#assembly polls results 2020

[mariacallous]

This is a gift article

“In normal times, Americans don’t think much about democracy. Our Constitution, with its guarantees of free press, speech, and assembly, was written more than two centuries ago. Our electoral system has never failed, not during two world wars, not even during the Civil War. Citizenship requires very little of us, only that we show up to vote occasionally. Many of us are so complacent that we don’t bother. We treat democracy like clean water, something that just comes out of the tap, something we exert no effort to procure.

“But these are not normal times.”

I wrote those words in October 2020, at a time when some people feared voting, because they feared contagion. The feeling that “these are not normal times” also came from rumors about what Donald Trump’s campaign might do if he lost that year’s presidential election. Already, stories that Trump would challenge the validity of the results were in circulation. And so it came to pass.

This time, we are living in a much different world. The predictions of what might happen on November 5 and in the days that follow are not based on rumors. On the contrary, we can be absolutely certain that an attempt will be made to steal the 2024 election if Kamala Harris wins. Trump himself has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election. He has waffled on and evaded questions about whether he will accept the outcome in 2024. He has hired lawyers to prepare to challenge the results.

Trump also has a lot more help this time around from his own party. Strange things are happening in state legislatures: a West Virginia proposal to “not recognize an illegitimate presidential election” (which could be read as meaning not recognize the results if a Democrat wins); a last-minute push, ultimately unsuccessful, to change the way Nebraska allocates its electoral votes. Equally weird things are happening in state election boards. Georgia’s has passed a rule requiring that all ballots be hand-counted, as well as machine-counted, which, if not overturned, will introduce errors—machines are more accurate—and make the process take much longer. A number of county election boards have in recent elections tried refusing to certify votes, not least because many are now populated with actual election deniers, who believe that frustrating the will of the people is their proper role. Multiple people and groups are also seeking mass purges of the electoral rolls.

Anyone who is closely following these shenanigans—or the proliferation of MAGA lawsuits deliberately designed to make people question the legitimacy of the vote even before it is held—already knows that the challenges will multiply if the presidential vote is as close as polls suggest it could be. The counting process will be drawn out, and we may not know the winner for many days. If the results come down to one or two states, they could experience protests or even riots, threats to election officials, and other attempts to change the results.

This prospect can feel overwhelming: Many people are not just upset about the possibility of a lost or stolen election, but oppressed by a sensation of helplessness. This feeling—I can’t do anything; my actions don’t matter—is precisely the feeling that autocratic movements seek to instill in citizens, as Peter Pomerantsev and I explain in our recent podcast, Autocracy in America. But you can always do something. If you need advice about what that might be, here is an updated citizen’s guide to defending democracy.

Help Out on Voting Day—In Person

First and foremost: Register to vote, and make sure everyone you know has done so too, especially students who have recently changed residence. The website Vote.gov has a list of the rules in all 50 states, in multiple languages, if you or anyone you know has doubts. Deadlines have passed in some states, but not all of them.

After that, vote—in person if you can. Because the MAGA lawyers are preparing to question mail-in and absentee ballots in particular, go to a polling station if at all possible. Vote early if you can, too: Here is a list of early-voting rules for each state.

Secondly, be prepared for intimidation or complications. As my colleague Stephanie McCrummen has written, radicalized evangelical groups are organizing around the election. One group is planning a series of “Kingdom to the Capitol” rallies in swing-state capitals, as well as in Washington, D.C.; participants may well show up near voting booths on Election Day. If you or anyone you know has trouble voting, for any reason, call 866-OUR-VOTE, a hotline set up by Election Protection, a nonpartisan national coalition led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

If you have time to do more, then join the effort. The coalition is looking for lawyers, law students, and paralegals to help out if multiple, simultaneous challenges to the election occur at the county level. Even people without legal training are needed to serve as poll monitors, and of course to staff the hotline. In the group’s words, it needs people to help voters with “confusing voting rules, outdated infrastructure, rampant misinformation, and needless obstacles to the ballot box.”

If you live in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin, you can also volunteer to help All Voting Is Local, an organization that has been on the ground in those states since before 2020 and knows the rules, the officials, the potential threats. It, too, is recruiting legal professionals, as well as poll monitors. If you don’t live in one of those states, you can still make a financial contribution.

Wherever you live, consider working at a polling station. All Voting Is Local can advise you if you live in one of its eight states, but you can also call your local board of elections. More information is available at PowerThePolls.org, which will send you to the right place. The site explains that “our democracy depends on ordinary people who make sure every election runs smoothly and everyone's vote is counted—people like you.”

Wherever you live, it’s also possible to work for one of the many get-out-the-vote campaigns. Consider driving people to the voting booth. Find your local group by calling the offices of local politicians, members of Congress, state legislators, and city councillors. The League of Women Voters and the NAACP are just two of many organizations that will be active in the days before the election, and on the day itself. Call them to ask which local groups they recommend. Or, if you are specifically interested in transporting Democrats, you can volunteer for Rideshare2Vote.

If you know someone who needs a ride, then let them know that the ride-hailing company Lyft is once again working with a number of organizations, including the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the National Council on Aging, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, and the Hispanic Federation. Contact any of them for advice about your location. Also try local religious congregations, many of whom organize rides to the polls.

Smaller gestures are needed too. If you see a long voting line, or if you find yourself standing in one, report it to Pizza to the Polls and the group will send over some free pizza to cheer everyone up.

Join Something Now

Many people have long been preparing for a challenge to the election and a battle in both the courts and the media. You can help them by subscribing to the newsletters of some of the organizations sponsoring this work, donating money, and sharing their information with others. Don’t wait until the day after the vote to find groups you trust: If a crisis happens, you will not want to be scouring the internet for information.

Among the organizations to watch is the nonpartisan Protect Democracy, which has already launched successful lawsuits to secure voting rights in several states. Another is the States United Democracy Center, which collaborates with police as well as election workers to make sure that elections are safe. Three out of four election officials say that threats to them have increased; in some states, the danger will be just as bad the day after the election as it was the day before, or maybe even worse.

The Brennan Center for Justice, based at NYU, researches and promotes concrete policy proposals to improve democracy, and puts on public events to discuss them. Its lawyers and experts are preparing not only for attempts to steal the election, but also, in the case of a Trump victory, for subsequent assaults on the Constitution or the rule of law.

For voters who lean Democratic, Democracy Docket also offers a wealth of advice, suggestions, and information. The group’s lawyers have been defending elections for many years. For Republicans, Republicans for the Rule of Law is a much smaller group, but one that can help keep people informed.

Talk With People

In case of a real disaster—an inconclusive election or an outbreak of violence—you will need to find a way to talk about it, including a way to speak with friends or relatives who are angry and have different views. In 2020, I published some suggestions from More in Common, a research group that specializes in the analysis of political polarization, for how to talk with people who disagree with you about politics, as well as those who are cynical and apathetic. I am repeating here the group’s three dos and three don’ts:

•Do talk about local issues: Americans are bitterly polarized over national issues, but have much higher levels of trust in their state and local officials. •Do talk about what your state and local leaders are doing to ensure a safe election. •Do emphasize our shared values—the large majority of Americans still feel that democracy is preferable to all other forms of government—and our historical ability to deliver safe and fair elections, even in times of warfare and social strife. •Don’t, by contrast, dismiss people’s concerns about election irregularities out of hand. Trump and his allies have repeatedly raised the specter of widespread voter fraud in favor of Democrats. Despite a lack of evidence for this notion, many people may sincerely believe that this kind of electoral cheating is real. •Don’t rely on statistics to make your case, because people aren’t convinced by them; talk, instead, about what actions are being taken to protect the integrity of the vote. •Finally, don’t inadvertently undermine democracy further: Emphasize the strength of the American people, our ability to stand up to those who assault democracy. Offer people a course of action, not despair.

As a Last Resort, Protest

As in 2020, protest remains a final option. A lot of institutions, including some of those listed above, are preparing to step in if the political system fails. But if they all fail as well, remember that it’s better to protest in a group, and in a coordinated, nonviolent manner. Many of the organizations I have listed will be issuing regular statements right after the election; follow their advice to find out what they are doing. Remember that the point of a protest is to gain supporters—to win others over to your cause—and not to make a bad situation worse. Large, peaceful gatherings will move and convince people more than small, angry ones. Violence makes you enemies, not friends.

Finally, don’t give up: There is always another day. Many of your fellow citizens also want to protect not just the electoral system but the Constitution itself. Start looking for them now, volunteer to help them, and make sure that they, and we, remain a democracy where power changes hands peacefully.

[mandokero-eboy]

So my former country had an election huh?

Aight let's do some motherfucking politics on the Venezuelan election. Been trying to tune it out all day. No I didn't vote I didn't have the chance to register because of reasons.

First of all, I definitely think that it was either stolen or that they are trying to steal it ahead of time without actually counting the vote. The government declared victory with 80% of the vote being counted when the difference between the two candidates being only 6 points. They claimed this to be an insurmountable difference. That's obviously not true and is objectively sus as fuck.

Bit of a history lesson: Elections in Venezuela are always sus as fuck. Before voting even happens they often bar popular opposition candidates from even running. This is the reason why the current opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzales, is basically running on behalf of the more well known figure Maria Corina Machado, who is barred from running, and she's pretty much the face of the whole thing there.

They've messed with the internal organization of independent political parties (which how the fuck are they even allowed to force a political party to switch their leadership around?); the Supreme Court picked the Electoral Council in charge of running the elections in 2020 even though that's an authority reserved for Congress. All these shenanigans prevented the opposition from running again in the parliamentary election of 2020 and completely removed them from the National Assembly which they won fair and square in 2015.

And even if the opposition wins the government will probably pull some shenanigans so they don't have any power. For example, after they lost the parliamentary election in 2015 the supreme court pulled a bunch of shenanigans and transferred all their powers to themselves, then gave them back. Then the government organized an assembly to rewrite the constitution which is staffed entirely of government loyalists and then that assembly handed itself all Legislative Powers. Of course, that assembly was disbanded when the government blocked the opposition from running and thus regained control of the regular congress 5 years later. Not to mention we also have gerrymandering and they change the electoral system every time there's a parliamentary election, as a treat.

I don't know what to tell you if you think this is not hella fucking sus or that these shenanigans represent the actions of a democratic government with a sound popular mandate which respects the will of the people.

So what happened yesterday on July 28, 2024? The opposition faction has declared victory saying the results they have access to and can verify 40% of the official vote count, which says there's a 70% victory in favor of them with 30% against Maduro. I am taking this with a grain of salt that it's incontrovertible proof that they won because it also, mathematically, is not. However this would be broadly consistent with polls leading up to the election as well as the reported exit polls. Remains to be seen in what way they'll continue to dispute the results and if they'll be successful. As you may have deduced from the history lesson, the opposition are not known to be very competent.

There's a bit of misinformation floating around that I've seen. Videos of alleged ballot stealing that are just old videos of dudes stealing AC units have been circulating. There's also graphs from a few government affiliated outlets showing the results adding up to 139% or so. I think that's more a guy in TeleSur being a dipshit because they said all the third party candidates got 4.2% of the vote (combined) and they just wrote it as each of them getting 4.2%. Again, TeleSur not known to be very competent. This is not evidence of fraud it's evidence of an intern in a propaganda outlet being dumb.

There was also an exit poll distributed by someone affiliated with the government that showed Maduro winning. It was made by a fake company that couldn't be traced. Side note on this but I've heard people discounting exit polls entirely because they're illegal in Venezuela. What's illegal here is distributing exit polls before official results are announced. Conducting an exit poll is not illegal.

Finally, to reiterate, the government declared victory with 20% of the vote left to count and barely a 6% difference in the total while declaring this somehow an insurmountable trend.

Clearly there's misinformation on both sides. What this tells me is that there's broad mistrust of the government in conducting a fair election, and also the government affiliated actors have an incentive in declaring victory very quickly.

Nevertheless, some violence and irregularities have been reported in polling centers. It's likely we're not given any official explanations for these irregularities.

If I want any takeaway from this post to my non-Venezuelan audience, especially the left wing audience, it is this:

Nicolas Maduro is not a universally beloved special darling boy of socialism who's never done anything wrong. He's extremely divisive at best, only won by 50% originally and has had electoral results for both himself and his party in congress only get worse. Him losing would not be very surprising. It wouldn't have to be a CIA conspiracy to depose him. He's also not even very good at socialism and his anti-imperialist credentials are shoddy as fuck. The indigenous representatives in the National Assembly have supported the Opposition coalition for a decade now. For all their talk about sovereignty and independence the country is nonetheless economically beholden to Russia and China and he has been cutting deals with the US under the table anyway. Oh and they threatened to invade another country like a year ago? That was wild. Not to mention the welfare state that his predecessor built is currently in shambles and so are the nationalized industries, and they have for many years. I have my own misgivings about the opposition coalition but they seem hardly relevant when the government is very clearly flaunting democracy itself.

I am not one for emotional pleas for my country's future or whatever the fuck. I stopped being emotionally attached to this place when I was 8 and I actively despise patriotism. I cringe every time I see the flag. But I care about a certain set of values like democracy and all that jazz and I am not a fan of the brain worms that the western left often gets where a motherfucker can put on a red shirt while being from the Global South and get universal praise from a certain set of American leftists. Do like, a little bit of critical thinking here guys if this is what elections are supposed to look like under socialism I don't fucking want it. This guy isn't interested in building an independent sovereign socialist country that cares for its people he just knows that the second he's not president he's getting cannibalized.

[the-sky-the-stars-the-sea]

Okay people of Tumblr. Now it’s time for you to go wild or do nothing.

Get this post to 100k notes and I’ll give my tumblr-using crush my url.

Get this post to 200k notes to get me and I’ll tell said crush I have a crush on them. (Yes telling them my url and telling them are two different things and yes both require lots of motivation just go with it)

(Yeah I know they’d probably figure out I have a crush on them once they find my tumblr but we’re not into logistics right now)

Get this post to 300k notes and I will ask said crush plus my other crush if they maybe want to start a polycule. (I keep imagining we’d make a great throuple)

Get this post to 500k notes and I’ll tell my other other crush who is also polyam that I’m open to dating them if they are open to the idea of dating me.

Get this post to 666k notes and I’ll tell my roommate of one week (school trip) that I’ve had a crush on them since the autumn of 2020.

Get this post to 999,999 notes and I’ll tell my childhood best friend that I have known for as long as we’ve been friends that I’ve always loved them and always will, and maybe not just in a platonic or queer platonic way. (I still can’t figure out just how I love them. I just feel like I’m hiding something from them when they don’t know just how much I feel for them)

Make any homophobic/transphobic/aphobic/ anti-polyamory comment and you’re blocked.

No you are not allowed to judge my non-existent love life or my looking for love priorities. I can’t stop you from asking questions but I can’t guarantee I’ll give you answers (though I am more likely to give answers to genuine questions)

And because I’m curious, here’s a poll:

If you see this post after the poll closes (look I know that some people know how to manipulate polls to make them longer than a week but I’m not that smart) but still wanna answer the question just put in comments or tags which one(s) you’re most invested in.

Alright, Tumblr. I’ll give you 6-12 months. I’ll shorten the length if this takes off faster than a rocket. However this will remain the same: if this post does not reach 100k notes by the Ides Of March 2025, then nothing will happen.

(also if you think I should rearrange these priorities feel free to tell me, I’m open to opinions)

Alright tumblr. Do (or don’t do) your thing.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Rick McKee, Augusta Chronicle

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 5, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

In yesterday’s election in Wisconsin, the two candidates represented very different futures for the country. One candidate for the state supreme court, Daniel Kelly, had helped politicians to gerrymander the state to give Republicans an iron lock on the state assembly and was backed by antiabortion Republicans. The other, Janet Protasiewicz, promised to stand behind fair voting maps and the protection of reproductive rights. Wisconsin voters elected Protasiewicz by an overwhelming eleven points in a state where elections are usually decided by a point or so. Kelly reacted with an angry, bitter speech. “I wish that in a circumstance like this I would be able to concede to a worthy opponent,” he said. “But I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede.” Yesterday’s vote in Wisconsin reinforces the polling numbers that show how overwhelmingly popular abortion rights and fair voting are, and it seems likely to throw the Republican push to suppress voting into hyperdrive before the 2024 election. Since the 1980s, Republicans have pushed the idea of “ballot integrity” or, later, “voter fraud” to justify voter suppression. That cry began in 1986, when Republican operatives, realizing that voters opposed Reagan’s tax cuts, launched a “ballot integrity” initiative that they privately noted “could keep the black vote down considerably.” That effort to restrict the vote is now a central part of Republican policy. Together with Documented, an investigative watchdog and journalism project, The Guardian today published the story of the attempt by three leading right-wing election denial groups to restrict voting rights in Republican-dominated states by continuing the lie that voting fraud is rampant. The Guardian’s story, by Ed Pilkington and Jamie Corey, explores a two-day February meeting in Washington organized by the right-wing Heritage Foundation and attended by officials from 13 states, including the chief election officials of Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. At the meeting, participants learned about auditing election results, litigation, and funding to challenge election results. Many of the attendees and speakers are associated with election denial. Since the 2020 election, Republican-dominated states have passed “election reform” measures that restrict the vote; those efforts are ongoing. On Thursday alone, the Texas Senate advanced a number of new restrictions. In the wake of high turnout among Generation Z Americans, who were born after 1996 and are more racially and ethnically diverse than their elders, care deeply about reproductive and LGBTQ rights, and want the government to do more to address society’s ills, Republican legislatures are singling out the youth vote to hamstring. That determination to silence younger Americans is playing out today in Tennessee, where a school shooting on March 28 in Nashville killed six people, including three 9-year-olds. The shooting has prompted protesters to demand that the legislature honor the will of the people by addressing gun safety, but instead, Republicans in the legislature have moved to expel three Democratic lawmakers who approached the podium without being recognized to speak—a breach of House rules—and led protesters in chants calling for gun reform. As Republicans decried the breach by Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson, protestors in the galleries called out, “Fascists!” Republican efforts to gain control did not end there. On Twitter today, Johnson noted that she had “just had a visit from the head of HR and the House ethics lawyer,” who told her “that if I am expelled, I will lose my health benefits,” but the ethics lawyer went on to explain “that in one case, a member who was potentially up for expulsion decided to resign because if you resign, you maintain your health benefits.” The echoes of Reconstruction in that conversation are deafening. In that era, when the positions of the parties were reversed, southern Democrats used similar “persuasion” to chase Republican legislators out of office. When that didn’t work, of course, they also threatened the physical safety of those who stood in the way of their absolute control of politics. On Saturday night, someone fired shots into the home of the man who founded and runs the Tennessee Holler, a progressive news site. Justin Kanew was covering the gun safety struggle in Tennessee. He wrote: “This violence has no place in a civilized society and we are thankful no one was physically hurt. The authorities have not completed their investigation and right now we do not know for sure the reason for this attack. We urge the Williamson County Sheriff’s office to continue to investigate this crime and help shed light on Saturday’s unfortunate events and bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice. In the meantime, our family remains focused on keeping our children healthy and safe.” The anger coming from losing candidate Kelly last night, and his warning that “this does not end well….[a]nd I wish Wisconsin the best of luck because I think it's going to need it,” sure sounded like those lawmakers in the Reconstruction years who were convinced that only people like them should govern. The goal of voter suppression, control of statehouses, and violence—then and now—is minority rule. Today’s Republican Party has fallen under the sway of MAGA Republicans who advocate Christian nationalism despite its general unpopularity; on April 3, Hungarian president Viktor Orbán, who has destroyed true democracy in favor of “Christian democracy” in his own country, cheered Trump on and told him to “keep on fighting.” Like Orbán, today's Republicans reject the principles that underpin democracy, including the ideas of equality before the law and separation of church and state, and instead want to impose Christian rule on the American majority. Their conviction that American “tradition” focuses on patriarchy rather than equality is a dramatic rewriting of our history, and it has led to recent attacks on LGBTQ Americans. In Kansas today, the legislature overrode Democratic governor Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill banning transgender athletes who were assigned male at birth from participating in women’s sports. Kansas is the twentieth state to enact such a policy, and when it goes into effect, it will affect just one youth in the state. Yesterday, Idaho governor Brad Little signed a law banning gender-affirming care for people under 18, and today Indiana governor Eric Holcomb did the same. Meanwhile, Republican-dominated states are so determined to ignore the majority they are also trying to make it harder for voters to challenge state laws through ballot initiatives. Alice MIranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly of Politico recently wrote about how, after voters in a number of states overrode abortion bans through ballot initiatives, legislatures in Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma are now debating ways to make it harder for voters to get measures on the ballot, sometimes even specifying that abortion-related measures are not eligible for ballot challenges. And yet, in the face of the open attempt of a minority to seize control, replacing our democracy with Christian nationalism, the majority is reasserting its power. In Michigan, after an independent redistricting commission redrew maps to end the same sort of gerrymandering that is currently in place in Wisconsin and Tennessee, Democrats in 2022 won a slim majority to control the state government. And today, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a bill revoking a 1931 law that criminalized abortion without exception for rape or incest.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[arpov-blog-blog]

..."...inflation is at/near Fed target rates, some prices are falling, rents/mortgage rates/gas prices are down, the soft landing appears to be happening; crime and murder rates have come down substantially over the past year, and remain a fraction of what they were 30 years ago; we have the lowest uninsured rate ever recorded, and ACA signups this year have set records; we’ve seen record domestic oil and renewable production, making America more energy independent then we’ve been in many decades; the President has forgiven over $130b in student debt, by some measures Gen Z home ownership rates are outpacing Millennials and Gen X, years of minimum wage increases across the county has created a much higher entry level wage for young and new workers; consumer sentiment is rising, and measures of life/job/income satisfaction are at elevated levels right now; the historic investments the President has made will create opportunities for American workers for decades to come, leave America far stronger and by dramatically accelerating the energy transition from fossil fuels make it far more likely we prevent the planet from warming; polling out this week has the President with sturdy leads in MI, NH and PA, and gaining 3 points and leading now in one important national tracking poll; after a great 2022 election, Democrats just saw a blue wave in 2023, as we won elections of all kinds across the country and outperformed our 2020 results - an election we won by 4.5 pts - by an average of 5 points in almost 40 state legislative special elections.

My summary of where we are now:

Joe Biden is a good President. The country is better off. We have a very compelling case for re-election. The Democratic Party is strong, winning elections across the US and our “bench” is the most talented it’s been in many decades.

Republicans, on the other hand, are making an enormous mistake in sticking with Trump, who is far more degraded, extreme and dangerous - and further away from the electorate - than he was in 2020 when he lost by 4 and a half points. His performance on the stump is far more erratic, and he keeps making hugely consequential political mistakes (calling for a repeal of the ACA, saying he wants the economy to crash - WTF?). Donald Trump 2024 is an historically awful and terrible candidate.

Can we get to 55 and make the 2024 elections a clear repudiation of MAGA, sending a loud and important signal that America has rejected this horrible politics, and has chosen democracy and freedom over illiberalism extremism? Yes, I think making 2024 a big election, a big win, high single digits even, is something that is possible for us, and something we must be working towards every single day. For by doing so it far far more likely we can send MAGA back into the dustbin of history where it so clearly belongs."

The Republican Party has metastasized into something truly dangerous to America and the world. Bibi needs to go. Gun violence remains an outrageous imposition on our liberties. The viciousness of the assault on women’s reproductive freedom, I will admit, overwhelms me sometimes, and I wish I felt we were making more and faster progress here. Declining life expectancy here in the US is a warning about our collective health we must heed. The degradation and poisoning of our daily discourse is a far greater problem than many of us understand or will admit. I could go on.

But that’s not what we do here at Hopium. We do more, worry less. We channel our anxiety, our fear into concrete action. We postcard, canvass, call, text, donate and spread the good news about Joe Biden and the Democrats through our networks. We win elections, kick their ass, take things like the six week abortion ban in Ohio, Jacksonville, the Virginia Assembly, A Wisconsin Supreme Court seat and years of rancid gerrymandering away from them. We are proud patriots, who love our country, and are doing everything we can to make sure the remarkable world of “possibilities” that was available to us is there for our kids and grandkids. When they talk down America, we talk it up. We are Democrats."

[hardynwa]

Imo Poll: Groups Demand REC, Others’ Sack

Some civil society groups in the Southeast have written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), pointing out conditions for inclusive, free and credible governorship election in Imo State, scheduled for November 11, 2023. In separate petitions to the national chairman of the commission, Mahmoud Yakubu, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and the South-East Zone of the Civil Liberties Organisation (South-East CLO) specifically demanded the removal of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Silvia Agu and 17 other top electoral officers and the demilitarisation of the polling units and result collation centres. The groups disclosed that several investigations into state of affairs in Imo State indicated that the enthronement of popular and credible democratic government in the state remained key to ending myriad of problems bedevilling the state since January, 2020. While Intersociety’s letter was dated Monday, August 21, 2023 and signed by the board chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chidinma Udegbunam Esquire (head of publicity) and Ositadinma Agu (head of contacts and mobilisation), that of the South-East CLO was dated Tuesday, August 22, 2023 and signed by the chairman of the South-East CLO, Comrade Aloysius Emeka Attah. In the petitions, the groups urged the headquarters of the commission to comprehensively overhaul the Imo INEC and its principal departments, including EOs, Administration, Operations, ICT, Voter Education, among others and address the anomalies arising from the 2023 presidential/national/state assembly polls in the state. “Several INEC officers were strongly accused of playing different indictable roles to undermine the credibility of the polls; to the extent that the state assembly poll in the state was the worst of it all and a ‘walkover’ for candidates of the state ruling APC by “winning” 26 of the State’s 27 House of Assembly seats. “Vicariously or otherwise, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Sylvia Agu, did not stand tall to be counted and respected owing to her poor handling of the earlier 2023 polls and therefore could not be trusted to organise and deliver a free, participatory and credible governorship poll in the state scheduled for November 11, 2023″, read one of the petitions. It also added that having comprehensively checked and monitored the goings on in Imo State ahead of the November 11, 2023 governorship poll, it has found that REC Sylvia Agu and 17 other top electoral officers, including 11 EOs and six departmental heads drawn from the State INEC Secretariat are grossly incapable of ensuring free, participatory and credible Governorship Poll in the State. The petition urged the INEC national headquarters to address all the wrongs arising from the 2023 general election and clean up and reposition the state’s INEC ahead of the Nov 11, 2023 governorship poll. They further called on the INEC that several of the electoral officers in the 27 Local Government Areas in the state had long overstayed far above periods allowed by the INEC Establishment Act of 2004 or the Electoral Act of 2022 as amended which has also made them vulnerable to electoral corruption and related sharp practices. They therefore maintained that they were certainly not sure that the Imo REC, Prof Sylvia Agu is capable of conducting free, participatory and credible Governorship Poll in the State on Nov 11, 2023; with a clear case in point being her recent invitation of 2,300 soldiers for the Poll which was not only widely condemned and rejected but also seen by many as “militarization of the Poll with intent to rig the election.” Read the full article

[newslime]

‘Will win 150 seats’: Rahul Gandhi's prediction for Congress in MP election

Gandhi addressed the media after the party's 'election preparedness meet' in Delhi, attended by top Congress leaders, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday predicted that the party will win 150 out of 230 seats in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly election later this year. “Karnataka election result will be repeated in Madhya Pradesh,” Gandhi told reporters after the party’s meeting on election preparedness.

“We had a detailed meeting just now, and our internal assessment indicates that after securing 136 seats in Karnataka, we are now projected to win 150 seats in Madhya Pradesh,” Gandhi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

In a video shared by ANI, when asked about the Congress party’s chief ministerial candidate for Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi chose not to provide a direct answer but emphasised the party’s goal of winning 150 seats.

Kamal Nath who served as the state chief minister during Congress’ short-lived government in the state between 2018 and 2020, said, “We discussed the strategy and the issues on which the party should contest these polls. We are all of the opinion that we will enter the poll fray unitedly.”

Preparing for upcoming elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh

Besides Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh, and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss the upcoming assembly election in the state.

According to news agency PTI, Rajasthan Congress leaders were also slated to convene in Delhi, including chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

Both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are set to hold elections by the end of this year. Currently, Rajasthan is under the governance of the Congress party, led by Ashok Gehlot, while Madhya Pradesh is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Shivraj Singh Chouhan serving as the chief minister.

Congress promises for Madhya Pradesh

Congress, last week released a list of ‘five promises’ to the people of Madhya Pradesh ahead of the assembly election:

1. Gas cylinder at ₹500

2. ₹1500 to every woman per month

3. 100 units of free electricity, 200 units halved

4. Farm loan waiver

5. Implementation of old pension scheme

Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh had earlier said that Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath is poised to be the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming 2023 assembly election.

The assembly polls are expected to take place at the end of the year. In the 2018 elections, the Congress emerged as the largest party and formed government under Nath’s leadership. But in 2020, Nath was forced to resign after his government was reduced to minority due to resignation of 23 Congress MLAs owing allegiance to Jyotiraditya Scindia. The BJP later formed the government under Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

[bobyseo]

Chandrababu Naidu's innovative policies and visionary leadership on the economic transformation of Andhra Pradesh.

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, a prominent political leader and intellectual, has had a profound impact on the state of Andhra Pradesh through his visionary leadership and innovative policies. Born in 1950 in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, He went on to receive a Master's degree in Economics from Sir Venkateshwara Arts College, Tirupati. He entered politics in 1980, and by 1985 had become the General Secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

In 1994, the TDP won a sweeping victory in the Legislative Assembly polls, and Chandrababu Naidu was appointed as the Minister for Revenue and Finance. Following a significant split in the party, he was chosen as the President of the TDP and became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1995, a position he held for two consecutive terms until 2004. He is currently the first Chief Minister of the divided Andhra Pradesh.

Under N. Chandrababu Naidu’s leadership, Andhra Pradesh saw unprecedented economic growth and development. The state rose from 22nd among Indian states in 1995-96 to 5th place in 1996-1997. Business Today survey in 2000 ranked it as the 3rd best place to invest in after Maharashtra and Gujarat. Additionally, Andhra Pradesh was ranked 2nd in terms of investor perception. His TDP policies and initiatives were instrumental in bringing about this economic transformation.

Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu modernized administration by computerizing several Government Operations and took initiatives for the convenience of the public, such as E-Seva, through which all the utility bills and taxes could be paid at a single counter. He was also responsible for developing the new Hyderabad international airport and creating many ports and IT parks through public-private partnerships. To get live updates and recent news about his developments and initiatives visit the official TDP website.

Nara Chandrababu Naidu's efforts were not limited to the urban centres of Andhra Pradesh, as he launched schemes like ‘Janmbhoomi’ (Motherland), a project that invited people to participate in developing the state. He also created DWCRA (Development of Women & Children in Rural Areas) groups, which aimed to provide social and economic infrastructure to the women of Andhra Pradesh. All the information about these Developments of TDP and achievements of TDP under the governance of N. Chandrababu Naidu is available on TDP’s official website.

Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s vision and vigor earned him the title of "IT Naidu" or even the "CEO of Andhra Pradesh." His management-centric governance brought a turnaround in the State’s economic performance, with developmental activities taking place in every sector, every region, and every sphere of activity. He was the longest-serving Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and his legacy continues to inspire leaders worldwide.

NCBN’s achievements are nothing short of legendary, and his leadership has been transformational for Andhra Pradesh. He implemented an ambitious strategy that unfolded in a synergy of technology and innovation aimed at socio-economic development, which rolled out as his Vision 2020 program. As a result of his visionary policies, Andhra Pradesh became the leading investment destination in the country.

Considered the subcontinent’s most visionary politician, He turned an impoverished, rural backwater into India’s new information-technology hub in just five years. He also shook up the state’s comatose administration, transforming it into the most efficient civil service in South Asia. His accomplishments have been recognized both within and outside of India, and he is widely regarded as a trailblazer in the field of economic and social development.

[vdholidays]

The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured a five-year visa for Nigerians

Following the approval for the implementation of the new Bilateral Consular Policy Agreements between the governments of Nigeria and the United States of America, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, issued the directive.

Among the agreements are reciprocity of five (5) year tourist visa validity for American citizens pursuant to Section 30 of the Immigration Act, 2015; and extension of visa validity to three (3) years for diplomats and government officials between Nigerians and Americans.

As a result, the Minister of Interior has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, to begin enforcing the policy on March 1. The main focus is item number five on the list. “As part of the Bilateral Agreement, the United States of America will implement a similar policy for Nigerians wishing to travel on Tourist Visas to the United States and for our diplomats and officials visiting the country. The United States will thus extend Tourist Visa Validity for Nigerian citizens to five (5) years,” Aregbesola’s statement by his Media Adviser, Sola Fasure. The Minister also urged all registered voters in Nigeria to vote today, promising a safe and secure environment before, during, and after the elections. He stated that in exercising their civil democratic right to vote in the Presidential and National Assembly elections, it is critical that all hands be on deck to ensure that the process is peaceful, safe, and successful. "Internal movement has been limited to polling units. There will also be no cross-border movement of people. Law enforcement agencies are required to use all available means to protect people and property at polling places, on the streets, and at borders. Every threat must be contained, and assurances must be given for the safety of people and property, as well as the success of the elections.

"The Federal Government has put in place all necessary measures to ensure the security of lives and property and the success of the elections. Nigerians are urged to be calm and peaceful in their conduct, to vote quietly, and to avoid any act that could jeopardize this democratic festival."

The Minister added: “Nigerians will recall that President Muhammadu Buhari launched the new Nigeria Visa Policy (NPV) in 2020, which amongst other things promotes tourism. Tourist Visa falls under the Short Visit Visa (F5A) category. This policy is in line with Mr. President’s desire to boost cultural exchange and business between both nations.” He noted that in exercising their civil democratic right for the presidential and National Assembly elections, it was important that all hands should be on deck to make the exercise peaceful, safe, and successful.

Sourcehttps://visadone.com/news/the-federal-government-of-nigeria-has-secured-a-five-year-visa-for-nigerians/

[taylorscottbarnett]

Wierd, unexpected 2022 election results:

Can we talk about how Democrats vulnerable Senate races where for the most part, not even really that close in a Democratic President's midterm who has pretty bad approval raitings?

Pennsylvania had the democrat running +5 in an open senate seat.

That's the same margin that dems kept Arizona's Senate seat: +5.

North Carolina Republicans held the seat by a mear +3. Somthing that definitely suggests the seat is competitive, and in a environment favoring Democrats they could have taken the seat.

In Wisconsin of all things, Republicans only claimed the open seat by +0.99. Less than 1%.

State Races things got even weirder:

Democrats all but ran the table. In the midterm of an unpopular Democrat as President.

The big states for Democrats: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin has been a particularly sore spot for Democrats for years now, given it's severe rightward shift.

And in states where 2024 was not such a source of concern, such as Colorado, Maine and Minnesota, Democrats were mostly just trying to stave off defeats they feared were all too likely.

Democrats won handily over election denying candidates for Governor in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin of all places.

And in Michigan, Democrats secured a trifecta with both legeslative chambers flipping blue for the first time in decades. Further Democratic House candidates outperformed Biden in several Michigan districts.

In Minnesota Democrats won a trifecta.

They held both chambers in Colorado, Maine, Nevada and Oregon.

Thet prevented Republican Supermajorities able to override vetos of a Governor in the North Carolina House and the Wisconsin State Assembly. They did this while being wildly underfunded in state races.

More on Wisconsin:

Unlike many states, where partisan Secretaries of State oversee elections, Wisconsin uses a six-member, bipartisan elections commission.

Unfortunately this leads to 3-3 deadlocks at times--- as it did last month over rules regarding poll watchers.

Republicans openly talked about shutting down the commission outright and giving the power to the Secretary of State or the Governor. However they didn't take the Governorship or win Supermajorities in the state legislative chambers so fuck those ideas.

In Arizona the Attorney General race is a nail-bitter. Former Republican Kris Mayes, who switched to the Democratic Party in 2019, is just 0.02% ahead -- a little over 500 votes Vs his Trump-backed opponent-- a position that could have major ramifications in 2024.

Back in July Republicans hungrily eyed taking control of legeslative chambers in Nevada, Maine, Oregon, and Washington, adding to their target list of Colorado and Minnesota's statehouses.

(Fun fact, Republicans haven't won a state-wide race in Minnesota since 2006). The DFL Minnesota ((Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) ) remains in control of the State House and the State Senate flipped to Democratic control.

And liberal superpacs SWAMPED the races in ads. (Forward Majority and the States Project in particular, they posted record spending for Dems).

Further, although close, Democrats held off Republican wins for Governor in Kansas and Oregon.

In 2022. With an unpopular democratic president facing his first midterm, battling high inflation and fierce Republican resistance, after passing a host of landlark legislation (with big price tags) not a single state legislative chamber flipped from blue to red. A party in power hasn’t achieved that result in a midterm election year since at least 1934.

Democrats further kept their decades-old majority in the Illinois State Supreme Court, and overall there was no huge upset in the power balance nationwide.

New York was probably Democrats biggest disappointment. Republicans flipped 4-5 seats (two commandingly).

And in Ohio, a state that's seen a severe rightward shift in the last decade -- so much so I don't even consider it a swing-state anymore -- when like every part of the state (save like two) voted more for Democrats than in 2020. J.D. Vance only won by +6. In 2016 Republicans took the Senate seat by an astounding +20.8 points, roughly in line with their 2010 win in a largely Democratic blood-bath.

Overall the results suggest that the next time these Senate seats are up in 2028 -- another midterm year, Ohio and Wisconsin could be extremely close races for Democrats to win.

Suburban voters have also continued their shift blue, a trend starting in 2018, and continued through 2020, and 2022.

Assuming no large shift in the usual cities being huge democratic advantages and rural areas being huge Republican advantages in races, an increasingly diverse (and Millenial) suburban voter is critical to control of national and state-wide races. These increased voting blue under Trump and that has only continued despite overall what should be Republican-friendly environments.

[mariacallous]

September 8 is the first day of Russia’s regional and municipal elections in Russia and in annexed territories of Ukraine. Voting in many places will last three days, September 8–10, according to Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) head Ella Pamfilova. Elections began Friday in 54 regions, including Crimea, the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics,” and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Residents in about 30 other regions will also go to the polls this weekend, ending with the country’s unified voting day on September 10. (There’s also early voting, which began on August 20.)

Russia’s CEC will hold more than 4,000 elections at various levels over the next three days. These elections are being held in 79 regions of Russia and six occupied regions of Ukraine. According to officials, 21 regions, including Moscow, will choose governors; 16 regions will select regional legislators; and 12 regional capitals will vote on municipal deputies. Three regions — Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnoyarsk, and Lipetsk — will hold by-elections for the State Duma, and the city of Khabarovsk will elect a mayor. The Russian authorities have postponed two elections in areas in the Belgorod region that frequently come under attack from across the Ukrainian border.

Twenty-five regions will have an option for online voting, including Moscow, the Moscow region, the Chuvash Republic, the Altai region, the Vladimir region, the Voronezh region, the Tomsk region, and others. Altogether, as many as 22 million voters may take part in online elections. According to Commissioner Pamfilova, electronic voting systems were targeted by more than 5,000 cyberattacks in the hours after they went live this year.

While the results of many of this weekend’s elections are foregone conclusions, there are a few races whose outcomes are still anybody’s guess. Local parliamentary elections in Yakutia and the Nenets Autonomous District (NAO) are worth watching, as these are the only regions where the Communist Party beat the ruling United Russia party in 2021. Additionally, less than half of NAO’s voters supported amending the Russian Constitution in 2020 to extend Putin’s presidency. There’s also the Irkutsk region, where the Communist Party traditionally receives a high percentage of the vote. In the last Zabaykalsky legislative assembly election, United Russia won 28.3 percent of the vote, while the Communist Party and the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia won 24.6 percent each.

This weekend’s vote will also be the first time Russia’s CEC holds elections in the annexed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” and Ukraine’s annexed Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, each of which will elect members to its Russian-installed “parliaments.” The CEC reported on September 7 that 45 percent of voters cast their ballots early in the “DNR,” 26 percent voted early in the “LNR,” 28 percent voted early in the Zaporizhzhia region, and 53 percent voted early in the Kherson region. Russia is also holding elections for “city councils” in Donetsk, Luhansk, Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia region), and Henichesk (Kherson region). According to the head of the occupation administration in the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, foreign observers will monitor the elections, including from “friendly countries” outside the former Soviet Union.

Occupation authorities in newly annexed regions decided to hold elections despite ongoing fighting, and they reported artillery attacks on the first day of voting. On the morning of September 8, CEC Deputy Commissioner Nikolai Bulayev reported that members of the “regional election commission” in the Kherson region moved to a different location due to the risk of a missile attack. CEC head Ella Pamfilova reported that the “local election commission” was moved twice the same day for security reasons. The agency also reported that Russian air defenses downed two drones attempting to attack a polling station in the region. A commission representative blamed the attack on Ukrainian troops.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington will never recognize the results of elections conducted by Russia on annexed territories in Ukraine. He added that the U.S. may impose sanctions and visa restrictions against “any individuals who may support Russia’s sham elections in Ukraine, including by acting as so-called ‘international observers.’”

The election most likely to pose problems for the Kremlin this year is the gubernatorial race in Khakassia. State Duma deputy and United Russia member Sergey Sokol withdrew from the race one week before the start of voting, citing health problems. Meanwhile, Valentin Konovalov, the head of the region who won by picking up the protest vote in 2018, is running for reelection.

Elections in Moscow are being held from September 8–10. Residents will vote for a mayor and deputies in the 13 municipalities that make up New Moscow. Voting began online and at more than 2,000 polling sites at 8:00 a.m. on September 8 and will last until 8:00 p.m. on September 10. More than 2 million cash prizes ranging from 1,000 rubles ($10) to 5,000 rubles ($50) will be raffled to online voters. More than 500,000 people cast their votes in the first four hours of online voting, according to state media.

Incumbent Mayor Sergey Sobyanin faces off against State Duma Deputy Speaker Boris Chernyshov (LDPR), State Duma Deputy Speaker Vladislav Davankov (New People party), Moscow City Duma deputy Leonid Zyuganov (Communist Party), and Dmitry Gusev, the first deputy head of A Just Russia’s faction in the State Duma.

Jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny has urged voters to cast ballots for “any candidate against United Russia.” In a post on his blog, Navalny wrote: “Go to the elections with the goal of doing the maximum amount of harm possible to the party in power and its candidates.”

[ghostpalmtechnique]

Natural reasons:

In 2020, the pandemic had two important effects beyond the obvious: 1)Democrats were more likely to stay home, and thus answer the phone for pollsters. Not only is this no longer a factor, but spam/scam calls have become so bad that random-sampling polling is essentially impossible due to low response rates. Many polls now are panels assembled by incentives, such as payouts in "free-to-play" games. Both people willing to answer unfamiliar numbers and people playing scammy games are disproportionately the most gullible -- i.e. likely Trump supporters. This is effect is disproportionately true of young voters, which is where polls implausibly showing Trump doing well with 18-29 voters come from. 2)Dems had no ground operation in 2020 because of Covid. This is also no longer true.

Thumb-on-the-scale: Pollsters are so terrified of another 2020-like miss (and ignoring the opposite error in 2022) that they are modeling the electorate based on absurd assumptions since they can't get a random sample. Nate Cohn recently acknowledged that pollsters are doing absurd things (such as doing second sample rather than publishing results that they think are too strong for Harris). This, combined with the first paragraph, is how you get polls ostensibly showing the largest shift in black political opinions since the Civil Rights era despite a)no major changes since 2020, and b)none of the obvious non-polling evidence you would expect to see if 25-30% of black people now favor Trump. Since 2020, we had the January 6th insurrection and the fall of Roe v. Wade, but DJT's favorability rate is ostensibly higher than it's ever been. Even granting that many less intelligent people forget who was president during the worst of the pandemic and have pre-pandemic nostalgia, this is not plausible.

Harris is packing rallies, and the enthusiasm is obvious. Trump's mental decline is obvious; his rallies are less well-attended and his crowds less excited than in the past. He destroyed the RNC and outsourced his phone-banking and ground game to Elon and other scammers; Democrats are making far more voter contacts than Republicans are. Despite Mellon, Musk, and Adelson each donating more than $100 million to make up for the catastrophic drop in small donors for Trump, Democrats are outspending him on the airwaves because of an almost unprecedented wave of small donors. Trump (well, Musk) has been focusing GOP ads on attacking trans rights (which has a terrible electoral track record in 2020 and 2022) even as Harris appears to be gaining in voter preferences on inflation/economy. Women and people who care about women are incredibly energized about abortion rights, patriots including some traditional republicans are pissed about January 6th, the few Jews previously supportive of Trump are pissed about his blame/threats, and now Puerto Ricans have joined other minorities in leaning further than usual toward Democrats. (With the exception of the Jewish swing) these are all bigger shifts than possible losses for Democrats among Arab/Muslim voters, but have not been given similar weight by the media/vibes or by pollsters. (Vibes have also been affected by the fact that too many politicians and journalists refuse to get off of Twitter even though Musk is clearly using the algorithm as a fascist propaganda machine.)

If you are an eligible voter reading this and haven't voted yet, do not take this as a reason for complacency. But if all of the Harris-leaning voters show up and vote, it will be a slaughter. North Carolina going blue is likely; Blorida, Blexas, Blansas, etc. are within the realm of the possible. The only state that seems like it might go the other direction from 2020 is Nevada, but I wouldn't bet on that, either.

I should have posted sooner so I could let it run for a week and end before election day. Reblog for greater visibility please.

[bbbnews]

Bihar Election Results 2020 Live Updates : प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने किया ट्वीट – ‘बिहार ने दुनिया को लोकतंत्र का पहला पाठ पढ़ाया’ Bihar Election Results 2020: बिहार विधानसभा चुनाव की मतगणना अभी भी जारी - फाइल फोटो बिहार विधानसभा चुनाव के मतों की गिनती के ताजा आंकड़ों के अनुसार सत्तारूढ़ राष्ट्रीय जनतांत्रिक गठबंधन (राजग) विपक्षी महागठबंधन पर बढ़त बनाये हुए है. 

[trendsfashion27]

Bihar Election Results 2020 Live Updates: ताजा रुझानों में NDA को बहुमत, महागठबंधन पीछे

Bihar Election Results 2020 Live Updates: ताजा रुझानों में NDA को बहुमत, महागठबंधन पीछे

[ad_1]

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Bihar Election Results 2020: आज तय हो जाएगा कौन बनेगा बिहार का मुख्यमंत्री?

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Live Bihar Assembly Election Results 2020: बिहार विधानसभा चुनाव (Bihar assembly election 2020) के ताजा और शुरुआती रुझानों में NDA को बहुमत मिलता दिख रहा है. एनडीए को कुल 125 सीटें मिलती दिख रही हैं, जबकि महागठबंधन को 101 सीटें मिलती दिख रही हैं. लोजपा 7 सीटों पर जबकि…

[arpov-blog-blog]

..."Three Georgia Republicans who falsely claimed to be electors for Donald Trump — and are now charged alongside him in a sprawling racketeering indictment brought by local prosecutors — say they took the steps they did because Trump, then the sitting president, told them to.

In a series of court filings this week, those false electors, who became part of Trump’s last-ditch bid to subvert the 2020 election, said it was Trump and his campaign lawyers who urged them to sign the false documents, claiming they were necessary to preserve Trump’s flailing court efforts to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden. That exhortation from Trump’s campaign lawyers, they said, amounted to federal government permission to take the actions they did.

The three false electors making the argument are David Shafer, a former state GOP chair; Shawn Still, now a state senator; and Cathleen Latham, a local GOP official.

“Mr. Still, as a presidential elector, was also acting at the direction of the incumbent president of the United States,” an attorney for Still argued Thursday in a court filing seeking to transfer the case against him to federal court. “The president’s attorneys instructed Mr. Still and the other contingent electors that they had to meet and cast their ballots on Dec. 14, 2020.”

Latham similarly argued that she was acting “at the direction. of the President of the United States.” And Shafer in a similar petition seeking to move the Fulton County case to federal court contended that he “and the other Republican Electors in the 2020 election acted at the direction of the incumbent President and other federal officials.”

The filings underscore the strains and tensions likely to emerge as Trump and his 18 codefendants march toward trial. The three Republican activists say they should effectively be immune from state prosecution because they believed they were carrying out a federal function with the blessing of the incumbent president and a phalanx of his lawyers. Now, they stand charged with racketeering, forgery, and other crimes related to their decision to falsely claim to be legitimate presidential electors.

In the weeks after his defeat at the polls to Biden, Trump and his campaign urged state and national GOP officials to assemble slates of would-be presidential electors in seven states where Trump had filed legal challenges to the results. Campaign attorneys and a cadre of outside lawyers — including several charged alongside Trump in the indictment — argued that those activists should meet and cast electoral votes on Trump’s behalf on the same day the legitimate presidential electors met to vote for Biden.

Though the Trump campaign’s attorneys told many of them that the effort was necessary to preserve Trump’s chances to prevail in ongoing legal challenges, Trump eventually used the existence of these illegitimate slates to provoke a controversy on Jan. 6, 2021, pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to recognize and count the unofficial electoral votes instead of Biden’s. Prosecutors in those states and Washington, D.C., have scrutinized the false electors in numerous criminal probes. In Michigan, all 16 false electors were recently charged with felonies for their role in the effort."

[hardynwa]

How BVAS, IReV failed first election’s stress test

Following the conclusion of the presidential and National Assembly elections, questions have been raised about the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and Election Result Viewing Portal deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission to enhance the electoral process. In this piece, Temitayo Jaiyeola writes about how BVAS and IReV underperformed in their first national deployment The Independent National Electoral Commission’s Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and Election Result Viewing Portal did not live up to expectations during the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections. The poor performance of BVAS and IReV in their first major stress test might have cast a pall over the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections, as some of the candidates have already headed for the court to challenge the outcome of the elections. In their first national deployment, BVAS and IReV did not achieve ease in the electoral process they were designed for, rather they have raised more questions about the integrity of the 2023 elections. BVAS is a tech device that allows for the identification and accreditation of voters through fingerprints and facial recognition. IReV is an online portal where polling unit-level results are uploaded directly from the polling unit, transmitted and available for public monitoring. IReV allows members of the public to create personal accounts and monitor uploaded results, increasing the transparency and integrity of the electoral process. INEC first deployed IReV for the Nasarawa Central by-election in 2020. According to reports, it has been deployed in 105 elections involving 16,694,461 registered voters since then. 32,935 results sheets (Form EC8A) have been so far uploaded from polling units in rural and urban areas. In 2021, INEC deployed BVAS as a means of overcoming the challenge of over-voting by accrediting voters through fingerprint, iris and facial recognition and eliminating manual voter identification and accreditation. At the time, BVAS was replacing card readers which had failed to read permanent voter’s cards properly. When BVAS first launched, it was riddled with many problems. In its first deployment in the Isoko South Constituency 1 by-election in Delta State on September 10, 2021, there were reports of presiding officers complaining about the machine’s difficulties to capture the thumbs and faces of some of the voters. It seemed INEC did not learn from this initial glitch as the presidential, and National Assembly elections of February 25, 2023, were overwhelmed by the same problems. Not only did many BVAS devices fail to capture voters, the IReV platform also did not work in many polling units. In Rivers State, after the BVAS initially failed to capture the governor, Nyesom Wike, he said, “We are highly disappointed. INEC told us they were ready for the election and that BVAS are working. “You can see the crowd here; I don’t think that most people will be allowed to vote because of the slow working of the BVAS.” Many other polling units across the country also recorded malfunctioning BVAS, causing a disenfranchisement of voters. The device failed to curb over-voting with many polling units recording over-voting, leading to the cancellation of results. Prior to this election, INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmoud, stated that results would be uploaded on its portal to allow individuals to monitor the elections in real time. According to the head of the country’s electoral commission, BVAS would be used to capture the results and upload them to the portal in PDF format. He said, “The BVAS confirms that the cards issued by the commission and presented by the voter are genuine and the voter is authenticated using the fingerprint and where it failed, the facial. “Where both fail, the voter can’t vote. That is a matter of law. After the process is completed at the polling unit, the image of the polling unit result will be taken by the BVAS and uploaded into what we call the INEC Result Viewing Portal where citizens can see polling unit level results as the processes are completed at polling unit level.” While acknowledging that BVAS had never been deployed on a national scale before, Mahmoud, expressed the commission’s confidence in the technology recently. This was not the case during the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections, where many INEC officials failed to upload results at polling units. In many instances, voters waited for hours, in futility, for officials to upload the results of their polling units. According to many INEC officials, the BVAS device was either not allowing them to upload the results or the network was bad. A Labour Party agent who did not want his name in print said, “We don’t have the network infrastructure to allow BVAS to work effectively. “There is no way it can work well. The INEC officials here are complaining about the lack of a network. We need to up the network infrastructure in the country. If the network is good, they would not have issues.” Prior to this election, questions about network coverage have been raised. The All Progressives Congress National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, had expressed doubt over INEC’s ability to deliver a credible election using BVAS and IReV. Commenting on the reservation of the APC chairman, the Chief Operating Officer, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ajibola Olude, in an interview with The PUNCH stated that the country’s network was mature enough for electronic transmission of results. He said, “We are ready for electronic transmission of results. Our network has matured to the level that it can be used for result transmission.” According to Yiaga Africa, as of 7.00 pm on election day, results had not been uploaded from any of the 176,606 polling units where results were expected on INEC’s portal after the close of voting and counting in several polling units. INEC eventually started uploading results and later issued a public apology, explaining its incompetence. According to the commission, its result portal was experiencing technical glitches because it did not scale up its IReV platform for a nationwide election. It said, “The problem is totally due to technical hitches related to scaling up the IReV from a platform for managing off-season, state elections, to one for managing nationwide general elections. It is indeed not unusual for glitches to occur and be corrected in such situations.” In 2023, INEC got N305bn from the Federal Government for the 2023 elections. It budgeted N114.26bn for ICT-related expenses, which dwarfed the N18.8bn that was used to execute the presidential and National Assembly elections in 2015. As of 11:35 am, March 2, 2023 (a day after declaring the APC candidate as the winner of the 2023 presidential election), INEC had only uploaded 149,153 (84.5 per cent) polling unit results out of 176,606 on its IReV portal. Read the full article