Progressives Every Day: Vote Counting Problems
Progressives Every Day: Vote Counting Problems
And AOC shows why she'll be president one day
Welcome to the Thursday edition of Progressives Everywhere! Almost there!
Before we get going, I just want to note that Donald Trump and William Barr are trying to turn this country into a police state by sending shock troopers into various cities to beat, pepper spray, and abduct innocent civilians. It’s infuriating and terrifying and will likely only get worse before the election — these clown terrorists will do anything to hold on to power.
OK, now to the news!
Elections (and Future Elections) and Voting Rights
Activists across the country have been pushing hard to expand absentee balloting for this November’s election, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that securing the right to vote by mail is only half the battle. Absentee ballots have always been rejected at a higher rate than in-person votes, but in this year’s mail-heavy primaries, the rate of disqualified ballots have skyrocketed — especially for younger, Black, and Latinx voters.
A new analysis of primary votes in Wisconsin found that over 23,000 absentee ballots were rejected during the primary — more than the number of votes that Trump won the state by in 2016. Over half those votes were rejected because there was some kind of error with the outside of the ballot envelope, which must have the signatures and addresses of both the voter and a designated witness. Absentee voting made up 60% of ballots cast during the primary, and because the state does not require an excuse to mail in a ballot, there’s every chance that we’ll see a repeat performance come November.
I highly recommend reading the entire piece, which illustrates just how byzantine these laws and processes can be for people who just want to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right.
Speaking of witness signature requirements, the ACLU has been suing states over them, given just how impractical it is to have someone watch you fill out your ballot in person during a pandemic.
In Nevada, the Republican Secretary of State said that she will not be turning the general election into an all-mail affair, as was done for the primary. The issue, she says, is that doing so would cost about $5 million that her office does not have. The state doesn’t require an excuse to request an absentee ballot, so it’s likely that a majority of Nevadans will send in their ballot, anyway.
A new poll out of Florida has Joe Biden up 51-38 on Donald Trump, a lead that can be attributed almost entirely to the disaster that has unfolded over the last four months. Turns out that allowing tens of thousands of people to get sick with a deadly disease every single day is not politically popular:
Voters give Governor DeSantis a negative job approval for his handling of the response to the coronavirus, as 38 percent approve, while 57 percent disapprove. In April, 50 percent approved, while 41 percent disapproved.
Voters give President Trump a negative job approval for his handling of the response to the coronavirus; 37 percent approve, while 59 percent disapprove. In April, 46 percent approved, while 51 percent disapproved.
Governor DeSantis receives a negative 41 - 52 percent job approval, a 31-point swing in the net approval from April when he received a positive 53 - 33 percent job approval rating. Today's numbers are the lowest for DeSantis since taking office in 2019.
President Trump receives a negative 40 - 58 percent job approval in Florida, down from a 45 - 51 percent approval rating in April.One thing that blows me away: Trump still has the advantage on the economy, which right now is in the worst shape since the Great Depression. Do people not realize that the economy is reflective of other decisions, all of which they don’t trust Trump to make??
In case you weren’t convinced that Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal is a tool of Wall Street and fully out of touch with his working-class Western Massachusetts district, this should do the trick:
Power, Corruption, and Lies
Continued fallout from the massive $60 million corruption sting in Ohio: After initially pledging his continued support for the $1.3 billion nuclear plant bailout at the center of the bribery scandal, Gov. Mike DeWine reversed course under pressure on Thursday and said it ought to be repealed.
Despite the fact that marijuana is decriminalized in New York and NYC’s emergency response system has been stretched thin, the city is still asking people to call 911 to narc on people smoking weed.
In Michigan, state prisons and jails have been lowered to about 50% capacity during the pandemic, with no corresponding rise in crime. It’s being hailed as more evidence that ending mass incarceration does not mean allowing crime to flourish.
This is good news:
BREAKING AMAZING NEWS: Advocates have been fighting to lower the egregious rates of prison phone calls as part of the next stimulus bill. And they just won over the most unlikely allies—the tide is turning with @AjitPaiFCC and @NARUC on board. This could really happen. More: https://t.co/Dbqh223if2See my statement as @NARUC President regarding the egregious phone rates charged to family members of inmates. This is a shame and disgrace. I’m proud to work with @AjitPaiFCC on this issue. Jurisdiction varies across the nation among states, but we stand with the @FCC. https://t.co/ghkwVncA7D
Brandon Presley @BrandonPresley
Quibis
Stephen Miller’s grandmother died of COVID-19 and Miller’s family, who hates him, are openly saying that he’s to blame.
Over 500 people have died from COVID-19 in Texas over the last three days.
More terrible people pulling guns because they refuse to wear masks in Walmart. There’s never been a more American dystopian sentence than that.
Speaking of Florida dystopia, Donald Trump pulled the plug on the Republican National Convention, which was scheduled to be in Jacksonville after North Carolina told the RNC to get lost.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s speech on the House floor today, please watch the whole thing right now. She is a once-in-a-generation talent, with the empathy, intelligence, rhetorical skills, and ability to piss off insecure conservative white men that will one day make her President of the United States.
