Democracy Happy Hour – April 10, 2024

Democracy Happy Hour, April 10, 2024 - Meeting Recordings:

• Speaker View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/dPx57mXxdJOjppeama16EHI9mPMvVKabWcotGhmPKZOa5xkCJTrMgk5v75nZVGICdtVzgRlBVD1IKuM.B7cIWUxU0MDe85ej

• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/6LwMXz6fvJZu8nu7NT-S9eG5VHCzZP_Q-c76f08MaIDViqcoU-sySbbC1ouaOdePaNubQ9ZcjJszTQNc.my_pDQGfk4WbQ1sp

• Chat file (will download directly to your computer): https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/fhXvU6Dx-a0K8kPgFJRuybQAQfKp0e1E9Qvo-PgWScCzXfHFUxtAZ-MsNI5i-QH4MKh8dKMd-XDVw3He.oHHqZJVDPdb5hWVA

FDF Links:

• Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/

• Donate to Fix Democracy First Education Fund to support our civic education and engagement work @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate/fdfef

• Join our board(s)! We are looking for people to join our Fix Democracy First and Fix Democracy First Education Fund boards.some text
  • Fix Democracy First (501c4): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtDKKTBsOo7X_nk-7POVUTpJ-K1vfP-U_zHQrW1Ke7JNfvug/viewform
  • Fix Democracy First Education Fund (501c3): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfXiaGJJ0bVqV5eqW2irfLHWrU0n8iwVIsDwDjtrTP36mEj5g/viewform

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• Apr 17 – Uniting in Support of our Constitutional Democracy with Alyssa Newlon, Team Democracy
• Apr 24 - Building Women's Political Power through Democracy Reform with Alissa Bombardier Shaw, RepresentWomen
• May 1 - Creating Local Democracy Hubs to Strengthen Communities with Vinay Orekondy, Coalition Director at Rank the Vote
• May 8 - The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025 with Elise Wirkus, Protect Democracy
• May 15 – SPECIAL EVENT: How to Steal a Presidential Election with Lawrence Lessig

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

• Washington's New Legislative Maps—How Did We Get Here? Where Do We Go Next? Virtual Event – Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of WA - https://lwvwa.org/The-Evergreen-Voter/13336179some text
  • April 10, 2024 @ 6:30-8:00 PM - https://lwvwa.org/event-5665785
  • April 13, 2024 @ 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM - https://lwvwa.org/event-5667167

• John Lewis: Good Trouble Online Screening Event – Sponsored by Meaningful Movies Project & Fix Democracy First – April 28^th @ 4 pm PT/7 pm ET - Register @ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/john-lewis-good-trouble-online-screening-event-tickets-864265149327

• Minority Rule: A Conversation with Ari Berman – April 30^th @ 4 pm PT/7 pm ET - https://www.circle.org/events/minorityrulewithariberman

• Power the Polls - https://www.powerthepolls.org/

• Support the Building Civic Bridges Actsome text
  • https://resolutionaries.org/advocacy-bcba/#/2/
  • https://kilmer.house.gov/imo/media/doc/building_civic_bridges_act.pdf

• Teachers Advancing Civic Learning (TACL) – https://civxnow.org/our-work/tacl/some text
  • Sign up @ https://www.congressweb.com/signup/?id=AE4C45D3-ADF3-451E-19442D42806D333B

• High School Video Contest 2023-2024 with League of Women Voters of WA - https://lwvwapsacontest.wpcomstaging.com/

• Why Do You Vote? - https://www.whydoyou.vote/

• Respect Voters - https://www.respectvoters.org/

The Democracy Group Links:

• The Democracy Group - https://www.democracygroup.org/some text
  • About: https://www.democracygroup.org/about
  • Shows: https://www.democracygroup.org/shows
  • Education Resources: https://www.democracygroup.org/resources
  • Media Training: https://www.democracygroup.org/podcast-media-training
  • FREE GUIDE: 5 WAYS TO TAKE ACTION - https://mailchi.mp/4563a930fc1e/takeaction
  • Subscribe to Newsletter: https://www.democracygroup.org/newsletter

Democracy in the News Links:

Judge Won’t Delay Trump’s Criminal Trial to Wait for Immunity Ruling - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/nyregion/trump-merchan-immunity-ruling.html

Appeals Court Denies Another Trump Attempt to Delay Trial - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial-delay.html

What to Know About the Trial Donald Trump Faces in Manhattan - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/nyregion/donald-trump-trial-what-to-know.html

Judge Cannon shoots down Trump’s presidential records act claim - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/04/cannon-trump-jack-smith-presidential-records-act/

Georgia Judge Rejects Effort to Dismiss Trump Case on Free Speech Grounds - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/us/georgia-judge-trump-free-speech.html

Special counsel urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s immunity claim - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/08/jack-smith-supreme-court-trump-immunity/

Federal judge condemns ‘normalization’ of January 6 while sentencing defiant rioter - https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/03/politics/trump-criticism-judge-royce-lamberth-january-6/index.html

Some Jan. 6 rioters win early release, even before key Supreme Court ruling - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/10/jan-6-rioters-released-supreme-court

Trump says he’ll jail his opponents. Members of the House Jan. 6 committee are preparing –

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/trump-says-hell-jail-his-opponents-members-of-the-house-jan-6-committee-are-preparing/

‘Building an authoritarian axis’: the Trump ‘envoy’ courting the global far right - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/05/richard-grenell-trump-far-right-foreign-policy

Former Trump officials are among the most vocal opponents of returning him to the White House - https://apnews.com/article/former-trump-officials-criticize-2024-e202861911ab37cadfcf058b5b163fb9

Republicans scrutinize voting rolls and ramp up for mass challenges ahead of election - https://stateline.org/2024/04/09/republicans-scrutinize-voting-rolls-and-ramp-up-for-mass-challenges-ahead-of-election/

Inside the Election Denial Groups Planning to Disrupt November - https://www.wired.com/story/election-denial-groups-november-2024/

Election worker turnover has reached historic highs ahead of the 2024 vote, new data shows - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/election-worker-turnover-historic-high-2024-vote-rcna145833

Local election officials say the Biden administration needs to do more to keep them safe - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/keep-us-safe-local-election-officials-tell-biden-administration-rcna146430

Anonymous users are dominating right-wing discussions online. They also spread false information - https://apnews.com/article/misinformation-anonymous-accounts-social-media-2024-election-8a6b0f8d727734200902d96a59b84bf7

China will use AI to disrupt elections in the US, South Korea and India, Microsoft warns - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/05/china-using-ai-disrupt-elections

Republicans Push Election Law Changes In These Crucial States Ahead Of 2024 Race -

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/04/05/republicans-push-election-law-changes-in-these-crucial-states-ahead-of-2024-race/?sh=6243b131576b

Voter ID and absentee-ballot limits: the South tightens key voting laws ahead of election - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/04/06/alabama-louisiana-mississippi-target-ballot-harvesting-2024/73106732007/

Voting rights groups sue Alabama over blocking assistance for absentee ballots - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/04/alabama-sued-voter-assistance-absentee-ballots

Supporters of Alaska election system file suit seeking to block repeal initiative - https://alaskabeacon.com/briefs/supporters-of-alaska-election-system-file-suit-seeking-to-block-repeal-initiative/

Arizona Supreme Court ruling clears way for near-total abortion ban - https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/09/arizona-abortion-supreme-court-ruling/

‘Catastrophic,’ ‘a shock’: Arizona’s abortion ruling threatens to upend 2024 races - https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/04/10/arizona-abortion-ban-politics-election

Arizona Republicans denounce revived 1864 abortion ban in sudden reversal - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/10/arizona-republicans-against-state-abortion-ban

Journalist removed from Colorado Republican event for ‘unfair’ reporting - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/07/journalist-ejected-from-colorado-republican-assembly

Elections law caused ‘dramatic decrease’ in voter registrations by community groups, official says - https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/03/elections-law-caused-dramatic-decrease-in-voter-registrations-by-community-groups-official-says/

Florida voter registration restrictions get a First Amendment challenge in federal court - https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2024-04-05/florida-voter-registration-group-restrictions-first-amendment-challenge-federal-court

Miami-Dade prosecutor: There are active investigations of voter registration orgs - https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/08/miami-dade-prosecutor-there-are-active-investigations-of-voter-registration-orgs/

A new election law battle is brewing in Georgia, this time over voter challenges - https://apnews.com/article/georgia-elections-voting-rights-mass-voter-challenge-6dd6c85531453c55a135a7cab9bc346e

Senate approves resolution on Election Night to ban ranked choice voting - https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/elections/senate-approves-resolution-on-election-night-to-ban-ranked-choice-voting/article_49cd251c-f13e-11ee-afa1-1f3f882fb21e.html

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signs bill on campaign finance limits - https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/03/oregon-signs-into-law-campaign-finance-limits/

Wisconsin Voters Approve Ballot Measures to Ban Private Funding of Election Administration - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/wisconsin-voters-approve-ballot-measures-to-ban-private-funding-of-election-administration/

Supreme Court slow to resolve potentially election-altering cases as justices inch toward final arguments - https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/06/politics/supreme-court-case-pacing/index.html

An Effort to End ‘Judge-Shopping’ Turns Into a ‘Political Firestorm’ - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/us/judge-shopping-federal-courts-politics.html

Why Republican federal judges are fighting among themselves - https://www.vox.com/scotus/24117949/supreme-court-republican-judges-fight-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping

Your State-by-State Guide to the 2024 Supreme Court Elections - https://boltsmag.org/your-state-by-state-guide-to-the-2024-supreme-court-elections/

Trump tells billionaires he'll keep their taxes low at $50 million fundraising gala - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-tells-billionaires-ll-keep-taxes-low-50-million-fundraising-gala-rcna146748

Democratic group invests in state-level races this year with an eye on future redistricting cycles - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democratic-group-state-races-future-redistricting-rcna146890

Top fundraisers vie to succeed McConnell as Senate GOP Leader - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/04/top-fundraisers-vie-to-succeed-mcconnell-as-senate-gop-leader/

Leadership PACs allow special interests to donate even more money to Congress - https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election-2024/2024/04/07/campaign-finance-leadership-pac/stories/202404050077

Super PACs keep testing the limits of campaign finance law - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/08/super-pac-fec-limits-00150672

The US Billionaire Class Is Richer Than Ever and That’s Bad News for Democracy - https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/us-billionaires-bad-for-democracy

How states are leading in the fight against big money in campaigns - https://thehill.com/opinion/4577715-how-states-are-leading-in-the-fight-against-big-money-in-campaigns/

Remove foreign-influenced corporate money from our elections now - https://thefulcrum.us/electoral-reforms/foreign-money-in-elections

No Labels won’t run a third-party campaign after trying to recruit a centrist presidential candidate - https://apnews.com/article/no-labels-2024-third-party-biden-trump-c7477857e1dd05535326b8850f4500a1

Washington state legislative map clears U.S. Supreme Court appeal - https://www.knkx.org/politics/2024-04-04/washington-state-redistricting-case-yakima-latino-voting-maps

GOOD NEWS Websites:

Politics & Government Good News - https://www.goodgoodgood.co/impact/democracy

Good News Network - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

Sunny Skyz - https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news

ABC Good News - https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/good-news

Daily Good - https://www.dailygood.org/

The Happy News - https://thehappynewspaper.com/