#election commission news

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As of December 2023, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has received 59 allegations that Donald Trump or his committees violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. In 29 of those cases, nonpartisan staff in the FEC’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) recommended the FEC investigate Trump. Yet not once has a Republican FEC commissioner voted to approve any such investigation or enforcement of the law against Trump.

Democratic Vice Chair Ellen Weintraub pointed this out in her December 5, 2023 statement of reasons after the FEC once again failed to garner the votes to enforce the law against Trump after he allegedly violated the law by illegally soliciting or directing money to a pro-Trump super PAC that spent millions on ads opposing Joe Biden in 2020.

Because at least four of the six FEC Commissioners need to approve any FEC investigation, and because only three of those seats can be filled by Democrats, Republicans hold a veto over the agency’s enforcement and have repeatedly used it to shoot down any recommended enforcement of campaign finance law against Trump—and thus successfully shielded him from accountability over and over. Instead of fostering bipartisanship, the split FEC has often become gridlocked and, in cases involving Trump, its ability to pursue action is constrained by the members of one party.

The FEC’s enabling statute, the Federal Election Campaign Act, specifically subjects the Commission’s non-enforcement to review to prevent it from blocking meritorious enforcement. In June 2018, however, two Republican-appointed judges of the D.C. Circuit—including now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh—largely gutted that rule, giving commissioners the authority to block enforcement of the law without judicial review if the commissioners claimed that they did so as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion or under Heckler v. Chaney.

So, in 21 of the 29 cases where the FEC received recommendations to enforce the law against Trump, Republican commissioners justified non-enforcement by invoking prudential or discretionary factors in attempts to circumvent review.

When dismissing the recommendations to investigate Trump—and to kill further inquiries into his actions—the Republican commissioners have at times claimed that the FEC should not take any action because “proceeding further would not be an appropriate use of Commission resources” or that the resources would be “best spent elsewhere.” Trump has even falsely declared that the FEC “dropped” one of its investigations into him “because they found no evidence of problems.” As Commissioner Weintraub wrote in a statement of reasons in November 2023, “the data is clear: At the FEC, Mr. Trump is in a category by himself.”

Unless courts restore their check on partisan vetoes on enforcement, the commissioners will continue to fail to enforce federal campaign finance law against the powerful figures they are trying to protect.

[nando161mando]

Republicans ask Supreme Court to block 40,000 Arizonans from voting in November

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-ask-supreme-court-block-100050322.html

[tomorrowusa]

North Carolina may have just gerrymandered 3 US House seats out of Democratic control. But the New York Court of Appeals (what the state supreme court is called in NY) just indirectly gave the Democratic legislature the power to draw a new Congressional map. It will probably result in Dems flipping 3 or 4 seats and possibly as many as 6. In effect, the North Carolina gerrymander has been neutralized – or even more than neutralized.

Under a new map, Democrats could flip as many as six seats currently held by Republicans, enough to seize control of the closely divided House. The New York Republicans who rode a state-level red wave to Congress in 2022 are about to watch their districts shift dramatically to the left. The big question is whether New York Democrats will squander this opportunity with the kind of mismanagement and infighting that led them to disaster last year. Tuesday’s decision was the latest episode in the years-long saga over redistricting in New York. It began when residents voted for a constitutional amendment in 2014 that gave primary responsibility over the process to an Independent Redistricting Commission, or IRC. The 2014 amendment, however, divided the IRC equally between Democrats and Republicans, and the commission deadlocked on a plan after the 2020 census. So the legislature stepped in with its own congressional map—which the New York Court of Appeals struck down as an unlawful partisan gerrymander by a 4–3 vote in 2022. (The Court of Appeals is the state’s top court.) The conservative-leaning majority, appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and led by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, directed an outside mapmaker to redraw the plans. The mapmaker’s submission was heavily influenced by analyses from experts who specialized in GOP-friendly redistricting. It gave Republicans an edge while pushing two top Democrats into the same district, forcing them to compete against each other. As a result, Republicans seized five or six additional seats (though one was vacated when the House expelled indicted Rep. George Santos).

So we probably have that 2022 NY map to thank for George Santos's brief House career. His district, NY-03, is currently a tossup. But with a redraw of the map, much of that area would probably find itself in bluer territory.

In the peculiar world of NY politics, nothing is simple.

First crack at a new map will go to the IRC (Independent Redistricting Commission). But it will deadlock because it is evenly split along party lines. Then the task goes to the legislature with Dem majorities in both chambers. Dems will get out their mapping software and have a go at it. Republicans will inevitably appeal the new Democratic map and the case will end up back at the New York Court of Appeals which just handed down this decision on Tuesday.

All this has to be done before filing deadlines for the 2024 US House primaries. However, no date has been set for those primaries in NY. The primaries can be held as late as early September. Stay tuned!

[gwydionmisha]

I don't understand why trying to overthrow the government isn't disqualifying for all public offices.

[lok-shakti]

क्या एक हुई लोक जनशक्ति पार्टी? UP राज्य निर्वाचन आयोग का नोटिफिकेशन तो कुछ यही बता रहा, बिहार तक गरमाई सियासत

क्या एक हुई लोक जनशक्ति पार्टी? UP राज्य निर्वाचन आयोग का नोटिफिकेशन तो कुछ यही बता रहा, बिहार तक गरमाई सियासत

लखनऊ: उत्तर प्रदेश राज्य निर्वाचन आयोग की ओर से बांगला चुनाव चिह्न लोक जनशक्ति पार्टी के लिए आवंटित कर दिया गया है। लोक जनशक्ति पार्टी अभी अस्तित्व में ही नहीं है। भारत निर्वाचन आयोग ने दल का नाम और चुनाव चिन्ह दोनों सीज किया हुआ है। इसके बाद भी राज्य निर्वाचन आयोग की ओर से जारी मान्यता प्राप्त दलों की लिस्ट में लोजपा का नाम और बंगला चुनाव चिह्न हैरान करने वाला है। मान्यता प्राप्त दलों की बात…

[sapphia]

USA please listen to me: the price of “teaching them a lesson” is too high. take it from New Zealand, who voted our Labour government out in the last election because they weren’t doing exactly what we wanted and got facism instead.

Trans rights are being attacked, public transport has been defunded, tax cuts issued for the wealthy, they've mass-defunded public services, cut and attacked the disability funding model, cut benefits, diverted transport funding to roads, cut all recent public transport subsidies, cancelled massive important infrastructure projects like damns and ferries (we are three ISLANDS), fast tracked mining, oil, and other massive environmentally detrimental projects and gave the power the to approve these projects singularly to three ministers who have been wined and dined by lobbyists of the companies that have put the bids in to approve them while one of the main minister infers he will not prioritise the protection of endangered species like the archeys frog over mining projects that do massive environmental harm. They have attacked indigenous rights in an attempt to negate the Treaty of Waitangi by “redefining it”; as a backup, they are also trying to remove all mentions of the treaty from legislation starting with our Child Protection laws no longer requiring social workers to consider the importance of Maori children’s culture when placing those children; when the Waitangi Tribunal who oversees indigenous matters sought to enquire about this, the Minister for Children blocked their enquiry in a breach of comity that was condemned in a ruling — too late to do anything — by our Supreme Court. They have repealed labour protections around pay and 90 day trials, reversed our smoking ban, cancelled our EV subsidy, cancelled our water infrastructure scheme that would have given Maori iwi a say in water asset management, cancelled our biggest city’s fuel tax, made our treasury and inland revenue departments less accountable, dispensed of our Productivity Commission, begun work on charter schools and military boot camps in an obvious push towards privatisation, cancelled grants for first home buyers, reduced access to emergency housing, allowed no cause evictions, cancelled our Maori health system that would have given Maori control over their own public medical care and funding, cut funding of services like budgeting advice and food banks, cancelled the consumer advocacy council, cancelled our medicine regulations, repealed free prescriptions, deferred multiple hospital builds, failed to deliver on pre-election medical promises, reversed a gun ban created in response to the mosque shootings, brought back three strikes = life sentence policy, increased minimum wage by half the recommended amount, cancelled fair pay for disabled workers, reduced wheelchair services, reversed our oil and gas exploration ban, cancelled our climate emergency fund, cut science research funding including climate research, removed limits on killing sea lions, cut funding for the climate change commission, weakened our methane targets, cancelled Significant National Areas protections, have begun reversing our ban on live exports. Much of this was passed under urgency.

It’s been six months.

[justnownews]

Election Commission Seeks Further Clarification from Supreme Court on PTI Reserved Seats

Islamabad, September 26, 2024– The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has once again approached the Supreme Court, seeking clarification regarding the reserved seats for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in light of recent legal developments.In its appeal, the ECP has requested guidance on how to reconcile the July 12 court decision with the newly passed Election Amendment Act. The commission…

[carlocarrasco]

COMELEC requires candidates and political parties to register their digital accounts for 2025 election campaigning

With the 2025 National and Local Elections gradually approaching, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) told candidates and political parties to have their social media and online accounts registered and they must follow the rules that were recently announced, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article. For the newcomers reading this, the heavy use of social media, digital…

[townpostin]

District Election Officer Inspects EVM FLC Process and Warehouse

Ananya Mittal reviews First Level Checking of EVMs in Jamshedpur, issues directives for stringent security. District Election Officer Ananya Mittal inspected the EVM warehouse and the First Level Checking process of EVMs and VVPATs in Jamshedpur’s Kitadih Panchayat. JAMSHEDPUR – District Election Officer Ananya Mittal reviewed the EVM FLC process and inspected the EVM warehouse, giving key…

[head-post]

Von der Leyen’s battle “against” Meloni

A row over media freedom and Giorgia Meloni’s refusal to back Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second term at the helm of the European Commission have exposed cracks in the Italian prime minister’s relationship with Brussels, POLITICO reports.

The Italian prime minister is furious over the European Commission’s annual report on the rule of law, which expresses concerns about press freedom in Italy and the independence of its public broadcaster Rai. Meloni has sued journalists, citing defamation, which is a criminal offence punishable by jail time in Italy. And her appointment of loyalists to senior positions at the state broadcaster has led to the departure of some leading journalists.

After the report was published, Meloni sent a letter to von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, saying the criticisms in the report were the result of “clumsy and ridiculous attacks” by journalists. This is the latest deterioration in relations between the two leaders.

In the two weeks since members of the European Parliament finally confirmed von der Leyen for a second term, Meloni’s government has continued to feud with the European Commission, causing unease in a relationship once considered civilised and comfortable.

Senior EU officials and diplomats questioned whether von der Leyen’s public dismissal was appropriate. One senior EU diplomat said after the vote in Parliament:

What Meloni did was just plain stupid. She burnt so much political capital in a number of weeks.

Read more HERE

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Philosopher and presidential Green Party candidate Cornel West currently owes more than half a million dollars between unpaid taxes and unpaid child support, according to tax records.

Records show West owes nearly $466,000 in federal income taxes from 2013 until 2017. This came after he accrued (and later repaid) a debt of nearly $725,000 from 1998-2005, and more than $34,000 in 2008, according to tax records in Mercer County, New Jersey – where he owns a home.

Additionally, West has an outstanding $49,500 child support judgement from 2003, records show.

The debts were first reported by The Daily Beast.

The tax debts have not been paid off as of 30 days ago – the last available data, according to Mercer County records. ABC News reached out to West and his campaign to see if West had plans to pay off the debt or set up a payment plan; they have not returned those requests for comment.

The outstanding child support payment is owed to Aytul Gurtas, his former partner and mother of one of his children. ABC News was unable to reach Gurtas for comment.

While it's not clear how long West didn't pay child support, New Jersey family lawyer Kathleen Stockton said that the amount of money appears substantial. The average U.S. child support obligation is about $5,800 per year, according to census data, making West's nearly $50,000 more than eight times that.

Stockton noted that it is possible West paid Gurtas and didn't register it with the court – though West has given no indication of that.

When the question of his debts was brought up on The Breakfast Club radio morning show last week, West told the radio show host "Charlamagne the God" that they were being used as a "distraction" from his presidential campaign, which has focused on ending poverty, mass incarceration and environmental degradation.

"Any time you shine a flashlight under somebody's clothes, you're gonna find all kind of mess, because that's what it is to be human," West said.

Earlier on the show, West mentioned he was "broke as the Ten Commandments financially, personally, collectively."

West's debts are personal, not related to the campaign, so they may not directly bear on the finances of his candidacy. Still, personal finance issues have been known to interfere with campaigns: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's sometimes imprudent management of his own finances were scrutinized during his 2016 campaign for president, and then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's personal debt seemed to undermine his message of fiscal hawkishness.

According to West's financial disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission in August 2023, he currently makes at least $200,000 annually. That includes his professorship at the Union Theological Seminary, where his annual income falls upward of $100,000; his speaking engagements, where he makes at least another $100,000; and his retirement fund, which earns him somewhere between $5,000 and $15,000 annually. His spouse, a professor, makes at least $50,000 per year.

Kedric Payne, an ethics lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center, said in an email to ABC News that the U.S. Office of Government Ethics advises candidates to disclose debts the size of West's.

"The federal disclosure law requires candidates for president to report liabilities owed over $10,000. Child support is excluded, but OGE advises that overdue taxes are reportable. If West in fact owes taxes, voters have a right to know why this isn't disclosed," Payne wrote.

West's associate, author Christopher Phillips described West as "authentic" and someone who hasn't hesitated to spend his own money to help others.

Phillips, who said he has known West for eight years, said that when he first met West over the phone, the scholar volunteered to lecture and spend time with his students at the University of Pennsylvania, where Phillips was a writing fellow.

"He said he could come down on his own nickel, and he spent the entire day breaking philosophical bread with my students … just because he likes what I do," Phillips said.

The campaign did not respond to ABC News' multiple requests for comment.

[nando161mando]

Georgia Democrats trying to block several candidates, including De la Cruz/PSL from ballot

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-democrats-kennedy-jill-stein-presidential-ballot-election

[votermood]

In India's democratic framework, both the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Supreme Court of India play significant roles. While the ECI focuses on the administration of elections, the Supreme Court exercises broader judicial authority. Understanding the comparative power of these two institutions is essential for comprehending their impact on political issues.

[boneym1962]

How sangha will win more than 450 seats in 2024 Loksabha elections.

1. 50 Opposition Candidates will be arrested by ED.

2. 50 Opposition candidates will be disqualified by election commission.

3. 50 Opposition candidates will change their mind to join ruling party.

4. 50 Opposition candidates will be raided by IT and jailed

5. 50 Opposition candidates will be booked under POCSO.

6. 50 Opposition candidates will be raided by CBI and jailed

7. 50 Opposition candidates will be raided by NCB and jailed.

8. 50 seats will be won with the help of godi media it cell, fake news and hate campaigns.

9. 50 seats will be won with religion Khatare me hai campaign and in the name of Ram.

10. Hum do Hamare do will arrange 50seats.