How Philadelphia activists are planning 'mass action' for the days following election

Dozens of Philadelphia progressive organizations are planning “mass action” and preparing protests for the days after the Nov. 3 election in the event of coordinated voter intimidation, mail-in ballot invalidation, or other electoral discord.

The local groups, which range from immigration advocates to clergy to liberal political activists, have signed on to an effort called “nobody comes for Philly,” a pledge to vote, then “not rest until our state counts every vote.” Activists have worked for months, holding Zoom calls to share information about potential voter suppression tactics and to lay plans to protest in the days after Nov. 3 to demand every vote be counted, mail-in or otherwise.

The mobilization is being publicized in part through Philly We Rise, an online clearinghouse for Philadelphia progressive activism that was founded after President Donald Trump’s election.

“This moment has been a crash course in how our electoral process works,” said Bryan Mercer, executive director of the Movement Alliance Project, a Philadelphia-based group that connects community organizations. "Unfortunately, all along the way of that process there are opportunities for forces that want to undermine democracy to do so.”

As for Election Day itself, the Working Families Party, a labor-aligned third party, has partnered with other national organizations to recruit “election defenders,” or volunteers who will be stationed outside polling locations to pass out water and personal protective equipment.



https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/philadelphia-election-progressive-activists-working-families-party-philly-we-rise-20201022.html

Pa.: Early vote total surpasses 2016 with Election Day still over a week away

With nine days before Election Day, more people already have cast ballots in this year’s presidential election than voted early or absentee in the 2016 race as the start of in-person early voting in big states led to a surge in turnout in recent days.

The opening of early voting locations in Florida, Texas and elsewhere has piled millions of new votes on top of the mail ballots arriving at election offices as voters try to avoid crowded places on Nov. 3 during the coronavirus pandemic.

The result is a total of 58.6 million ballots cast so far, more than the 58 million that The Associated Press logged as being cast through the mail or at in-person early voting sites in 2016.

Democrats have continued to dominate the initial balloting, but Republicans are narrowing the gap. GOP voters have begun to show up as early in-person voting begins — a sign that many heeded President Donald Trump’s unfounded warnings about mail-voting fraud, which is extremely uncommon despite the president’s claims.

On Oct. 15, Democrats registrants cast 51% of all ballots reported, compared with 25% from Republicans. On Sunday, Democrats had a slightly smaller lead, 51% to 31%.




https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2020/10/25/election-2020-early-voting-mail-in-ballots-absentee-passes-2016-Texas-Florida-Pennsylvania-Ohio-Donald-Trump-Joe-Biden/stories/202010250209

Early Voting - Bucks County, PA

Iman Jodeh, a community activist and educator, is poised to become Colorado's first Muslim lawmaker

In all likelihood, Iman Jodeh will win her race and be elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in District 41. And if she does, she will become the first Muslim lawmaker in the state’s history.

Jodeh, a community activist and educator, is running to replace Democratic state Rep. Jovan Melton, who is term limited and last won reelection in 2018 with a nearly 30-point cushion. Democratic leaders expect Jodeh to cruise to victory in the Aurora-area district that sits just north of Cherry Creek Reservoir and southwest of Buckley Air Force Base.

Her election would be historic not just for Colorado. In 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, there were just three state legislators the nation who were known to identify as Muslim, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. It’s unknown how many there are now.

The groundbreaking nature of the race isn’t lost on Jodeh, who wasn’t afraid in an interview to use the word “historic” to describe the prospect of her election. But, she said, she didn’t run just to be the first Muslim in the Colorado legislature.

“I’m not running to be the first, and that was never my intention,” she said. “I’m running because I feel like my lived experiences have the ability to influence progressive policy and move the needle in a positive and progressive way.”



https://coloradosun.com/2020/10/23/iman-jodeh-colorado-muslim-lawmaker/

Where are all these Democratic votes coming from? Some of Florida's reddest counties.

Where is the Democratic advantage in Florida’s early voting and vote-by-mail coming from? It turns out in ruby-red districts.

A look at county totals shows some of Florida’s Republican strongholds also see the highest turnout rate among Democrats so far this election cycle.

The clearest example comes in Collier County, where Democratic turnout 10 days out from the election has already exceeded 62%. As of Saturday morning, 26,310 Democrats had returned their mail ballot, and another 7,553 cast votes at early voting locations. That’s a total of 33,863 votes already locked in.

That means Democrats in the county boast a higher turnout rate than they do in any other county in Florida.

It’s all the more remarkable considering Democrats make up just 24.5% of voters in the county, a total of 54,845 Collier Democrats in total.

That’s not to say Collier County Republicans should shake in their boots. About 54% of Republicans in the county also already turned out, and that means 61,232 Republican ballots already in the box there.

But it’s a sign how the Presidential election could turn in the largest swing state. President Donald Trump, who voted early in Florida himself on Saturday, needs to beat Democrat Joe Biden in Florida to have a shot at reelection, according to most analysts.


https://floridapolitics.com/archives/377073-where-are-all-these-democratic-votes-coming-from-some-of-floridas-reddest-counties

Florida Democrats have big lead in votes cast, but GOP starting to chip away at it

Meanwhile, Republicans have shifted more to voting in person. The GOP is counting on a big surge of Republicans during in-person early voting, and on Election Day, to overcome the advantage amassed by Democrats in mail ballots.

Data from the first six days of Florida’s 14-day early voting period show the GOP significantly outperforming Democrats, and starting to eat into the party’s lead in pre-Election Day votes.
On Tuesday morning Florida Democrats had cast 481,892 more votes than Republicans. By Sunday morning the lead had dropped by 119,043 votes, to 363,849.

The shift was powered by a 230,261-vote advantage for the GOP in ballots cast at early voting locations.

Florida GOP Chairman Joe Gruters said he’s confident Republicans will continue to chip away at the lead Democrats have built up.



https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/10/23/florida-democrats-lead-mail-voting-more-republicans-voting-person-general-election-trump-biden/3719103001/

They fled Hurricane Maria. Now, they're fighting to defeat Trump.

Like many Puerto Ricans, Santiago, 52, was frustrated by what she saw as President Donald Trump’s insufficient response to the storm and a perceived lack of compassion for its victims. Now, she is part of a group of Hurricane Maria survivors working under the name Pa’lante por Más, or Forward for More, to get Latinos across the Orlando area to vote against Trump in November.

“Without fighting, we cannot expect progress,” Santiago said.

In the year after Hurricane Maria ripped through Puerto Rico, as many as 50,000 people moved from the island to the Sunshine State, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and researchers at University of Florida. From the moment they arrived, political operatives recognized the potential for them to shift election outcomes in Florida, where a victory margin of 2 percent is akin to a landslide.

The campaigns for Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden and their allies are pouring millions of dollars into Spanish-language ads in the final weeks of the race in hopes of swaying this Florida bloc of more than 1.3 million people. Both candidates have made direct pitches as well.


https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/elections/2020/10/02/they-fled-hurricane-maria-now-theyre-fighting-to-defeat-trump/

Souls to the Polls campaign draws voters to Orlando's Amway Center

Tye Gee stood outside the Amway Center on Sunday and angled his smartphone camera so that the “I voted” sticker on his T-shirt was visible in his selfie.

The 60-year-old Baldwin Park resident was among scores of Orange County residents who cast their ballot Sunday inside the arena, with many heading across the street for food, music and speakers as part of Souls to the Polls, an annual voter-turnout initiative led by Black churches.

COVID-19 nixed the Souls to the Polls tradition of congregants arriving on packed buses at polling sites after Sunday services. Another Souls to the Polls drive is expected to happen next Sunday, two days before Election Day.

Instead, attendees stood in line to have their temperatures taken at kiosks before entering the grounds and being directed by volunteers to nearby hand sanitizer stations.
Gee, who moved to Orlando in 2016 from Pennsylvania, said he was surprised at the low voter turnout among African Americans in Florida in the last presidential election. He believes the opportunity to vote for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 motivated Black people to show up at the polls.

“In 2016, that kind of excitement kind of waned a little bit," he said. “But with all the things going on with social justice, things going on with the COVID situation, the economy, I think the turnout will be particularly high this year.”



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-souls-to-the-polls-2020-20201025-ypsrrshyibferadlqhrzotgs4a-story.html

Trump holds rally in Lumberton, NC, days after supporting recognition for Lumbee Tribe

President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Robeson County Saturday afternoon, touting his newly announced support for recognition of the Lumbee Tribe in a last-minute push to secure the swing county for the election.

“That’s why we’re here,” Trump said of supporting federal recognition. “Under this administration you will never be abandoned.”

On Wednesday, Trump said he supports full federal recognition for the Lumbees, North Carolina’s largest Native American tribe. Weeks earlier, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made the same pledge.

Members of the Lumbee Tribe sat in sections on either side of Trump, cheering his calls for recognition.

“He’s here. He’s speaking to us,” said Heather Berry-Chavis, a member of the Lumbee Tribe who attended the rally.




https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article246686672.html#storylink=cpy

MI-08: U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin campaign reports threat of violence to police

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin said Sunday morning she received a call at her campaign headquarters last week from someone threatening to "shoot my way to victory."

She also said the caller used sexually explicit and violent language. The threat came a couple of weeks after federal and state law enforcement charged more than a dozen people in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Slotkin, D-Holly, contacted U.S. Capitol Police and law enforcement in Lansing, who she said traced the threat to someone in Ingham County. She said she was told police determined the person was "unlikely to pose an actual threat."

“This is not the first time violent threats have been directed at me or members of my team," Slotkin said. "I am making this threat public because the climate has gotten significantly worse in the last few weeks. I also want to make clear that law enforcement will be involved in each and every threat we receive. We cannot let it be normal that political differences are metered out with threats of violence."





https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/25/elissa-slotkin-violent-call-police/6032377002/