of the people? Start there.

We're living in frightening times, and apathy is a very comfortable state of being, but you need to act. If you don't, who will?

[queeranarchism]

If your democrat friends start muttering about stolen election conspiracy theories, the time to have a sit down with them and express your concerns is NOW, while you still have a chance to reach them, not 6 months from now when they're fully conspiracy-pilled.

Here's some of the talking points and why they're bullshit:

'10 million votes don't just disappear!' -> Joe Biden's 81 million votes were a statistical outlier, sparked by the recent experience of the Trump presidency. The democrats failed to maintain that sense of urgency, but Harris still got more votes than Hillary Clinton, more than Obama and more than any previous democratic candidate. These numbers are not weird at all.

'The Republicans tried to infiltrate election- and vote counting organizations!' -> yeah, they did, and yet hundreds of independent legal observers didn't see anything go wrong enough to raise any alarms. Independent exit polls are also very consistently similar to the counted votes. Tons of international organizations specialized in this stuff observed the election and didn't see a reason to raise the alarm.

'But I know a dozen democrats whose mail-in votes were not counted!' -> In any election a certain number of votes are registered as invalid because something was wrong with the ballot. In a country the size of the US, that translates to many thousands of votes. The internet allows these people to find each other, creating the false impression that a suspiciously large group of votes was not valid.

'Musk used Star Link to mess with electronic voting!' -> Electronic voting machines are not connected to the internet and dozens of independent media have already debunked this myth. It is absolutely impossible to use Star Link to fake election results.

'There is voter disenfranchisement!' -> This is true. This has always been true, for every election. It's an issue worth talking about but it's not a special secret conspiracy that's unique to this election.

But just as importantly as the facts: sit down with your friend and talk about the anxiety that's behind their conspiracy leanings. Acknowledge their pain and fear. Help them find ways to feel less powerless and regain their sense of agency. Take them to a mutual aid event, involve them in a fundraising event for a marginalized group, invite them to a local community effort. If they spend more time feeling connection and empowerment and less time doom scrolling online, they're far more likely to stay in reality.

[citysvg1]

I Am Woman Watch Me Vote Election 2024 SVG

[rosemarysealavender]

this all checks out and it is BAD, BAD NEWS

[tomorrowusa]

« It doesn't make you a man to pick on trans or gay kids, it just makes you an asshole. »

— Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) quoted on CNN’s “State of the Union.”. Via POLITICO. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The senator essentially described most of the MAGA Republican leadership these days including Weird Donald Trump and JD "Couchman" Vance.

Fetterman was Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor during the 2020 elections. He had something to to say about vote fraud.

(Dana) Bash also asked Fetterman, who was lieutenant governor of the state in 2020, if he had any concerns over Trump spreading claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania like he did then, given the problems he caused by refusing to accept the election results in 2020. Fetterman laughed at the question: “It's the same shit that he played in 20 and it didn't go anywhere." "I'm not worried about it. It's the same thing that he tried in 2020,” Fetterman said. “We had an absolutely secure election. There was voter fraud in Pennsylvania and it was a handful of Republicans and they had their dead moms voting for Trump.”

If you haven't voted early, don't worry! If you're legally registered, grab your ID and head to your precinct polling place on Tuesday during voting hours. The best time to vote in person on Election Day is late morning; crowds are usually small and there's plenty of time to post a selfie in front of the polling place so you can remind others to vote.

ARE YOU READY TO VOTE? | Vote Save America

Only you and your friends can keep Trump from turning America into a writhing homophobic sludge pit.

Electing Kamala Harris is the only way to prevent an anti-LGBTQ hell in the United States. Letting Trump win provides a massive empowerment to assholes.

[trendynewsnow]

The Struggle for Female Leadership in the U.S.: Reflections on Kamala Harris's Defeat

The Struggle for Equality: Reflections on Female Presidential Candidates In the relentless pursuit of breaking the “highest, hardest glass ceiling,” female presidential candidates have demonstrated remarkable resilience and tenacity. They stood firm in their convictions, asserting that they were neither bought nor bossed. Above all, they held a steadfast belief that America was ready for a woman…

[tani-b-art]

The Venus/Serena/Beyoncé Impact.

Sports fans champion dominant players but not when those dominant players are Black women.

A’ja is experiencing the VSB impact for the first time in her young career and more than likely (and absolutely unfortunately) will probably face this several more times in her career. Because the fact that anyone this 2024 season has even inserted any other WNBA player into MVP talks with A’ja is downright ridiculous. Unjustified. This woman has dominated the entire first half of the season by miles and is doing the same the second half yet some people are still talking about it shouldn’t be unanimous?! With anyone else doing what she’s done all season…there would be no doubt whatsoever.

It’s the Venus/Serena/Beyoncé impact —where Black women are punished for their dominance and excellence. The last Grammy voters said that Beyoncé always wins or has already won several and that was their decision to not cast their vote to her for AOTY. Just watched the series “In The Arena: Serena Williams” and there was one episode (above clip) where they spoke on Venus & Serena’s reign for grand slam finals matchups and some of their peers and some tennis spectators were literally saying they were “bored” of them — that they didn’t want to see the same duo anymore in finals appearances. Simone Biles faces this too.

I don’t know if there’s an actual term for this type of reverse empowerment but it always happens.

Penalized for greatness — which is wild because isn’t that what sports (especially) and entertainment is about?! To be the best and the best is what is praised & hyped and awarded? Or don’t be a Black woman and be the best and dominate. [And I’ll go a step further and say when certain Black women are the best because there can also be two Black women (or a Black woman & a woman of color) going head-to-head and one gets favored over the next by way of respectability politics, colorism, featurism etc.]

We’d never hear this said against The Manning brothers if they had ever faced one another in the Super Bowl multiple, consecutive times. We don’t hear this said towards athletes who aren’t Black. Because they prefer they be the ones dominating. And we definitely don’t hear this said towards female athletes who aren’t Black. We never say this about any male athletes. Jordan never heard “he’s dominating too much” and we absolutely never heard this said about Tom Brady.

The curse of Black women athletes dominating. When misogyny and sports mix. Misogynoir.

With A’ja getting that 4th place vote last season, that ignited a fire in her. And not that she had to prove herself to anyone to disprove that 4th place vote but this season has been her simply outshining herself and wanting to be a better player by always improving her game. That’s the purpose of an athlete—being better than your last season self. This season is her season to show there won’t be any doubt.

Also, being an athlete on a team sport means you have to do as an individual and you have to do as part of a team for the collective. Both individual and team effort comes into play with the team sport known as basketball. She’s doing both.

It’s just expected for Black women athletes to be faced with this at some point in our (I experienced this too) sports careers — an unrequested rite of passage.

[[and the bit of the reporter saying a whole former opponent whined the Williams sisters hit the ball too hard…we all know what that is about—different topic]]

[azspot]

In our century, American politics has been blown open by the reverberating crises of neoliberalism and capitalist globalization. They have rebounded on our society and politics in four major forms: imperial blowback and endless warfare; deindustrialization and the hollowing out of American society; the rise of an engorged, predatory, and increasingly insane billionaire class, obsessed with eugenics and immortality; and the climate crisis, now a source of regular natural disasters and swelling refugee flows. At each juncture, the Democrats have attempted restoration: to manage the crisis, carry out the bailout, stitch things back together, and try to get back to normal. It is the form of this orientation, as much as substantive questions of culture, race, and gender, that seems to me the fundamental reason the Democrats are often experienced as a force of inhibition rather than empowerment by so many voters. And it is against this politics of containment that Trump’s obscenity comes to feel like a liberation for so many.

Exit Right

[obii-wan-kenobiii]

PROPOSITION 33, BROKEN DOWN:

long post below the cut - scroll for tldr

let’s start from the beginning - what IS prop 33?

proposition 33, put simply, allows for city councils to set rent caps on housing in their cities. this would repeal a state law known as the costa hawkins rental housing act that prevents local governments from controlling rent on single-family homes, homes built after 1995 (or earlier in some cases), and when tenants move out. if it passes, local governments could create whatever measures they want to limit annual rent increases, and the state couldn’t intervene. (source) now, what this actually MEANS is that landlords can’t endlessly raise rent prices for their own gains. for the last 30 years, california has imposed limits on the amount a city can interfere with rent prices via the costa-hawkins act (source). proposition 33 allows cities to individually control rent on any type of housing.

now, why is this relevant?

according to the public policy institute of california, around 30% of california renters spend more than half their income on rent. to put this in perspective, 44% of the 39 million people living in california are renters. that means 17,160,000 people rent somewhere to live in california. now, 30% of those people is about 5,148,000 people. think about that. over five million people who pay over half their income to live. (source) (source) on top of this, a study by UCSF has shown that californians are homeless because of sky high rent costs pushing people out onto the streets.

let’s move onto common arguments against prop 33, and why they either are irrelevant in the face of the issue specifically or why the benefits of proposition 33 being passed outweigh the negative effects it may have! please note that the current state of housing in california will be referred to as the status quo.

funded by notorious slumlord

no guarantee that living conditions are good

could decrease property value, further contributing to the shortage of housing available

eliminates protection for seniors, veterans, and the disabled

weakens renter protections

overturns over 100 state affordable housing laws

prop 33 would repeal the strongest rent control law in the nation

and now, let’s break all of these down!

“prop 33 is funded by a notorious slumlord” proposition 33 is supported & receives funding from corporate ceo michael weinstein who runs the AHF (aids healthcare foundation), whom the LA times describes as a "slumlord" with a long record of health and safety violations and unfair evictions. this is true! it is also, however, supported mostly by labor unions and nonprofit organizations representing renters and other groups. these include the voter information guide include the california democratic party, the coalition for economic survival, the california nurses association, california alliance of retired americans, the alliance of californians for community empowerment and tenants together. the sheer amount of support prop 33 has from groups & organizations that work to counteract exactly what AHF has been penalized for shows disregarding it entirely because of the organization isn't a choice to be made. more can be found regarding the issues with the AHF here.

“no real guarantee that living conditions will be good” regarding living conditions, let’s first take a look at the status quo: according to the U.S. government accountability office, “An estimated 15 percent of rental units in 2017—more than 5 million—had substantial quality issues (such as cracked walls and the presence of rodents) or lacked essential components of a dwelling (such as heating equipment or hot and cold running water), according to GAO’s analysis of American Housing Survey data. The share of units with deficiencies was relatively stable from 2001 to 2017. Serious deficiencies more often affected households with extremely low incomes or rent burdens. In addition, lower-income households rented approximately two-thirds of the units with substantial quality issues and nearly 80 percent of units lacking essential components.” (source). this argument really only has one thing going for it, but proposition 33 is intended to deal with rent costs and nothing else. there is already an issue with living conditions. proposition 33 being voted either way will do nothing to change this issue. therefore, it’s an irrelevant argument and can thus be disregarded. this is something only further legislation can change.

"prop 33 could decrease property value, contributing to the shortage of housing available" the only source for this that i could find was from the chair of UC berkeley’s fisher center for real estate and urban economics, who appears in a no on 33 ad and has argued that costa hawkins needs to be preserved or construction will slow and landlords will pull rental units off the market. this echoes the view of many economists at California’s elite universities and elsewhere that rent control reduces rental supply, a view that’s backed by some empirical studies. however, other economics and policy researchers see rent control as part of the solution to housing insecurity. according to a report by the federal housing finance agency, “Rent regulations support those who need it most, including those who are not being adequately and safely served by the current set of regulations that provide landlords substantial market power in the housing market"

"proposition 33 eliminates protection for seniors, veterans, and the disabled" this claim is from a no on 33 video ad and is not true. prop 33 doesn’t contain any language regarding seniors and veterans, and the law it would repeal, costa hawkins, doesn’t either. (source)

"proposition 33 weakens renter protections" renter protections, in california specifically, are defined as the right of residential tenants to be protected from certain rent increases and possibly protected from certain types of evictions. (source) proposition 33 is a law regarding rent, not evictions, and thus eviction as part of the definition is irrelevant for this specific case. in looking at this definition, we can clearly see what it promises is in fact only an affect that is increased by prop 33 being put into affect.

"proposition 33 overturns over 100 state affordable housing laws" ken rosen, a UC berkeley business school professor, makes this claim in a no on 33 video ad. opponents of prop 33 argue that it would give cities who don’t want to build housing a way to undercut new development by mandating rents so low that developers couldn’t afford to build. they say that could make it hard to enforce recent state laws aimed at addressing the housing crisis, such as the “builder’s remedy” that relaxes zoning rules in cities whose housing plans haven’t been approved by the state.  a spokesperson in a no on 33 ad claims that “a city would be able to create the economic conditions to basically ignore those laws and requirements," but that’s not the same as repealing those laws. and California courts have held that rent control policies are unconstitutional if they don’t allow landlords to earn “a just and reasonable return on their property” — meaning any city that tries to force landlords to charge obviously unfeasible rents could face legal challenges.

"prop 33 would repeal the strongest rent control law in the nation" no on 33 campaign ads make this claim, saying the proposition would erase california’s “progress on housing” by getting rid of a law signed by governor gavin newsom. newsom signed a law in 2019 that caps rent increases in california at 5% plus the rate of inflation, or a maximum of 10%. prop 33 in fact doesn’t repeal this law, which is set to expire in 2030. it would, however, add this sentence to state law: “The state may not limit the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact, or expand residential rent control.”  proponents say cities need this flexibility to keep annual rent increases below 10%, a rate they say still puts a big burden on tenants. (source)

so, to summarize: proposition 33 is a law proposed that would repeal a law previously passed, which, if passed, will allow cities control over how high landlords can charge their rent. over 5 million californians spend more than half their income on rent alone. proposition 33 is a proposed legislation that deals specifically with rent prices being high. while there are many incredibly significant with things other than simply the rent when you look at the california housing situation, this law is incapable of dealing with them. what prop 33 does do is effectively provide a solution to the constant rent increases many tenants face regularly. the housing crisis in california is solvable, and proposition 33 is a step towards that.

[isawthismeme]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kiera Butler at Mother Jones:

Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump held his first campaign rally as a convicted felon at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, hosted by the arch-conservative student group Turning Point USA. This wasn’t Trump’s first appearance at Dream City Church; he also held a rally there with Turning Point USA in 2020. For events like this, it’s an ideal venue: A weekly attendance of around 21,000 believers makes this one of the largest churches not just in Arizona but in the nation.

Dream City, which didn’t respond to my questions for this story, is a mecca for special guests who blur the line between religion and politics. Its annual conference has featured notables like musician and pastor Sean Feucht, who participated in a White House prayer session for President Trump in 2019 and is currently leading a tour of prayer rallies at state capitol buildings across the country. The lineup for this year’s event also included David Barton, whose organization, WallBuilders, teaches K-12 students about the supposed Christian origins of America; Jürgen Mathesius, a pastor at San Diego’s far-right Awaken Church, which has become a stop on Mike Flynn’s ReAwaken America tour; and Jentezen Franklin, a televangelist who also spoke at the 2022 Pray Vote Stand Summit, which mobilizes conservative Christian voters to engage in political activism.

In addition to its thrumming weekly worship sessions and its blockbuster events, the church has another project: Dream City Christian Academy. The K-12 private school, which serves nearly 800 students, is part of Turning Point USA’s Turning Point Academy program, a network of 41 schools that describes itself as “an educational movement that exists to glorify God and preserve the founding principles of the United States through influencing and inspiring the formation of the next generation.” Dream City Christian Academy promises to “Protect our campus from the infiltration of unethical agendas by rejecting all ‘woke’ and untruthful ideologies being pushed on students.” This politically charged approach to education likely isn’t for everyone—and because it’s a private school, it doesn’t have to be. Except for one thing: Dream City Christian Academy is one of a growing number of religious schools that are supported by public funds.

In 2022, Arizona became the first state in which all students are allowed to use state vouchers to cover a portion of tuition at any private school, secular or religious. Through Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, each participating family receives about 90 percent of the money the state would have spent on the child’s public school education—around $7,000 per student per year—for private school tuition. For the 2024-2025 school year, the Dream City Christian Academy annual tuition ranges from $10,450 in elementary school to $13,999 in high school—so families of the school’s nearly 800 students can use state funds to pay for between half and two-thirds of their tuition bill. Dream City Christian Academy received almost $1 million in tuition voucher money last year, the Arizona Republic recently reported.

Since Arizona passed its universal voucher law, 10 more states have followed suit. According to an analysis by Education Week, 29 states currently have programs that provide such assistance to a variety of different students many of whom attend local public schools that perform poorly. It also targets those with a disability that requires specialized education and those whose families earn significantly less than the federal poverty level. More programs are in the works: Lawmakers in both Louisiana and South Carolina recently advanced bills that would create programs like Arizona’s that are open to all students. When state funds are available for private school choice programs, a recent Washington Post analysis found that religious schools receive upwards of 90 percent of that money.

[...] A prerequisite for students and their families to attend some of the schools that currently receive voucher money is that they accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. In March, the education blog Notes from the Chalkboard highlighted one such school. Students attending North Carolina’s Daniel Christian Academy, are trained to “enter the Seven Mountains of Influence,” a main tenet of a Christian Nationalist movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation. Its adherents believe that the faithful are called to seek Christian control of the “seven mountains” of society: family, education, media, government, business, arts & entertainment, and religion. Many New Apostolic Reformation followers believe that waging “spiritual warfare” is justified in achieving these goals, though Daniel Christian Academy specifies that its endorsement of the Seven Mountains Mandate “in no way includes violence or manipulation at any level.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State’s Laser worries that the proliferation of private school voucher programs will open the door to even more permissive rules around the use of public education dollars to teach religion. She points to a suite of bills that would allow public schools to employ chaplains, and even more remarkably, to an Oklahoma Catholic school called St. Isidore of Seville, which is set to become the nation’s first Christian public charter school this fall. The overarching goal of these initiatives, she says, is to “bestow a power and privilege on Christians in our country, at the expense of all the other religions in America.” Meanwhile, public education is robbed  “of the funding that it’s entitled to.”

Mother Jones reports on the disturbing trend of Christian Nationalists opening taxpayer-funded private schools with the intention to indoctrinate students with right-wing politics and a Christian Nationalist worldview.