Democracy Happy Hour – Novemeber 15, 2023

Democracy Happy Hour, Nov 15, 2023 - Meeting Recordings:

• Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/wq87bXg_b_sTugzVRbnJ1RORmDv126FHMb4t3A-7AG2UGHZxT5dxxCfw8ySjuTjbqWYMDTSRACyZEIoZ.QhG4Xo9szOaOwBnV

• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/KrALNn5yQnIGNaQRm8iwO4yq9DfF5kx-poBb-42Ufek173YAdlR4dUqi9G6VZFNl_3sYUQg4Mh25cm71.juGqPqrgHayWKyW6

• Chat file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/F3xYNiA0tITUnOzfApxcdFvkyssVy_Csq3Csq0_WEL6DCFaRLA9Hq7IGr_uDo3e54WhO5wPjQvOcmvwv.mRzlaYGB8w9i87xx

FDF Links:

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

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• Nov 22 - CANCELED - No Democracy Happy Hour this week - Happy Thanksgiving!
• Nov 29 - The Path to Full Voting Rights Restoration with Anthony Blankenship, Civil Survival
• Dec 6 - The Future of Public Banking in Washington and Beyond with Marco Rosaire Rossi, Washingtonians For Public Banking
• Dec 13 - Universal Voting with 100% Democracy
• Dec 20, 27 & Jan 3 - CANCELED - No Democracy Happy Hours - Happy Holidays!

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

Step Up! To Redistricting Reform – Nov 18^th @ 10 am PT – Register to join @ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIuf-qurTIvHdKzZr8LJIM7hsjmkIccuhdG#/registration

LWVWA Action Workshop, Dec 2, 2023 and Democracy Lobby Week, Jan 22-26, 2024 - https://lwvwa.org/page-18629/13271047

FairVote RCV Lobby Day with FairVote Washington – Jan 17, 2024 - https://www.mobilize.us/fairvotewa/event/589773/

CivXNow Educator Advocacy Program Sign Up – Looking for current & retired educators - https://www.congressweb.com/signup/?id=AE4C45D3-ADF3-451E-19442D42806D333B

Avoiding Election Misinformation Links:

News Literacy Project - https://newslit.org/

PolitiFact - https://www.politifact.com/

Election Misinformation - https://www.brennancenter.org/election-misinformation

Misinformation is eroding the public’s confidence in democracy - https://www.brookings.edu/articles/misinformation-is-eroding-the-publics-confidence-in-democracy/

Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024 - https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1211929764/election-false-claims-social-media-cisa-trump

A Misinformation Expert’s Top Tips to Slow the Spread of Misleading Information in the 2024 Election - https://www.georgetown.edu/news/tips-to-slow-misinformation-this-election-season/

Poll shows most US adults think AI will add to election misinformation in 2024 - https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-2024-election-misinformation-poll-8a4c6c07f06914a262ad05b42402ea0e

Democracy in the News Links

Jan. 6 riot was 'culmination' of Trump conspiracies to overturn 2020 election, special counsel says in new filing - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/jan-6-riot-was-culmination-trump-conspiracies-overturn-2020-election-s-rcna123897

Trump belief that 2020 election was stolen is not a defense, DOJ says - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/06/trump-defense-big-lie-jan-6/

Ex-Trump allies detail efforts to overturn election in Georgia plea videos - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/13/trump-georgia-case-videos-overturn-2020-election

Ex-Trump lawyer says ‘boss’ was not going to leave White House - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/14/ex-trump-lawyer-says-boss-was-not-going-to-leave-white-house

Fani Willis: Georgia trial involving Trump might not conclude until early 2025 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/14/fani-willis-trump-case-videos

Trump’s lawyers want a mistrial in his New York civil fraud case. They claim the judge is biased - https://apnews.com/article/trump-new-york-civil-fraud-mistrial-motion-e3215363c13ee2d720c18493a4287c5d

The Trump Trials - https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=5d2a4b0d9bbc0f06db4149eb&s=65514c33bac9e5486c30b9a9&linknum=4&linktot=55&linknum=4&linktot=55

Judge allows Trump on Michigan primary ballot as critics try to bar him - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/14/michigan-primary-ballot-trump-insurrection

Courts, state officials hesitate to keep Trump off 2024 ballots - https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/14/courts-state-officials-hesitate-to-keep-trump-off-2024-ballots/

Suspicious letters sent to elections offices in at least five states - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/09/fentanyl-letters-election-offices

Several WA elections offices evacuated over white powder, fentanyl - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/king-county-elections-office-evacuated-over-white-powder/

Threats against election workers driving exodus of veteran staff, experts say - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/07/election-worker-threats-drive-exodus-from-profession.html

A third of Kansas election officials have quit because of harassment and conspiracy theories - https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-11-14/a-third-of-kansas-election-officials-have-quit-because-of-harassment-and-conspiracy-theories

Oregon Election Offices Are Underfunded, Understaffed Heading Into 2024 Presidential Election Cycle - https://www.invw.org/2023/11/14/report-oregon-election-offices-are-underfunded-understaffed-heading-into-2024

Bipartisan legislation introduced in House to increase transparency of mail-in ballots - https://www.naco.org/news/bipartisan-legislation-introduced-house-increase-transparency-mail-ballots

A boom of ballot initiatives is reshaping this state’s democracy - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/15/nebraska-ballot-initiative-paid-sick-leave

Louisiana Must Finalize New Voting Map by January, Federal Appeals Court Says - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/us/louisiana-gerrymandering-black-voters-appeals-court.html

Michigan to allow 16-year-olds to preregister to vote - https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/11/michigan-to-allow-16-year-olds-to-preregister-to-vote.html

N.J. Republicans cite mail-in voting and messaging as lessons of election losses - https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/11/08/n-j-republicans-cite-mail-in-voting-and-messaging-as-lessons-of-election-losses/

Federal appeals court agrees to rehear Texas gerrymandering case - https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/11/federal-appeals-court-agrees-to-rehear-texas-gerrymandering-case/

WA ballot rejections more likely for young voters, people of color - https://crosscut.com/politics/2023/11/wa-ballot-rejections-more-likely-young-voters-people-color

Poll: Washingtonians worried, anxious about the 2024 election - https://crosscut.com/politics/2023/11/poll-washingtonians-worried-anxious-about-2024-election

Two Federal Cases Over Washington’s Legislative Map Appealed to Supreme Court - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/two-federal-cases-over-washingtons-legislative-map-appealed-to-supreme-court/

Supreme Court, under pressure, issues ethics code specific to justices - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/13/supreme-court-ethics-code/

The Supreme Court Has Adopted a Conduct Code, but Who Will Enforce It? - https://www.propublica.org/article/supreme-court-adopts-ethics-code-scotus-thomas-alito-crow

There's one word missing from the Supreme Court's new code of conduct that makes the whole thing toothless - https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-ethics-rules-missing-word-should-shall-2023-11

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES - STATEMENT OF THE COURT REGARDING THE CODE OF CONDUCT - https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justices_November_13_2023.pdf

Liberal Super PAC Is Turning Its Focus Entirely Digital - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/us/politics/priorities-usa-super-pac-digital-ads.html

Democratic super PAC commits $25M to state-level voter registration surge - https://www.axios.com/2023/11/13/2024-state-legislative-races-democrats

MAGA-dominated state Republican parties plagued by infighting, money woes - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/13/republican-state-parties-struggles-maga

Aide to Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to defrauding donors - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/14/new-york-george-santos-aide-miele/

Investigation into NYC Mayor Adams focused on campaign money and possible foreign influence - https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/politics/mayor-eric-adams-investigation-campaign-money-foreign-influence/index.html

‘Buying influence’: top US nuclear board advisers are tied to arms business - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/10/us-congress-nuclear-weapon-committee-conflict-interest

An unamended Constitution is a serious problem - https://thefulcrum.us/an-unamended-constitution-is-a-serious-problem

To help 2024 voters, Meta says it will begin labeling political ads that use AI-generated imagery - https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-instagram-political-ads-deepfakes-2024-c4aec653d5043a09b1c78b4fb5dcd79b

States Take the Lead on Regulating Artificial Intelligence - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/states-take-lead-regulating-artificial-intelligence

Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence - https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/

Seven local jurisdictions voted on ranked-choice voting measures in 2023 - https://news.ballotpedia.org/2023/11/14/seven-local-jurisdictions-voted-on-ranked-choice-voting-measures-in-2023/

Citywide elections in Washington suffer from lower voter turnout - https://www.khq.com/news/citywide-elections-in-washington-suffer-from-lower-voter-turnout/article_1f92e186-7ecc-11ee-a84a-737342740d00.html

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/