Democracy Happy Hour – January 31, 2024

Democracy Happy Hour, Jan 31, 2024 - Meeting Recordings:Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/8lv61SQJPtR5Xs6hh8J_oJkV21Y5-dwhKNt9XUXlpBZ18CcoVBFdif7U5ciWwMMdfZ2roJmKcnkWr6S8.i_qgkncoz9QMNAgS

‍Gallery View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/QNLNVghHiJfnIhQJLTqUiwvQkX3N40ew1kRqMhIenvIhU9cTwODgz-sM74zEfZKZdyBqkm_pNYbD6Bv2.1I3Sz3h3AWV2ZrBY

‍Chat file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/3e_yitJdfk2lRfDQ_E44lBp-CmZri1umhuLj7qA_utDjhWgqDIiYaeAaiLY7hpVwJ4cO1dJbaSUayHCe.0fQ7Cpx1jgz3r50P

‍FDF Links:

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

‍Fix Democracy First - Donate @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

‍Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

Feb 7 - The People with Katie Fahey, Executive Director (Katie was featured in Slay the Dragon.)Feb 14 - CANCELED - No Democracy Happy Hour this week. Cindy will be attending the National Assoc. of Nonpartisan Reformers Summit in Denver.Feb 21 - Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen's Guide to Transformational Advocacy with Sam Daley-HarrisFeb 28 - Section Two of the 14th Amendment: A Never Enforced Provision of the Constitution  with Jared Pettinato & Todd Drezner

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

WA Poor People's Campaign March To Stay Alive In Olympia – March 2nd @ 12 pm PT - https://actionnetwork.org/events/wa-poor-peoples-campaign-day-of-action-in-olympia

‍PPC video: https://vimeo.com/906790864/fab17ecfe1?share=copy

‍League of Women Voters of WA ACT via Zoom – Mondays @ 10 am through Mar 11, 2024 - https://lwvwa.org/event-5491947

Citizen Assemblies and Deliberation Links:

The American Public Trust - https://www.americanpublictrust.org

‍The Leadership Now Project - https://www.leadershipnowproject.org

‍Civic Health Project - https://www.civichealthproject.org/

‍More Perfect Union - https://www.mpu.us/

‍AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

‍Listen First Project - https://www.listenfirstproject.org/

‍Business for America - https://www.bfa.us/

‍Citizen Assemblies - https://citizensassemblies.org/

‍Healthy Democracy - https://healthydemocracy.org/

‍Democracy Without Elections - https://democracywithoutelections.org/

OECD Deliberative Democracy Database - https://airtable.com/appP4czQlAU1My2M3/shrX048tmQLl8yzdc/tblrttW98WGpdnX3Y/viwX5ZutDDGdDMEep

‍Input Crowd, Output Meaning - https://pol.is/home

‍The Deliberative Democracy Lab - https://deliberation.stanford.edu/

‍Human Listening + Machine Learning - https://cortico.ai/

‍This Austrian Heiress Wants to Redistribute Millions of Dollars - Marlene Engelhorn has committed to giving away 90 percent of her wealth. Will a council of citizens be able to decide how to spend it? - https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/this-austrian-heiress-wants-to-redistribute-millions-of-dollars/

‍Democracy in the News Links

New Hampshire Republican Primary Election Results - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/23/us/elections/results-new-hampshire-republican-primary.html

Trump leans into voter fraud playbook, preparing to cry foul if he loses expected Biden rematch - https://apnews.com/article/trump-2024-election-lies-voter-fraud-biden-f3f3691c2ea0667ad694e3bee577d802

Haley camp seeks to convince top donors that Trump would cost GOP the House - https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/01/30/haley-trump-aoa-2024-donors/

Voting Is Bewildering This Primary Season. That Worries Experts. - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/us/politics/election-2024-information.html

Trump Claims Immunity Extends Even to Acts That ‘Cross the Line’ - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/us/politics/trump-immunity.html

Full Appeals Court Spurns Request by Trump to End Gag Order in Election Case - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/us/politics/trump-gag-order.html

McConnell, Republican lawmakers sign Supreme Court brief on keeping Trump on ballot - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/18/mcconnell-trump-supreme-court-colorado-ballot/

Maine judge delays Trump ballot decision until Supreme Court ruling - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/17/maine-ballot-ruling-trump/

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to bar Trump from Alaska election ballots - https://www.adn.com/politics/2024/01/28/federal-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-seeking-to-bar-trump-from-alaska-election-ballots/

WA judge denies effort to remove Trump from ballot - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-judge-denies-effort-to-remove-trump-from-ballot

Donald Trump must pay an additional $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll in defamation case, jury says - https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-defamation-trial-e4ea8b93cdeb29857864ffd8d14be888

US elected officials avoiding topics of abortion and gun control over fear of threats - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/25/us-legislators-elected-officials-abortion-gun-control

Intimidation of State and Local Officeholders - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/intimidation-state-and-local-officeholders

2024 Election Has More Restrictions to Voting Than in 2020 - https://truthout.org/articles/2024-election-has-more-restrictions-to-voting-than-in-2020/

Voting Laws Roundup: 2023 in Review - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2023-review

Which states could get new congressional maps in 2024? - https://abcnews.go.com/538/live-updates/redistricting-updates-2024-maps/?id=103663407

Proposed resolution would give Arizona Legislature authority to override popular vote - https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2024-01-29/proposed-bill-would-give-arizona-legislature-authority-to-override-popular-vote

Colorado Republicans ask federal judge to bar unaffiliated voters from party primary elections - https://www.courthousenews.com/colorado-republicans-ask-federal-judge-to-bar-unaffiliated-voters-from-participating-in-party-primary-elections/

Florida Supreme Court will consider challenge to DeSantis’ redistricting map - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/24/florida-supreme-court-desantis-map-00137673

Louisiana Lawmakers Approve Map That Empowers More Black Voters - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/us/politics/louisiana-voting-map.html

Further litigation is unlikely in Louisiana redistricting fight - https://www.livingstonparishnews.com/breaking_news/further-litigation-is-unlikely-in-louisiana-redistricting-fight/article_a06963c4-be42-11ee-b456-afd536e2dc23.html

Michigan Racial Gerrymandering Appeal Rejected by Supreme Court - https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/michigan-racial-gerrymandering-appeal-rejected-by-supreme-court

Minnesota Supreme Court to decide fate of felon voting rights law - https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/01/22/minnesota-supreme-court-grants-review-of-historic-voting-rights-law/72255653007/

Can Mississippi strip felons, including tree thieves, of voting rights? Federal judges hear the case - https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/can-mississippi-strip-felons-including-tree-thieves-of-voting-rights-federal-judges-hear-the-case/27XRCH5UNRG7HJR6SGYTIYJG4Q/

Federal judge blocks same-day voter registration change - https://www.carolinajournal.com/federal-judge-blocks-same-day-voter-registration-change/

Judge rejects court order blocking NC Senate election map accused of racial gerrymandering - https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/01/duke-university-durham-north-carolina-election-gerrymandering-court-injunction-racial

Ohio attorney general rejects voting-rights coalition's ballot petition for a 2nd time - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2024/01/25/voting-elections-constitutional-amendment-ohio/f8187220-bbd8-11ee-b176-fe5fd794e716_story.html

Felons must get gun rights back if they want voting rights restored, Tennessee officials say - https://www.wbir.com/video/news/local/felons-must-get-gun-rights-back-if-they-want-voting-rights-restored-tennessee-officials-say/51-ddd7f956-1a9c-4dd1-94d8-7cf089d41745

Five new maps proposed for Central Washington redistricting - https://crosscut.com/politics/2024/01/five-new-maps-proposed-central-washington-redistricting

Tougher punishment for harassing election workers passes the House twice, now confronts the Senate - https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/29/tougher-punishment-for-harassing-election-workers-/

WASHINGTONIANS MAY GET A DEMOCRACY UPGRADE IN 2024 - https://www.sightline.org/2024/01/16/washingtonians-may-get-a-democracy-upgrade-in-2024/

A federal court declines to revisit a ruling that could weaken the Voting Rights Act - https://www.npr.org/2024/01/30/1222561113/voting-rights-act-arkansas-federal-appeals-court

The Politics of Judicial Elections, 2021–2022 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/politics-judicial-elections-2021-2022

Big Donors Back New Group to Fight ‘Deep State’ at Supreme Court - https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/big-donors-back-new-group-to-fight-deep-state-at-supreme-court

Outside spending on 2024 elections tops $318 million - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/01/outside-spending-on-2024-elections-tops-318-million

Trump’s super PAC raised $46 million in 6 months - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/25/trumps-super-pac-raised-46-million-in-six-months-00137743

Trump threatens to blacklist Haley donors - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-threatens-blacklist-haley-donors-rcna135586

Watchdogs urge presidential candidates to disclose top campaign fundraisers - https://thehill.com/business/4424206-watchdogs-urge-presidential-candidates-to-disclose-top-campaign-fundraisers/

Citizens United anniversary marks expensive start to 2024 election - https://www.aol.com/citizens-united-anniversary-marks-expensive-110000223.html

State and federal lobbying spending tops $46 billion after federal lobbying spending broke records in 2023 - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/01/state-and-federal-lobbying-spending-tops-46-billion-after-federal-lobbying-spending-broke-records-in-2023

Foreign-Influenced Corporate Money in State Elections - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/reports/foreign-influenced-corporate-money

‘Smoking gun proof’: fossil fuel industry knew of climate danger as early as 1954, documents show - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/30/fossil-fuel-industry-air-pollution-fund-research-caltech-climate-change-denial

OpenAI Bans AI Tools For Political Campaigns: Voting Rights For Humans Only - https://www.ccn.com/news/openai-bans-ai-tools-campaigns-voting-rights/

Fake Biden robocall ‘tip of the iceberg’ for AI election misinformation - https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4424803-fake-biden-robocall-tip-of-the-iceberg-for-ai-election-misinformation/

Science is revealing why American politics are so intensely polarized - https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/01/20/polarization-science-evolution-psychology/

American democracy is cracking. These ideas could help repair it. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/21/fix-american-democracy-voting-rights-supreme-court-senate/

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/