Democracy Happy Hour – June 1, 2022

Democracy Happy Hour, June1, 2022 - Meeting Recordings & Chat File:

• Speaker View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/lPDrrMnI77Id_mHHE9oLjZQnfiEdQGq5TCi8eesw_zO92uD07oAjIdcpM6GGpuV1lcffDUx2z-64_H3t.qTjT6-at3jl2cJRc
• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/jq6m1-Z4E7N9pW72GmgjoFoOm2WYR4pG2nCcvE7PUcZS7zT9PRTcgpPSnvurGSk304ljzOuG10ngIUwp.0P88Uty9TdGHNoBy
• Chat (Link will download a text file to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/PylmFfvguZa8SdPe85QWc9y4fwy57B3iZLxcUrrrM-o3eOUM3pkVVst1_GKGtGnuAb7BiTTZfZi9USY.PK1gko3RqPVj49ma

Actions, Events & Misc. Links:

DONATE to Fix Democracy First or Fix Democracy First Education Fund @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Upcoming Democracy Happy Hour topics:

• June 8^th – Proportional Representation as a Social Justice Issue w/ More Equitable Representation
• June 15^th – The Independent State Legislature Theory
• June 22^nd – Inadequacy of American Election Law & Impact on Upcoming Elections w/ Michael Otten & Peter Siris

YO VOTE! (Youth Organizers for Voter Outreach, Teaching & Engagement) - https://www.yo-vote.org

WON (Women in Office Now) – https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/won

Fundraising for My Campaign – June 14 @ 6 pm – w/ guest speaker Madalene Mielke, President & CEO, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) - Register @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/won-modules/module-08-fundraising-for-my-campaign

EVENTS:

• January 6th Commission Hearing Watch Event - Thursday, June 9th @ 5 pm PT -(Time tentative based on Commission schedule) - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tUim-Dh8Q_GjUBQvDlaNkQ
• Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote – Film Screening & Panel Discussion – June 9^th @ 6 pm PT –  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_t-6eJlOiR6Kdw7TqMzIruQ

ACTIONS – Voter Registration:

• Festival Sundiata – June 18^th & 19^th – Seattle Center, Armory – Sign up for shifts @ https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b054babaa2baaf85-festival
• Fremont Fair– June 18^th & 19^th – Fremont Neighborhood in Seattle – Sign up for shifts @ https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b054babaa2baaf85-fremont

Tracking Money in Elections Links:

Too much money in politics, and not enough in democracy - https://thehill.com/opinion/education/589997-too-much-money-in-politics-and-not-enough-in-democracy/

How Does the Citizens United Decision Still Affect Us in 2022? - https://campaignlegal.org/update/how-does-citizens-united-decision-still-affect-us-2022

Dark Money - https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/reform-money-politics/influence-big-money/dark-money

With ‘Stealth Politics,’ Billionaires Make Sure Their Money Talks - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/magazine/billionaire-politics.html

Untraceable cash has infiltrated political campaigns from school boards to president - https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2022/03/13/dark-money-infiltrates-local-state-and-national-political-campaigns/7017307001/

Foreign Spending - https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/reform-money-politics/foreign-spending

The Rise of Dark Money Is a Threat to Judicial Independence - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/rise-dark-money-threat-judicial-independence

How TV Ad Lies And Private Money Shape U.S. Elections - https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1090304538/how-tv-ad-lies-and-private-money-shape-u-s-elections

Big Money in Elections Corrupts Our Government - https://parallaxperspectives.org/big-money-in-elections-corrupts-our-government

A guide to statistics, data, and documentary sources in American politics – Top Sources –

https://libguides.princeton.edu/politics/american/influence

Open Secrets - https://www.opensecrets.org/

Open Secrets - Politicians & Elections - https://www.opensecrets.org/elections/

Open Secrets - 2022 Outside Spending, by Super PAC - https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?chrt=V&type=S

Open Secrets - DONOR LOOKUP - https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup

Follow The Money - https://www.followthemoney.org/

Follow The Money - Washington 2019 & 2020 Elections - https://www.followthemoney.org/at-a-glance?y=2020&s=WA

Code for Democracy - https://codefordemocracy.org/

FEC - Campaign finance data - https://www.fec.gov/data/

Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) - https://www.pdc.wa.gov/

Time to Reverse ‘Citizens United’ and Corporate Constitutional Rights - https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/citizens-united-constitution-jayapal/

Small Donor Democracy: Fighting Big Money with People-Powered Elections - https://www.demos.org/policy-briefs/small-donor-democracy-fighting-big-money-people-powered-elections

Democracy in the News Links:

What the Jan. 6 Committee Has Done, and What’s Next - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-the-jan-6-committee-has-done-and-whats-next/2022/05/31/4a9792d6-e0fe-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html

Republicans Signal Refusal of Jan. 6 Subpoenas, Setting Up a Showdown - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/us/republicans-jan-6-subpoenas.html

Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro subpoenaed by DOJ in Jan. 6 probe - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/31/navarro-subpoena-capitol-probe/

Federal investigation into Trump fake elector probe expands to multiple states - https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/26/politics/doj-georgia-republicans-trump-fake-elector-probe/index.html

Lawyer Who Plotted to Overturn Trump Loss Recruits Election Deniers to Watch Over the Vote - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/30/us/politics/republican-poll-monitors-election-activists.html

‘It’s going to be an army’: Tapes reveal GOP plan to contest elections - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/01/gop-contest-elections-tapes-00035758

A Big Lie in a New Package - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/us/politics/2000-mules-trump-conspiracy-theory.html

States Have Passed 9 Bills Making It Easier for Elections to Be Tampered With - https://truthout.org/articles/states-have-passed-9-bills-making-it-easier-for-elections-to-be-tampered-with/

'The horse and buggy era': Attacks on voting machines set off fresh worries about election subversion - https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/politics/handcounting-ballots-voting-machines/index.html

Cyber agency: Voting software vulnerable in some states - https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-technology-georgia-election-2020-a746b253f3404dbf794349df498c9542

The Election Challenges Officials Are Facing Ahead of November - https://www.governing.com/security/the-election-challenges-officials-are-facing-ahead-of-november

Help Wanted: State Misinformation Sheriff - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/technology/misinformation-sheriff-election-midterms.html

Some Democrats voting in GOP primaries to block Trump picks - https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-donald-trump-georgia-campaign-2016-congress-df4fa72d2d4a1e4d9344d61c0a3d4b9e

Georgia’s primary went smoothly. Voting advocates worry about November. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/28/georgias-primary-went-smoothly-voting-advocates-worry-about-november/

Task force will study voting rights for Louisiana’s disabled people - https://lailluminator.com/2022/05/25/task-force-will-study-voting-rights-for-louisianas-disabled-people/

5 GOP candidates blocked from Michigan governor's primary over alleged false signatures - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/5-gop-candidates-blocked-michigan-governors-primary-false-signatures-rcna30673

Missouri county clerk threatens to take away disabled man's right to vote - https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/tony-messenger/messenger-missouri-county-clerk-threatens-to-take-away-disabled-mans-right-to-vote/article_cb39c84a-809b-59a0-b214-8b487c4e6823.html

New York on brink of major voting rights act - https://thehill.com/news/state-watch/3508095-new-york-on-brink-of-major-voting-rights-act/

South Dakota is not following federal voter registration laws, judge rules - https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2022/05/26/voter-registration-laws-broken-south-dakota-judge-larry-piersol/9947815002/

Alaska Supreme Court finds Republican gerrymander in Anchorage districts, orders new map - https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/05/24/alaska-supreme-court-finds-republican-gerrymander-in-anchorage-districts-orders-new-map/

Florida’s new congressional map under fire by voting rights groups - https://www.wcjb.com/2022/05/24/floridas-new-congressional-map-under-fire-by-voting-rights-groups/

New Hampshire Supreme Court approves redistricting map drawn by special master - https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-supreme-court-redistricting-53122/40154182#

'Best of our bad options' Federal judges order Ohio to use unconstitutional district maps - https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/05/27/ohio-use-unconstitutional-legislative-maps-aug-2-primary/9729444002/

Supreme Court paves way for DOJ to subpoena Texas lawmakers in Voting Rights Act challenge to redistricting maps - https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/politics/texas-redistricting-lawsuit-supreme-court/index.html

With the help of two Supreme Courts, Republican map prevails - https://www.wpr.org/mappedout/help-two-supreme-courts-republican-map-prevails

U.S. House loses more 'swing' in 2022 - https://www.npr.org/2022/05/29/1100980188/u-s-house-loses-more-swing-in-2022

America’s Redistricting Process Is Breaking Democracy - https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/americas-redistricting-process-is-breaking-democracy

Democrats and Republicans Agree on Importance of Ending Gerrymandering - https://campaignlegal.org/update/democrats-and-republicans-agree-importance-ending-gerrymandering

US supreme court clerks may be required to hand over phone records – report - https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/may/31/us-supreme-court-leak-clerks-phone-records-roe-v-wade

The Supreme Court Is on the Verge of Expanding Second Amendment Gun Rights - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/supreme-court-verge-expanding-second-amendment-gun-rights

In Texas and beyond, many politicians receive mega donations from pro-gun supporters - https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-politicians-receive-mega-donations-pro-gun-supporters/story?id=85023124

The GOP lawmakers who get the most cash from gun rights groups - https://www.axios.com/2022/05/25/ted-cruz-lawmakers-money-gun-rights-groups

After Texas shooting, Republicans face online anger over NRA money - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/25/school-shooting-uvalde-republicans-nra/

Why Republicans Won’t Budge on Guns - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/us/republicans-gun-control.html

Lobbying by gun rights groups hit a spending record in 2021. They outspent gun control by more than 5x - https://fortune.com/2022/05/25/nra-contributions-politicians-lobbying-gun-rights-groups-record-2021-ted-cruz/

Your Tax Dollars Are Propping Up the Gun Lobby - https://readsludge.com/2022/05/25/your-tax-dollars-are-propping-up-the-gun-lobby/

The Case for Requiring Federal Contractors to Disclose Their Secret Political Contributions - https://www.citizen.org/article/contractor-political-expenditures/

To protect democracy from dark-money influence, we need the Disclose Act - https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3508130-to-protect-democracy-from-dark-money-influence-we-need-the-disclose-act/

How an Organized Republican Effort Punishes Companies for Climate Action - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/climate/republicans-blackrock-climate.html

Group doorbells WA homes, searching for illegal voters and drawing complaints - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/group-doorbells-homes-across-washington-searching-for-illegal-voters-and-drawing-complaints/