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A NOTE FROM FRED
The despicable actions taken by Republican Wisconsin officeholders forced Wisconsin voters this week to make a terrible choice: either risk your life to vote in person or forfeit your sacred right to vote. Some courageous voters took the risk. Others were not able to and had to forfeit their votes. Then there was the nurse who reportedly worked all day, took the risk to vote and nevertheless was denied the ability to vote because she showed up 3 minutes late at the polling place.
The Wisconsin fiasco is a forerunner for the battles that lie ahead.
President Trump has made clear that central to his reelection effort is making it as hard as possible for eligible voters to vote. Trump recently attacked voting by mail as “corrupt” and called for every person to vote in person at the voting booth and have voter ID.
Trump somehow neglected to mention that he himself, “corruptly” in his own words, voted absentee by mail in New York in 2018 and that he and his wife have applied to vote absentee by mail this year in Florida. What is good enough for President Trump must be good enough for every other voter in our country.
Maximizing the difficulty of voting is Republican party gospel for the 2020 elections, with Trump in the lead, and his agent in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, playing his usual destructive role.
This makes it all the more important to win the battle that Democracy 21 and many other groups are fighting to have Congress quickly send as much as $4 billion to the states to use to run safe and secure elections.
States desperately need these funds to protect voters and to ensure the integrity of the unprecedented election we are facing in November.
A major congressional battle lies ahead in the coming weeks over including in the next big relief package up to $4 billion necessary for the states to run their elections. In the end, this will come down to a showdown between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump. This fight to protect voters and ensure honest elections must be won.
No voter in America should have to risk their life in order to cast their vote.
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MUST READS
D21 NEWS
President Trump, Who Voted By Mail In 2018 And Plans To Vote By Mail In 2020, Opposes Voting By Mail
D21 President Fred Wertheimer: “Trump’s position on absentee voting by mail is not only blatant hypocrisy but also makes clear that Trump has zero credibility in opposing absentee voting by mail, based on his own past actions.” Read more
THE COVID-19 RESPONSE
Trump’s “Light At The End Of The Tunnel” Is A Delusion, via New Yorker.
Trump Broke The Agencies That Were Supposed To Stop The COVID-19 Epidemic. No Wonder We’re Facing A Catastrophe, via Politico Magazine.
The US Was Beset By Denial And Dysfunction As Coronavirus Raged
“[M]any of the failures to stem the coronavirus outbreak in the United States were either a result of, or exacerbated by, [Trump’s] leadership,” via The Washington Post.
Kushner’s Team Seeks National Coronavirus Surveillance System
“[T]he prospect of compiling a national database of potentially sensitive health information has prompted concerns about its impact on civil liberties well after the coronavirus threat recedes,” via Politico.
Congress Weighs How To Govern From Afar, via Associated Press.
Coronavirus Pandemic Breeds Washington Lobbying Boom, via Associated Press.
How The Coronavirus Bailout Repeats 2008’s Mistakes: Huge Corporate Payoffs With Little Accountability, via ProPublica.
“Dark Money” Groups Pushed Trump To Back Unproven COVID-19 Treatment, via OpenSecrets.org.
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HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
Trump Is Gutting Our Democracy While We’re Dealing With Coronavirus
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WISCONSIN: “AN ELECTION DAY UNLIKE ANY OTHER”
An Election Day Unlike Any Other: Wisconsinites Vote In The Middle Of Coronavirus Pandemic, via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wisconsin Is Proof We Need Urgent Action On Voting Rights
E.J. Dionne: “Now we know that the pandemic threatens not only our personal health but also the health of our democracy. We need to act urgently for the sake of both,” opinion via The Washington Post.
Why Wisconsin Republicans Insisted On An Election In A Pandemic, via The New York Times.
The Supreme Court’s Wisconsin Decision Is A Terrible Sign For November
“The justices are forcing citizens to choose between voting and staying safe from the coronavirus. This fall’s election could be no different,” via The Atlantic.
TRUMP & FRIENDS
Trump Whacks At Inspectors General Appointed To Keep Him Honest
“Trump’s warped notion that the executive branch exists to loyally serve his interests makes it especially important that these watchdogs don’t lose their bite — including when it comes to ensuring that funds appropriated in response to the pandemic are honestly and transparently spent,” opinion via Los Angeles Times editorial board.
Inspector General Who Handled Ukraine Whistleblower Complaint Says “It Is Hard Not To Think” Trump Fired Him For Doing His Job, via The Washington Post.
Democrats Propose Bill To Undo Trump Move To Sideline Coronavirus Oversight Leader, via Politico.
Trump’s New Chief Of Staff Rattles White House In Crisis Mode, via Bloomberg.
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BONUS HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
Trump Said The Quiet Part Out Loud On Vote-By-Mail: Republicans Think They Can't Win When More People Vote
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208 DAYS …
The Challenges, And The Politics, Of Suddenly Switching To Voting By Mail, via National Public Radio.
As Pandemic Imperils Elections, Democrats Clash With Trump on Voting Changes
“Republicans, led by President Trump, are resisting broader voting access measures pushed by Democrats, which they see as threats to their election prospects,” via The New York Times.
Voting Rights Disputes In Virus Era Spark Court Battles, via Associated Press.
Biden vs. Trump: The General Election Is Here, and Transformed, via The New York Times.
Some Cash-Strapped States Turn To Election Security Funds To Fight COVID-19, via ABC News.
Congressional Campaigns Brace For Fundraising Disaster
“The coronavirus outbreak has slowed fundraising for House and Senate candidates, with the first hints of the damage coming next week in FEC filings,” via Politico.
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