Democracy Happy Hour – May 22, 2024

Democracy Happy Hour, May 22, 2024 - Meeting Recordings:

• Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/qZNOpjV0pVnHKZ2R40-X0ulypH58qLejiILathV7kpYdOP8PWi1r35x9PGi0BsiCIEk9ShQPv0Wg4xtN.CWN04CrHewQMbiA7
• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/wo9KkyS4_fnaUE11EFwwZGmsk-yH3QdGIC4ZSntOUWKRbFmpq68pPOIsrNYjJl7kmZz2TcDUEq92G_sc.eVyRlIz99HpMe2Y1
• Chat file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/tYGWffaLtdhSfNm2S_ggspRz8z7l6dq7eVvoyC54-cDQLU6su0ZHSDXjtjS2UZl_h54b54WeSsOp0nIL.inRNGmn-Udhpm2n7

FDF Links:

• Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/
• Donate to Fix Democracy First here: https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• May 29 - Renovating Our Democracy Together with Brittany Buford, Partners in Democracy
• June 5 - The Laboratories of Autocracy Playbook and How We Fight Back with David Pepper, Author & Activist
• June 12 - Citizens United Overreach: Legal Risk in For-Profit Corporate Boards’ Political Spending with Tom Moore, Center for American Progress
• June 19 - Unite for Democracy: Democracy is US! with Peggy O'Neal
• June 26 & July 3 - CANCELED - No Democracy Happy Hours - Cindy on vacation.

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

• Teachers Advancing Civic Learning (TACL) – https://civxnow.org/our-work/tacl/
  • Sign up @ https://www.congressweb.com/signup/?id=AE4C45D3-ADF3-451E-19442D42806D333B
  • TRAINING: Teachers Advancing Civic Learning Policy Primer - May 28, 2024 4:00 pm PT/7 pm ET – Register @ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMofu-spj4rG9BorUr4HK6wMoWw2z39SMCo#/registration
• Electoral Justice for Pierce County – June 6^th @ 4:30 pm PT – Tacoma, WA – More info & register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/electoral-justice-in-pierce-county-tickets-881569908327
• Kent for Districts – Ballot initiative in Kent, WA to create districts – They are looking for volunteers to help get this on the November ballot. - https://www.kentfordistricts.com/
• Power the Polls - https://www.powerthepolls.org/
• Organizing for Change with RepresentUs - Tuesday evenings at 3:30 pm PT/6:30 pm ET on Zoom - Dates: May 28, June 4, June 11, June 18, June 25, July 2 https://represent.us/campaign-catalyst/organizing-for-change
• Why Do You Vote? - https://www.whydoyou.vote/
  • Coffee Chats – Tuesdays at 9 am PT/12 pm ET - https://www.whydoyou.vote/events
• Respect Voters - https://www.respectvoters.org/

Suppressed & Sabotaged 2024 Links:

• Brave New Films - https://www.bravenewfilms.org
• Suppressed & Sabotaged 2024 - https://www.bravenewfilms.org/suppressed

Ways to Take Action:

• Register to vote and check your status
• Track your ballot or application
• Educate yourself and others on voting rules and deadlines in your state
• Confirm your polling place
• Know your state’s voter ID laws
• Share SUPPRESSED AND SABOTAGED with your community.
• Become a poll worker  
• Demand Congress pass the Vote by Mail Tracking Act  
• Report incidents of voter suppression through this hotline.
• Find out where your state stands and what you can do to strengthen voting rights and access.  
• Use Legal Defense Fund’s voting toolkit and resource guide

Democracy in the News Links:

Trump Chooses Not to Take the Stand, and the Defense Rests - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial-testimony.html

As Trump Trial Nears Its End, the Law May Give Prosecutors an Edge - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/nyregion/trump-trial-cohen-testimony.html

Appeals Court Upholds Gag Order on Trump in Manhattan Trial - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/14/nyregion/trump-gag-order-appeal.html

Unsealed motions in Trump’s Fla. case suggest new evidence of possible obstruction - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/21/trump-florida-classified-documents-motions

Rudy Giuliani and Other Trump Allies Plead Not Guilty in Arizona Election Case - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/us/giuliani-trump-arizona-fake-electors.html

Trump-affiliated group releases new national security book outlining possible second-term approach - https://apnews.com/article/america-first-trump-biden-russia-ukraine-policy-54080728c6e549c8312c4d71150480ba

After blaming his 2020 loss on mail balloting, Trump tries to make GOP voters believe it’s OK now - https://apnews.com/article/trump-republicans-rnc-mailed-ballots-voting-759f2277e00532dedaaa93e17f7329a1

Biden and Trump agree to CNN debate in June, ABC faceoff in September - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/15/biden-trump-presidential-debates

Democracy is a top concern for many voters. We asked them why. - https://abcnews.go.com/538/democracy-top-concern-voters-asked/story?id=110341629

Congressional Republicans Introduce Nationwide Proof of Citizenship Bill - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/congressional-republicans-introduce-nationwide-bill-proof-of-citizenship-bill/

House G.O.P. Moves to Crack Down on Noncitizen Voting, Sowing False Narrative - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/us/politics/republicans-noncitizen-voting-false-narrative.html

H.R.8281 - To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. - https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8281?s=9&r=6

Government officials warn of complex threats to US elections - https://rollcall.com/2024/05/15/government-officials-warn-of-complex-threats-to-us-elections/

Senate Rules advances three AI election bills - https://rollcall.com/2024/05/15/senate-rules-advances-three-ai-election-bills/

Driving U.S. Innovation in Artificial Intelligence - https://www.schumer.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Roadmap_Electronic1.32pm.pdf

How to Detect and Guard Against Deceptive AI-Generated Election Information - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-detect-and-guard-against-deceptive-ai-generated-election-information

Local Election Officials Survey — May 2024 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/local-election-officials-survey-may-2024

Groups that register voters are feeling besieged by new state laws - https://www.npr.org/2024/05/16/1251289736/voter-registration-drive-state-restrictions

Arizona Republicans set up a ballot measure to squash future ballot measures - https://azmirror.com/2024/05/21/arizona-republicans-set-up-a-ballot-measure-to-squash-future-ballot-measures/

Arkansas Supreme Court overturns ruling challenging state election laws - https://arkansasadvocate.com/2024/05/16/arkansas-supreme-court-overturns-ruling-challenging-state-election-laws/

DeSantis signs bill scrubbing ‘climate change’ from Florida law - https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/05/15/florida-law-climate-change-desantis-energy

In a place with a history of hate, an unlikely fight against GOP extremism - https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/20/idaho-extremism-republicans-primary

Supreme Court orders Louisiana to use congressional map with two majority-Black districts - https://lailluminator.com/2024/05/15/supreme-court-orders-louisiana-use-to-congressional-map-with-two-majority-black-districts/

Minnesota Governor Signs Pro-Voting Package - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/minnesota-governor-signs-pro-voting-package/

Galveston County redistricting case draws divide among federal appeals court judges - https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/14/galveston-county-redistricting-case-5th-circuit/

Federal judge tosses Democrats’ lawsuit challenging Wisconsin absentee voting requirements - https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-absentee-voting-federal-court-dc990ad070245a434e81e7de0dfd3923

The Major Supreme Court Cases of 2024 - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/09/us/supreme-court-major-cases-2024.html

Supreme Court rejects broad challenge to consumer watchdog CFPB - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/16/supreme-court-cfpb-funding

At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/justice-alito-upside-down-flag.html

House Democrats demand Alito recusal from Trump immunity, Jan. 6 cases - https://www.courthousenews.com/house-democrats-demand-alito-recusal-from-trump-immunity-january-6-cases/

State Supreme Court ‘Shadow Dockets’: More Power with Less Transparency - https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/state-supreme-court-shadow-dockets-more-power-less-transparency

What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/

Alleged ‘deal’ offer from Trump to big oil could save industry $110bn, study finds - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/16/donald-trump-big-oil-executives-alleged-deal-explained

House Democrats launch probe of Trump’s dinner with oil executives - https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/05/14/trump-oil-executives-investigation-democrats/

Top US ethics watchdog investigating Trump over dinner with oil bosses - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/15/ethics-watchdog-investigating-trump-big-oil

The Billionaire Family Business: 50 Billionaire Clans Have Already Spent Over $600 Million on the 2024 Elections, Mostly to Preserve Their Fortunes - https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaire-family-business-50-billionaire-clans-already-spent-600-million-2024-elections-mostly-preserve-fortunes

In About-Face, Wall Street’s Big Donors Warm to Trump - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/business/wall-street-donors-trump.html

Small Donors to Campaigns Are Not the Problem - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/small-donors-campaigns-are-not-problem

Trump-linked dark-money group spent $90m on racist and transphobic ads in 2022, records show - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/17/trump-citizens-sanity-election-ads

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez goes on trial in New York on federal corruption charges - https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250541741/menendez-corruption-trial

FEC rejects proposal to weaken disclosure laws but agrees to further rulemaking - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/05/fec-rejects-proposal-to-weaken-disclosure-laws-but-agrees-to-further-rulemaking

The hidden iceberg: Why corporate treasury spending matters - https://thefulcrum.us/business-democracy/corporate-political-contributions-2668202770

PHILLIPS REINTRODUCES BILL TO PROMOTE RANKED CHOICE VOTING - https://phillips.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1017

Want to help renovate American democracy? Welcome to Democracy, Refreshed. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/06/democracy-refreshed-newsletter-sign-up

Poll workers needed now – and you qualify - https://thefulcrum.us/civic-engagement-education/how-to-become-a-poll-worker

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/