Elections in the Trump age: here’s why you should be worried – and how you can get active!
It was a far-better-than-expected Election Day for Democrats this year.
Democrats Phil Murphy and Ralph Northam won the governor’s mansions in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively — with that latter race though to be lost to the GOP by many pundits and Dem insiders. Democrat Justin Fairfax was elected to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. New Jersey elected Democrat Sheila Oliver as its first female African-American lieutenant governor. Virginia elected its first openly transgender state lawmaker, Danica Roem. Transgender activist Andrea Jenkins was elected to the Minneapolis City Council. Democrat Vi Lyles was elected as Charlotte, North Carolina’s first female African-American mayor. Yvonne Spicer, an African-American Democrat, was elected the first mayor of the city of Framingham, Massachusetts. Ravinder Bhalla was elected mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, and becomes the first Sikh American to be elected mayor of the city.
And that’s just the short list.
Big gains were also made in several “red state” legislatures, including completely unexpected victories in deep-red Oklahoma.
Democrats have the momentum — but should not ignore concerns about election integrity.
Here are three reads that speak directly to different aspects of this issue — with ideas on dealing with the ongoing crisis.
At Salon, Michael Byrne has a new article on rethinking fundamental ballot design.
[D]oes what actually gets recorded on to the ballots accurately reflect the will of the voters? All the security in the world means little if ballots are inaccurate. But how could what’s on the ballots themselves be wrong?
Incorrect ballots happen when the ballot itself is badly designed and that poor design leads voters to make errors.
While concerns about voter fraud are mostly unfounded, major elections – including one U.S. presidential election – have almost certainly been decided by poor ballot design.
There are several revelations that will surprise supporters of a return to paper ballots and elimination of electronic voting systems.
Meanwhile, attention concerning election tampering is, given the evidence, quite rightly turned toward Russia. And our attorney general is on the case!… oh… wait… we take that back.
“You raise a good point,” Sessions said. “I have not followed through to see where we are on that, and I will personally take action to do so.” Sessions said that the department is busy on various agenda items, but he added, “This one is important. And I acknowledge that. But I should be able to give you better information today than I am.”
That big and significant takeaway from Sessions’s Tuesday grilling seems to have eluded the mainstream corporate media. You almost get the feeling that this slow-walking the promise to protect your ballot box from Vladimir Putin’s stinking, meddling hands is, to steal a line from computer programmers, a feature, not a bug.
And let’s face it — a Justice Department grand plan to protect the vote is hardly enough.
Where’s the 9/11 Commission for Russia’s Election Attack? It’s about far more than tech companies and targeted ads. A whole of government response is needed to make sure this never happens again.
America needs a better way forward to safeguard its democracy in cyberspace. Every day the world learns more about the reach and scope of Russia’s coordinated campaign against the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In recent congressional hearings, Facebook, Google, and Twitter faced questions over their failure to secure their platforms against foreign manipulation. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) scolded the technology giants for doing too little in the face of a dangerous threat. “We’re talking about the beginning of cyberwarfare,” she said, “we’re talking about a major foreign power sowing discontent across this country.” Feinstein has a point, but the implications go well beyond technology companies and well beyond the United States.
Maybe you should give your congresscritter and senators a call and tell them you want an “11-9 Commission” to investigate Russian election tampering and institute safeguards and reforms. If you need their names, click here and here. The number for the US Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121. You should have it on speed dial!
