Defending Democracy
U.S. House Jan. 6 panel report finds Trump incited insurrection, demands accountability
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of […]
U.S. House Jan. 6 panel refers Trump for criminal charges, including inciting insurrection
The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in a historic vote agreed unanimously Monday to refer former President Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges, including inciting or aiding an insurrection. Trump associates, including attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro and White House Chief […]
Report details Mark Meadows’ frightening texts surrounding Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election
In case you missed it, be sure to check out the new and remarkable reports from the good people at Talking Points Memo detailing former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows’ text messages in and around the events of January 6, 2021 — what one author has dubbed the “roadmap to an insurrection.” Among Meadows’ […]
Editorials decry GOP argument in Supreme Court redistricting case
Republican lawmakers and their allies who cooked up the “independent state legislature theory” in recent years keep telling the world that the argument they’re advancing to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Moore v. Harper case is no big deal and that the outcry from scholars, judges, civil rights groups, and millions of citizens is […]
NC voter turnout in the midterms: What the data show for various groups
This report about voter turnout follows one from last week about changes in voter registration. This new spreadsheet – 12 pages – compares voter turnout statewide, by county and by voting groups for 2022 with 2018. Turnout rate = Number of ballots cast divided by number of registered voters. Each county has two rows on […]
Future of U.S. election law at stake as Supreme Court hears North Carolina case
WASHINGTON — North Carolina Republicans appeared to have at least three of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices on their side Wednesday in a case that could determine the future of elections nationwide, and leave decisions about federal elections in the hands of state legislatures and beyond the reach of state courts. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an appeal of a North Carolina Supreme Court ruling that threw out congressional districts drawn by the Republican-led legislature.
First glance: Major North Carolina voting rights case to be heard today, here’s where to listen in
Crowds began lining up early this morning outside the U.S. Supreme Court where oral arguments will be heard today in Moore v. Harper. Legal scholars and pro-democracy groups want the High Court to reject North Carolina Republicans’ claim that legislatures should be the sole state authority setting rules for federal elections. As the Associated Press’ […]
Landmark voting rights case to be heard by Supreme Court Wednesday (podcast)
It has been called the “biggest threat to free and fair elections” in the United States. And on Wednesday Republican lawmakers will argue in support of a fringe theory known as the “independent state legislature doctrine” that could forever change our elections. Moore v. Harper has been in the headlines a lot this week, but […]
Black voters, students home for the holiday help drive early turnout for Georgia Senate race
Early voting in the U.S. Senate runoff got off to a busy start in Georgia, with more than half a million ballots cast as of Monday night, including more than 300,000 votes cast Monday. “Just…WOW!” tweeted Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state Monday night. “GA voters, facilitated through the hard work of county election & poll workers, have shattered the old Early Vote turnout...
Peddling poison: Donald Trump follows long line of demagogues
The recent Connecticut court damages verdict of almost $1 billion in the Alex Jones case involved Jones’ apparent efforts to monetize the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting deaths of 20 children and six educators in 2017. Jones’ claim that the shooting was a hoax is a reminder of the gullibility of a significant segment of […]
Are Florida Republicans ready for a Trump-DeSantis clash for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination?
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decisive reelection victory last week carried significant GOP coattails throughout the state, ending a debate for now about whether Florida is truly a red state. But it also changed the narrative about the 2024 presidential race amongst the conservative intelligentsia – with DeSantis being hailed as the savior they have been yearning for and the vehicle to dump former President Donald Trump once and for all going into the next national election cycle.
Young Black and Latino voters seen as key in turning back midterm ‘red wave’
WASHINGTON — Young Black and Latino voters were critical in holding off the Republican “red wave” in several battleground states for U.S. Senate seats and in tight U.S. House races in the midterm elections, according to analyses by researchers and grassroots organizations. Young, diverse voters between the ages of 18 and 29 had the second-highest youth voter turnout in almost three decades, with youth voter turnout at 31% in the nine battleground states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin...