Democracy Happy Hour – May 8, 2024

Democracy Happy Hour, May 8, 2024 - Meeting Recordings:

• Speaker View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/ICZJJBqgMgH9Rxy442fWRxHa8MCB3AwtuU7dW3JG7aM7oRRPHifKDkNsq1uXy8IE4gg3JNpgS-pH1bph.l3QbZ3PYQ2RkP_No

• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/6evPrCg1cM_D3HJturdLbg0IMT5znBOIE4bOUe-BmDvDl4mYi-x3pq4idbgkeKNdejjc3jegOpjFV3cP.EkEkMuL3PmhgmNzY

• Chat file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/RuJtzETvPKPXotwePcgc_QMBBLm8tMwlXaKsebse9uzwpERRrcsk1xBb86g4Br9RvRC90US99Pz4gQFu.9g1ELeLhnTDsdA-L

FDF Links:

• Fix Democracy First Ed Fund GiveBig 2024 Campaign - https://www.wagives.org/organization/fixdemocracyfirst

• 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

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• May 15 - SPECIAL EVENT: How to Steal a Presidential Election with Lawrence Lessig
• May 22 - Suppressed & Sabotaged 2024 - Film Screening & Discussion
• 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

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

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

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

• 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/

• 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

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

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

The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025 Links:

• The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025 - https://www.authoritarianplaybook2025.org/some text
  • Protect Democracy - https://protectdemocracy.org/
  • Threat & Response - https://protectdemocracy.org/authoritarian-threat-response/
  • Find an Expert - https://protectdemocracy.org/our-staff/

Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project - https://www.project2025.org/

The 2025 Presidential Transition Project paves the way for an effective conservative Administration based on four pillars: a policy agenda, Presidential Personnel Database, Presidential Administration Academy, and playbook for the first 180 days of the next Administration.

Democracy in the News Links:

Trump violated gag a 10th time, judge says, threatening jail - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/06/trump-hush-money-trial-live-updates

Stormy Daniels delivers intense testimony in Trump’s trial: 6 takeaways - https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/stormy-daniels-delivers-intense-testimony-in-trumps-trial-5-takeaways

Hope Hicks takes the stand: 5 takeaways from Trump’s criminal trial - https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/hope-hicks-takes-the-stand-5-takeaways-from-trumps-criminal-trial

Judge indefinitely delays Trump’s classified documents trial in Florida - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/07/trump-classified-documents-trial-delayed-cannon-florida/

Georgia court to hear Trump appeal seeking to disqualify Fani Willis - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/08/georgia-appeals-court-fani-willis-trump/

Trump Acknowledges He Wanted to Go to the Capitol on Jan. 6 - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/us/politics/trump-capitol-jan-6.html

'Watch them like hawks': Trump asks backers to become election workers - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/02/trump-election-integrity/73541588007/

Trump, Repeating 2020 Election Lies, Will Not Commit to Accepting 2024 Results - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/us/politics/trump-accept-2024-election-results.html

Libertarians picked Trump to headline their convention. Then an internal revolt erupted. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/07/trump-libertarian-national-convention/

Abortion is still consuming US politics and courts 2 years after a Supreme Court draft was leaked - https://apnews.com/article/abortion-dobbs-leak-arizona-florida-kansas-9ee070c3540cb730b251d707e5f98ffc

Drawing the Line: How Gerrymandering Determines Whose Votes Have Power - https://msmagazine.com/2024/05/01/gerrymandering-voters/

Inside the far-right plan to use civil rights law to disrupt the 2024 election - https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-05-01/california-election-group-aiding-national-effort-to-stop-state-from-certifying-election-results

How State Legislatures Are Refining Their Efforts to Manipulate Elections - https://votingrightslab.org/2024/04/29/the-shapeshifting-threat-of-election-interference/

Voters face new rules for mailed ballots in battleground states - https://thefulcrum.us/electoral-reforms/voting-by-mail-6783789

Canvassing groups face unprecedented voter registration hurdles - https://www.axios.com/2024/05/02/hard-to-vote-states-register-canvas

How Election Officials Can Identify, Prepare for, and Respond to AI Threats - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-election-officials-can-identify-prepare-and-respond-ai-threats

A group of Republicans has united to defend the legitimacy of US elections and those who run them - https://apnews.com/article/election-lies-trump-republicans-2024-legitimacy-f9b015fb3ead18f5c7b1432415680361

The Legal Defense Fund Issues Democracy Defended Report Outlining Barriers to Fair, Accessible Elections and Guidelines to Protect the Vote in 2024 - https://www.naacpldf.org/press-release/the-legal-defense-fund-issues-democracy-defended-report-outlining-barriers-to-fair-accessible-elections-and-guidelines-to-protect-the-vote-in-2024/

Behind the Mysterious Right-Wing Group Suing To Roll Back Arizona’s Voting Laws - https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/behind-the-mysterious-right-wing-group-suing-to-roll-back-arizonas-voting-laws/

Kemp signs new Georgia voting rules into law ahead of presidential election - https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/kemp-signs-georgia-voting-law/index.html

Signatures filed for top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) initiative in Idaho, which would reverse the state’s ban enacted in 2023 - https://news.ballotpedia.org/2024/05/02/signatures-filed-for-top-four-ranked-choice-voting-rcv-initiative-in-idaho-which-would-reverse-the-states-ban-enacted-in-2023/

Federal judges order Louisiana Legislature to draw yet another congressional map - https://lailluminator.com/briefs/louisiana-congressional/

Advocates say Supreme Court must preserve new, mostly Black US House district for 2024 elections - https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-black-house-district-2024-election-1ed871b6da43ebd571fe728e71157519

Louisiana Governor Signs New State Supreme Court Map With Two Majority-Black Districts - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/louisiana-governor-signs-new-state-supreme-court-map-with-two-majority-black-districts/

Federal Trial To Begin in Challenge to North Carolina Photo ID Law - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-trial-to-begin-in-challenge-to-north-carolina-photo-id-law/

Justice Department Supports Private Right to Enforce Voting Rights Act in Pennsylvania Lawsuit - https://www.mychesco.com/a/news/pennsylvania/justice-department-supports-private-right-to-enforce-voting-rights-act-in-pennsylvania-lawsuit/

Republicans file lawsuit to block count of Nevada mail ballots received after Election Day - https://apnews.com/article/rnc-trump-nevada-mail-voting-lawsuit-dc0e591c12be30039423fce05c92233b

Oklahoma bans ranked-choice voting, joins six other states in prohibition - https://news.ballotpedia.org/2024/05/02/oklahoma-bans-ranked-choice-voting-joins-six-other-states-in-prohibition/

Inactive Voters To Be 'Purged' in Key Swing State - https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-voter-roll-purge-2024-1897864

How Citizens United cleared the way for the biggest political bribery scandal in Ohio history - https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/04/25/how-citizens-united-cleared-the-way-for-the-biggest-political-bribery-scandal-in-ohio-history/

Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide whether mobile voting sites are legal - https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2024/05/05/wisconsin-supreme-court-will-decide-whether-mobile-voting-sites-are-legal/

Blockbuster cases abound as Supreme Court enters opinion season - https://www.courthousenews.com/blockbuster-cases-abound-as-supreme-court-enters-opinion-season/

Federal judges have a code of ethics but often aren't held accountable, NPR finds - https://www.npr.org/2024/05/02/1248790613/federal-judges-have-a-code-of-ethics-but-often-arent-held-accountable-npr-finds

2024 Presidential Candidates' Top Contributors as of April 2024 - https://data.usatoday.com/2024-presidential-candidates-top-contributors-as-of-april-2024/?ref=biden

Mystery Group Announces $5 Million Fund to Pay for Reports of Election Fraud. What Could Go Wrong? - https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/05/mystery-group-announces-5-million-fund-to-pay-for-reports-of-election-fraud-what-could-go-wrong/

Candidates for Federal Office Can Raise Unlimited Funds for Ballot Measures - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/05/us/politics/election-funds-ballot-measures.html

America needs poll workers, now more than ever - https://thefulcrum.us/civic-engagement-education/poll-workers

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/