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RandySF's JournalAlabama congressional redistricting: Plaintiffs, state nominate new cartographers
Plaintiffs and the attorneys for the state Friday filed a list of proposed cartographers to potentially draw new congressional districts in Alabama.
The three judges overseeing the case asked for recommendations after the previous cartographer, Nathaniel Persiley, a Stanford University School of Law, withdrew from the case on Monday. Both parties were asked to recommend between three and five cartographers by Friday.
The court in January 2022 ruled that Alabama’s 2021 congressional map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by packing Black voters into a single congressional district, and ordered the state to draw new maps with a second congressional district with a majority-Black district or “something quite close to it.” The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ruling last month.
The Alabama Legislature on July 21 approved a Republican-backed map that included a single majority-Black congressional district and a district with 40% Black population. Republicans said the map gave Black voters an opportunity to elect the representatives of their choosing. Democrats said it failed to address the court’s guidelines. If the court finds the map unsatisfactory, it could order a third party, known as a special master, to draw new maps. A cartographer would be part of the process.
https://alabamareflector.com/2023/07/31/alabama-congressional-redistricting-plaintiffs-state-nominate-new-cartographers/
AZ: Maricopa County says it had no way to know its ballot printers would fail.
One big question Maricopa County voters had after many had trouble casting ballots at polling places in November’s election was whether county leaders should have seen the problem coming.
The county continues to insist that there’s no way it should have known certain ballot printers would fail during Election Day voting. But the company that made those printers, OKI, argues that its printer manual was clear that these retail-grade printers were not cut out for the job Maricopa subjected them to — and the county should have contacted the company ahead of time to check.
In an internal report released to Votebeat on Wednesday, the county’s election officials again maintain they had no indication the printers would struggle to print on the thicker ballot paper used in November. They wrote in the 16-page report that the problems didn’t show up in pre-election testing or during early voting, and the manual for the printers gave “conflicting information” about which types of paper the printers could handle.
The OKI printers that failed were inexpensive printers that the county and its supplier, Runbeck Election Services, had retrofitted. The printers were originally used to print ballot envelopes, then altered by adding longer trays to accommodate 20-inch, 100-pound cardstock ballots.
OKI says its manual for the printers is clear that you can’t use them to print double-sided on such thick paper, according to two letters the company recently sent to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Votebeat reported as much in December after speaking to numerous election technology experts about what caused the faint and flaking toner that the on-site ballot tabulators then could not read.
https://www.azmirror.com/2023/07/31/maricopa-county-says-it-had-no-way-to-know-its-ballot-printers-would-fail/
Alabama representative distributed book by anti-abortion minister on defying 'unjust' laws
After Alabama lawmakers finished their work on June 6, the last day of the 2023 regular legislative session, state representatives got a present – a book that called for the resistance to “unjust” or “tyrannical” laws.
Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, distributed signed copies of a book called “The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates,” written by Rev. Matthew Trewhella, a minister who signed a statement in 1993 justifying the murder of an abortion provider.
Trewhella signed the book with “May the magistrates of Alabama have courage to do right by Christ!” A note from Yarbrough said “I hope this signed copy is a blessing!”
The book argues that when a higher authority, such as a monarch or government, enacts unjust or tyrannical laws, lower-level officials have a moral obligation to resist and defy those laws. The doctrine says lesser magistrates, such as local officials, judges, or regional governors, must interpose themselves between the actions of the higher authority and the people they govern.
Trewhella is also the founder of the Missionaries to the Preborn, an anti-abortion group based in Milwaukee known for staging protests outside of abortion clinics.
https://alabamareflector.com/2023/07/31/alabama-representative-distributes-book-by-anti-abortion-minister-on-defying-unjust-laws/
NH-GOV: Sununu is gone. Can Democrats finally win?
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has had a lock on his state’s gubernatorial mansion. But with the popular Republican incumbent not seeking reelection, Democrats hope they can recapture the seat next year for the first time since 2016.
Sununu’s reign has been a rare outlier for Granite State Democrats, who have otherwise won every presidential election and Senate contest there after 2010.
“I think we have as good of a shot as we’ve had in many, many years,” said Marc Goldberg, a longtime senior aide to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), arguing that Democrats would put up a “very high quality candidate” in the general election. “It’s going to be a close race, but certainly we feel good going into the fall.”
But first, both parties must navigate what will likely be competitive primaries. Two Democrats are in the race so far — Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington — and both are quickly rounding up endorsements and raising cash.
Republicans, too, were eager to jump in after Sununu called it quits. It took less than 10 minutes for former state Senate President Chuck Morse to enter the race following Sununu’s announcement, and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte teased a run of her own within the hour, formally launching a bid days later.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-score/2023/07/31/sununu-is-gone-can-democrats-finally-win-00108938
PA-HD21: Powell (D) vs. Autenreith (R) For Control Of PA House
Allegheny County Democrats and Republicans selected their candidates over the weekend for the September 19 special election in the 21st House District to replace Sara Innamorato.
The Democrats chose Lindsay Powell who works at the nonprofit InnovatePGH and serves on the board of the Urban Redevelopment Authority as their representative on the ballot.
Republicans tabbed Erin Connolly Autenreith, a realtor who has lived in Shaler Township for the past 15 years and who chairs the local Republican Party committee there.
In a special election, there is no primary. County committees usually come together and make their pick which is forwarded to the state party for confirmation. State party officials almost always accept the recommendation of local committee people.
Innamorato, who resigned her seat to focus on her bid to become Allegheny County Executive, and Powell sit on the URA board together. She offered her congratulations to the newly-minted candidate and said, “Looking forward to working with you and the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee to build a Pennsylvania for All!”
https://www.politicspa.com/hd-21-powell-vs-autenreith-for-control-of-pa-house/124049/
Ohio Republicans Want to Rewrite the Rules to Thwart Abortion and LGBTQ Rights
Once synonymous with Midwestern placidity, Ohio has become the epicenter of an unprecedented assault on civil and reproductive rights. Bills banning gender affirming care for LGBTQ youth and trans athletes from participation in women’s sports have been introduced in the statehouse, and House Bill 245 would prohibit drag performances from being held in public.
Now, Republicans in the state are attempting to thwart voters’ ability to amend Ohio’s Constitution. A ballot measure in the August special election could impede a proposed amendment to preserve abortion rights by requiring petition-based amendments to pass with 60 percent of the vote, rather than a simple majority. The proposed measure is “abandoning a fundamental policy that has been part of the Ohio Constitution since 1912,” said Steven H. Steinglass, an expert in Ohio constitutional history. If the measure is approved, it will make passing the abortion rights amendment, introduced by Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, much more difficult. “These politicians know that their radical views on abortion care can’t win a fair vote, so they’re rigging the system,” said Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom.
These initiatives have been primarily driven by conservative interest groups, with the Ohio-based Christian advocacy organization the Center for Christian Virtue playing an outsize role in shaping Republican policy. Right-wing billionaire Richard Ulhein has spent millions funding the “Save Our Constitution PAC,” which advocates for the ballot measure known as Issue 1. “Our Constitution has been hijacked by special interests and legislators have an opportunity—and duty—to stop it by voting to put the Constitution Protection Amendment on the August ballot,” reads the PAC’s website. Meanwhile, groups like Protect Women Ohio have attempted to connect abortion and trans rights with misleading ads. “If passed, this dangerous initiative would abolish parental notification and consent requirements which protect minor girls from undergoing an abortion or even sex change surgery without her parents’ knowledge or involvement.”
“It’s a horrible case study of how lawlessness builds on lawlessness,” said David Pepper, author of Laboratories of Autocracy and former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. As the right entrenches itself in the state, Ohioans have started creating support networks to protect themselves. The Ohio Student Activist Alliance was formed during the amendment debate to “talk to young people and raise awareness about harmful legislation like the gender affirming care ban or the don’t say gay bill,” according to Garrison Bowling, a cofounder. OSAA’s members also submitted testimony in opposition to House Bill 68, which would ban gender affirming care and limit access to puberty blockers.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/ohio-election-issue-1-republicans-abortion-lgbtq-rights/
Ohio Amendment to Curb 'Out-of-State Special Interests' Gets Nearly All its Funding from Them
Roughly $35 million has flowed to political groups aiming to influence Ohio’s August special election. That includes money for campaigns for or against the ballot measure raising the threshold for constitutional amendments, as well as several closely aligned organizations.
On both sides — those opposing Issue 1, those supporting it, and those technically fighting November’s reproductive rights amendment — the vast majority of funding came from out of state.
ssue 1’s proponents have consistently argued a higher threshold for passing state constitutional amendments will act as a deterrent.
“This is about empowering the people of Ohio to protect their constitution from out-of-state special interests that want to try to buy their way into our state’s founding document,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose insisted in a televised statewide debate last week. “I’m here to say the Ohio Constitution is not for sale.”
Opponents have repeatedly argued that nothing in the proposal actually limits out-of-state influence.
https://www.citybeat.com/news/ohio-amendment-to-curb-out-of-state-special-interests-gets-nearly-all-its-funding-from-them-15708843
The Conservative Plan to Keep Ohio Forever Red
For decades, conservatives in Ohio have kept themselves in charge through extreme gerrymandering. But that's not enough for them. Now this supermajority is going after one of the few remaining checks on their power: the citizen ballot initiative, a state constitutional right since 1912 that enables Ohio voters to enact state laws directly, without legislative approval. The conservative legislators are aiming to make the ballot initiative so difficult to pull off that voters will fail or will be too daunted to try. To enact these changes, lawmakers need to get a proposed constitutional amendment past voters. So they've called a special election on ... August 8, a sleepy time when voter turnout is low. This is a sneak attack on democracy.
Early voting is already underway on Issue 1, the measure that, if passed, would make future ballot initiatives difficult if not impossible to introduce and pass. The amendment would add onerous signature-collection requirements and require a 60 percent supermajority vote for passage. Just as threats to undermine election results are on the rise, partisan extremists are also looking to steal power away from voters by taking away this form of direct democracy.
In Ohio, the strategy is clear: Put an unpopular antidemocratic measure to a vote in a month when families are on summer vacation, college students are away, and turnout is notoriously low. Describe it on the ballot in confusing language. Then count on out-of-state billionaires to flood the airways with ads to drive a small segment of voters to the polls. Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein, fresh from bankrolling election denialist candidates and Jan. 6 insurrectionists, donated $4 million dollars.
The brazenness of this power grab is matched only by its hypocrisy. Just a few months ago, the legislature banned August elections after last year's August election saw less than 8 percent turnout and cost taxpayers $20 million. At the time, one prominent Republican state official explained that allowing "just a handful of voters" with a "vested interest" decide major issues "isn't the way democracy is supposed to work."
https://www.newsweek.com/conservative-plan-keep-ohio-forever-red-opinion-1816411
Ongoing GOTV in Ohio: Mobilizing Suburban Opponents to Issue 1
Saturday was our fourth week of knocking on doors in Ohio with a supplemental Issues Canvass designed for GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote) for the upcoming special election on Issue 1. We changed things up a little (some of our Obama alum organizers call it ‘going old skool’), so that “super volunteers” are now taking their walk sheets home and calling the homes they had knocked on Saturday. Those that answer are asked the supplemental questions from our Issues Canvass (see below) about their position to Issue 1.
Out of the 739 volunteers who had knocked on doors in Ohio on July 22nd, 388 of them took their walk sheets home. This represented 29,254 homes, for which we had 18,723 valid phone numbers. Volunteers did find invalid (primarily disconnected) numbers, but we didn’t track that. Out of the 18,723 numbers, super volunteers talked to 4,294 voters, of whom 2,638 said they opposed Issue 1 (and who hadn’t voted yet) and more than half of them already had a plan on when they would be voting against the constitutional amendment. These voters have been folded into our existing (through last Friday) GOTV universe of 9,277.
We exclude those voters who told us (and we verified) that they had already voted in the special election. As of last Friday, our voter universe had been reduced by 6,882 since those voters have already voted as of last Thursday.
Hope Springs from Field PAC volunteers have been knocking on doors in 3 Congressional Districts (OH-01 represented by Democrat Greg Landsman (the grey CD on the lower left), OH-09, Marcy Kaptur (the peach CD on the top left) and OH-13, Emilia Sykes (the grey CD on the top right)) as well as the suburbs of Columbus and Dayton. But the presence of Issue 1 has dramatically increased our efforts as we have added a GOTV component as well as a supplemental question to our Issues
Survey.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/31/2184307/-Ongoing-GOTV-in-Ohio-Mobilizing-Suburban-Opponents-to-Issue-1
Daughter of California AG, lawmaker represents Philippines in FIFA Women's World Cup
ALAMEDA, Calif. - At this year's FIFA Women's World Cup, women from the Bay Area will be well represented – and one player on the Filipinas national team carries a familiar last name.
In October 2022, Reina Bonta made her international debut for the Philippines Women's National Team.
In a post-game interview on team's Facebook page, Reina, 24, said while she's honored to play at the international level, she never forgets the name and crest at the front of the jersey.
"I was born and raised to be extremely proud of where my family comes from," she said.
Reina Bonta is the daughter of California Attorney General Rob Bonta and East Bay Assemblywoman Mia Bonta.
https://www.ktvu.com/news/daughter-of-california-attorney-general-to-represent-philippines-in-fifa-womens-world-cup
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