POLITICO Nightly: Election officials sound the alarm about violence against poll workers

 

View in browser   BY AYAH MAHANA Elections worker Joshua Hallford readjusts a polling place sign at the Mission Playground in San Francisco. | Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP ‘THE GREAT RESIGNATION’ — Despite fears of chaos and clashes between protesters and counter-protesters at former President Donald Trump’s two arraignments in recent weeks, both landed with a whimper and no notable incidents. Whether we’ll be so fortunate across the rest of the 2024 cycle — which could feature a bitter rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, or a trial-of-the-century featuring Trump as a defendant — is still in question. In particular, election administrators are increasingly concerned about acts of violence against poll workers — and they’re trying to do something about it in advance. Their fears are not unfounded: A poll conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice and the political reform group Issue One showed that roughly three in four election officials have reported a spike in threats against election workers since 2020. In response, a group of 24 former and current election officials are urging Congress to adopt $400 million in consistent federal funding to improve the working conditions for poll workers around the country. The threats — largely stemming from people who deny the result of the 2020 presidential election — are already causing poll workers and other election officials to resign in droves, according to Tonya Wichman, the director of the Defiance County Board of Elections in Ohio. “People don’t realize the mental health situation,” Wichman said. “We’ve lost a lot of election officials throughout the country. They’re calling it the ‘Great Resignation.’ People are broken and exhausted.” Credible threats of violence have manifested across the country — and one in five poll workers suggested they’d likely quit before the 2024 presidential election last year — but they appear to be most pronounced in closely contested swing states. Seven battleground states — Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — accounted for nearly 60 percent of all threats of physical violence that election workers reported to a federal task force on election threats. Of the more than 1,000 contacts reported as hostile or harassing by the election officials, approximately 11 percent of those contacts met the threshold for a federal criminal investigation. In one November 2020 incident, a polling station in Philadelphia received a threat from an unknown individual claiming that they were going to “straighten out” the person responsible for counting votes, according to Omar Sabir, vice chair of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, a bipartisan board of elected officials in charge of elections and voter registration for the city. Eventually, two armed men arrived but were intercepted by the police department after the FBI was alerted. Many veteran poll workers, who are often volunteers or paid just a small stipend for their time, and even election officials have decided that the risk of violence or continued harassment is too much to take. In Michigan, over three dozen county clerks have left their positions since November 2020, according to Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum. This has clear consequences for election administrators attempting to run free and fair elections. When veteran officials and poll workers leave their positions, they take with them “decades of institutional knowledge,” Byrum said. In some cases, she says, this has allowed for conspiracy theorists and deniers to fill the positions, making it harder to administer elections and sometimes increasing threats of violence against poll workers. The $400 million that election administrators are requesting from Congress would go towards security measures including training to stop or deal with doxxing, privacy services and home security and federal protections against threats. Currently, election operations are funded at the city and county level, making the funding inconsistent and the task of upping security that much harder. The goal is simple: to have a safe, free and fair election. “I want to make sure that every one of my voters has the chance to make their voice heard,” says Boone County, Mo. Clerk Brianna Lennon. “And that means that we can’t have interference from people that don’t have that in mind. I hope that all levels of government with funding sources that come into elections recognize the importance of investing in our elections. Now.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ayahmahana@gwmail.gwu.edu or on Twitter at @AyahMahana .     WHAT'D I MISS? — Fed pauses rate hikes but signals it could turn up the heat again this year: The Federal Reserve today held off on raising interest rates for the first time in more than a year — but warned that at least two more increases could be in store for 2023. Central bank officials now expect the economy to grow faster and unemployment to drop less this year than they projected in March, convincing them that higher borrowing costs might still be necessary to bring inflation back down to 2 percent over the next couple of years. — Tuberville rejects GOP attempts to end military promotions blockade: Sen. Tommy Tuberville is rejecting off-ramps and advice from more senior Republicans to end his hold on military promotions , even as Pentagon officials step up their warnings that the maneuver is compromising America’s security. The Alabama lawmaker’s colleagues have approached him in recent weeks to broker a compromise that would allow roughly 250 senior officer promotions to clear the Senate. The hold threatens to ensnare President Joe Biden’s pick for Joint Chiefs chair, Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, along with others preparing to rotate in as senior military leaders prepare to retire. — Blinken to visit China this week: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China to meet with Beijing’s senior officials this week , the State Department announced today. Blinken, who will leave on Friday and return next Wednesday, will become the first secretary of State to visit China in five years and the first Cabinet-level official to do so in four years.   GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE .     NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 ANOTHER FLORIDA MAN — A super PAC supporting Miami GOP Mayor Francis Suarez today dropped a slick two-minute video just a day before he’s set to announce a possible 2024 presidential bid , reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. Suarez, the son of Miami’s first Cuban-American mayor, was elected twice as the mayor, including a resounding 2021 reelection. If he jumps into the race for president, he will become the third candidate from Florida seeking the GOP nomination, along with former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Suarez would also become the first Hispanic candidate seeking the nomination for either party this cycle. ‘BLIND SUPPORT’ — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he would not vote for Donald Trump should he end up the Republican nominee and be convicted in a criminal trial , reports POLITICO’s Zach Montellaro. The declaration is one of the strongest rebukes of Trump since he was indicted on 37 counts related to allegedly mishandling classified documents. It also underscores the difficult position in which the Republican party now finds itself: with the party’s base rallying behind a frontrunner facing possible jail time and another portion of the party threatening to bolt if he’s their candidate. Hutchinson added that he has disagreed with the Republican National Committee’s requirement for candidates to sign a loyalty pledge to participate in the primary debates, in part because of Trump’s legal troubles. The party, he said, should not “want candidates pledging blind support for a nominee“ that could be “seriously problematic for the Republican Party.” HOW TO TALK ABOUT THE INDICTMENT — Former President Donald J. Trump faces 37 federal charges that could send him to prison for the remainder of his life, but it’s the rest of the Republican field that’s in the most immediate political trouble, writes the New York Times. Advisers working for Mr. Trump’s opponents are facing what some consider an infuriating task : trying to persuade Republican primary voters, who are inured to Mr. Trump’s years of controversies and deeply distrustful of the government, that being criminally charged for holding onto classified documents is a bad thing. MICHIGAN MESS — As he ran for Michigan attorney general last year, Matthew DePerno touted his endorsement from Donald Trump, condemned pandemic restrictions, called for imprisoning Democrats and regularly reminded voters that he had filed a lawsuit questioning the outcome of the 2020 election. Six months after losing that race, the man who was once considered a champion of MAGA-style politics was denounced by Republican activists as a turncoat for attacking the state GOP’s new chairwoman and supporting efforts to expel delegates. The GOP schism in Michigan, like those in other battleground states such as Arizona and Georgia, comes as Trump dominates Republican presidential primary polls and taps into the anger of a base in an uproar over his recent indictment for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, writes the Washington Post. Over the weekend, Michigan Republicans approved rules that are likely to make it easier for Trump to win the nomination in the state. He has cheered on the state’s party for its commitment to promoting misinformation about the 2020 election. At least four county parties in Michigan have been at open war with themselves, with members suing one another or putting forward competing slates that claim to be in charge. The night before an April state party meeting, two GOP officials got into a physical altercation in a hotel bar over an attempt to expel members. The state party’s new chairwoman, Kristina Karamo, has struggled to raise money and abandoned the party’s longtime headquarters.     AROUND THE WORLD Protests against Poland's restrictive abortion law in Warsaw today. | Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo POLAND PROTESTS — A wave of abortion rights protests took place in Poland today , sparked by the death in May of a pregnant woman — an incident that has thrust doctors into the eye of the storm, writes Wojciech Kość . Dorota Lalik, a 33-year-old pharmacist, checked into the Pope John Paul II hospital in the southern Polish town of Nowy Targ after her water broke on May 21. She was five months pregnant. According to Polish media site gazeta.pl, Lalik was told initially that her pregnancy could be sustained and that her health was not in danger. A relative of the late woman said that the staff told Lalik to “lie with her legs up so that the waters might come back,” according to the report. After a three-day ordeal, Lalik’s health began deteriorating rapidly. While she was given an abortion on May 24, she eventually died from septic shock and multiple organ failure the same day. Her death has caused outrage in Poland, with anger directed at the country’s anti-choice laws but also at doctors, who have been accused of waiting too long to terminate her pregnancy. Poland has some of the toughest abortion laws in the EU, with termination allowed only in cases of rape or incest, or if the life of the woman is endangered — a situation that brings medical judgement into the decision of whether an abortion is legal.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING : What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today .     NIGHTLY NUMBER $2.04 million The amount of money that Trump raised at the first major fundraiser of his campaign , just hours after his arraignment in Miami. Billed as a “candlelight dinner” with top donors and campaign bundlers, Trump gave brief remarks to his supporters and was seated at a table with donors and supporters. RADAR SWEEP ART OF THE DEAL — At the outset of the war in Ukraine last year, major Western companies faced intense pressure to pull their stores and services out of Russia. Many chose to do so, leaving ordinary Russians without access to products they’d come to rely on. But as the war has dragged on, wealthy Russians have profited from that decision — by buying up storefronts and infrastructure left over at low prices . Now, they’re replacing goods and services from multinational corporations with their own, cheaper versions. Read Jonathan Yerushalmy ’s reporting into some of the people who have benefited financially from the war in Ukraine in The Guardian. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1993: President Bill Clinton and Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg walk outside of the White House as they head to the Rose Garden for a news conference where Clinton nominated Ginsburg to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. | Doug Mills/AP Photo Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .       Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh Katherine Long @katherinealong   FOLLOW US

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RSN: Robert Reich | Thanking You

 

 

07 November 20

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Robert Reich | Thanking You

Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog
Reich writes: "The only good thing Trump has done is to awaken many of us to injustices that have plagued our country for centuries."

Over the past four years, we’ve taken to the streets to raise our voices – from protecting the sovereignty of Indigenous land and water, to demanding an end to systemic racism and police brutality, to fighting back against nonstop attacks on reproductive freedom, and so much more.

This unprecedented wave of activism has made one thing clear: The American people are fired up.

And now we are taking that momentum to the ballot box. We are voting not only for ourselves and our family’s future, but for our community, for those whose votes have been suppressed, and for the survival of American democracy itself.

We’ve made millions of phone calls, sent thousands of letters, and knocked on who knows how many doors. We’ve mobilized our families, friends, and neighbors to head to the polls.

We are a multi-racial, multi-class coalition that’s come together in unprecedented solidarity to send this racist, narcissistic man packing.

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Joe Biden. (photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)

Biden Inches Closer to Victory as Trump's Chances Fade
Alana Wise, NPR
Wise writes: "Four days after Americans cast the final ballots in the 2020 White House race, votes are still being counted but Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has maintained his lead in electoral votes."
READ MORE

A healthcare worker and a patient. (photo: ABC News)

US Tops 125,000 Daily Coronavirus Infections - a Record High
Christina Maxouris, Jay Croft and Harmeet Kaur, CNN
Excerpt: "The United States set a new record on Friday when it surpassed 125,000 daily coronavirus infections, while Covid-19 hospitalizations continued to climb, prompting health experts to issue dire predictions."
READ MORE

Scott Walden was placed on leave following a Facebook post in which he threatened supporters of Joe Biden. (photo: Flowmeton Police Department)

Police Captain Who Said Biden Voters Should Get a 'Bullet in Their Skull' Has Been Put on Leave
Trone Dowd, VICE
Dowd writes: "An Alabama police captain who said Joe Biden voters should get 'a bullet in their skull' has been placed on administrative leave."

The Alabama officer only made it worse when he tried to explain his Facebook comment later.

Capt. Scott Walden of the Flomaton Police Department could face termination for writing the graphic comment under a fellow Trump supporter’s post on Facebook.

“Idiots that voted for Biden hated Trump enough to throw the country away,” the person commented, to which Walden replied, “they need to line up ev1 of them and put a bullet in their skull for treason.”

The comment was screen-shotted and began circulating on social media Wednesday. Walden later deleted the post, but the damage was done. After receiving an undisclosed number of complaints about the captain’s words, the Flomaton Police Department launched an internal investigation and placed the captain on leave.

“The Flomaton Police Department treasures the community’s trust, and this is achieved through transparency regarding public information,” the department said in a statement Thursday evening. “The Flomaton Police Department holds officer’s conduct to the highest standard and will continue to do so. Copies of the comments and complaints have been acquired and retained for Internal Investigations.

Walden later argued online that his comments had been misconstrued, saying he didn’t mean that all Democrats need to be executed, just the ones who commit treason, according to screenshots taken by CBS affiliate WHNT.

“The comment even says TREASON but someone has run rampant saying I was meaning liberal n Democrats,” he wrote. “Well #1 I don’t care who you vote for, #2 the comment was about treason and what should happen to the ones who are charged for committing treason. So either you trying to stir the pot or you are ok with someone committing treason but not ok with someone who says they should be shot. This is the world we live in.”

While Walden can ask for a fair hearing in order to save his job, it may be a bit of a battle. Flomaton Mayor Dewey Bondurant told local media that Walden has had a history of making controversial comments on social media, something he’s warned him about before, and that he personally wants to see him removed from his post.

“That’s what I wanted to do to start with, but by law, I can’t,” the mayor said Thursday.

It’s been a tough few days for some of the president’s most passionate supporters around the country. After a promising start on Election Night, the president’s chances for reelection have dwindled significantly. Supporters in Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania have protested outside of counting locations demanding that officials count the ballots properly and fairly, despite there being no evidence of illicit activity in the tallying process.

That hasn’t stopped President Trump from fomenting conspiracy. Thursday evening, Trump took to the White House Briefing Room and spewed lies attempting to delegitimize mail-in ballots as illegal and tried to claim victory in states he continues to lose traction in. As it stands now, Biden is set to officially win the election before the end of the day Friday.

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Democratic House candidate Sharice Davids at a victory party in Olathe, Kansas, on Nov. 6, 2018. Davids defeated Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder to win the 3rd Congressional District seat in Kansas. (photo: Colin E. Braley/AP)

A Record-Breaking 6 Native Americans Were Elected to Congress on Tuesday
Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News
O'Kane writes: "Six Native American and Native Hawaiian were elected to the House of Representatives on Tuesday - a record-breaking number."

ix Native American and Native Hawaiian were elected to the House of Representatives on Tuesday — a record-breaking number.

Democratic Representative Sharice Davids won reelection in Kansas, CBS News projects. She defeated Amanda Adkins, becoming the only Democrat representing Kansas in the House.

In Hawaii, Democratic candidate Kaiali'i Kahele defeated his Republican challenger Joe Akana, CBS News projects. Kahele will be only the second Native Hawaiian to represent the state in Congress.

In Oklahoma, CBS News projects both Representative Tom Cole and Representative Markwayne Mullin, two Republicans, won reelection.

Democratic Congresswoman Debra Haaland of New Mexico also won reelection. Republican Yvette Herrell also won in New Mexico.

According to Indian Country Today, a total of 13 Native American candidates were competing for House seats this year. The six winners have set a record. The group is split evenly by party — three Democrats and three Republicans.

In 2019, Cole and Haaland became co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Native American Caucus, which "seeks to educate members of Congress and encourage an open dialogue about issues affecting Native Americans," according to a press release from Cole's office.

"As part of this mission, the caucus regularly convenes briefings, considers the impact of legislation on tribal nations and provides a forum for members of Congress to exchange information, ideas and research." In 2016 only four member of Congress were Native American, according to the release.

Cole is a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna who also has Jemez Pueblo heritage.

Davids, who in 2018 became the first Native American congresswoman, is also one of the few openly gay women in Congress. She is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation.

Herrell is a member of the Cherokee Nation, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Representative Markwayne Mullin is a member of the Cherokee Nation as well.

Kahele, who served as a state senator in Hawaii, is of Native Hawaiian ancestry; his family comes from the small fishing village of Miloli'i in South Kona.

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People gather and light up their smartphones or lanterns to form an inscription saying WYBÓR ('choice'), along with a lightning bolt, to show solidarity with the protests against the Constitutional Court ruling on tightening the abortion law at Blonia Park on November 03, 2020, in Krakow, Poland. (photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Poland's Historic Fight for Abortion Rights
Kinga Stanczuk, Jacobin
Stanczuk writes: "Last week, Poland banned abortion after its government stacked the courts with right-wing ideologues. But they didn't count on women fighting back - and now they face a historic wave of protest."
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The gray wolf once numbered in the tens of thousands in the U.S., but was pushed to the brink of extinction. (photo: National Geographic)

ALSO SEE: Wolves Win in Colorado After Vote for
Reintroduction by 2023

Gray Wolves to Be Removed From Endangered Species List
Nathan Rott, NPR
Rott writes: "Gray wolves, a species that has long been vilified and admired, will no longer receive federal protections under the Endangered Species Act in the Lower 48 U.S. states, the Trump administration announced Thursday."

The long-anticipated move is drawing praise from those who want to see the iconic species managed by state and tribal governments, and harsh criticism from those who believe federal protections should remain in place until wolves inhabit more of their historical range. Gray wolves used to exist across most of North America.

"After more than 45 years as a listed species, the gray wolf has exceeded all conservation goals for recovery," said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, announcing the delisting, which will revert management of wolf populations to local wildlife agencies.

Federal wildlife officials are hailing the move as a success story, similar to endangered species recovery stories such as the bald eagle and American alligator.

After being nearly wiped clean from the contiguous U.S. by the mid-20th century, there are now more than 6,000 gray wolves in the Lower 48 states, largely clustered in the Northern Rocky Mountains and the Western Great Lakes region.

Critics are calling the move premature, though, and are already promising to sue.

"This is no 'Mission Accomplished' moment for wolf recovery," said Kristen Boyles, an attorney for Earthjustice. "Wolves are only starting to get a toehold in places like Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, and wolves need federal protection to explore habitat in the Southern Rockies and the Northeast."

Some critics are portraying the move as another environmental attack by the Trump administration, which has rolled back dozens of environmental regulations, including protections for endangered species and migratory birds. But wolves have a complicated history that doesn't fit cleanly into the bipartisan rancor that now dominates U.S. environmental policies.

After being hunted, trapped, poisoned and harassed to the point of near extirpation in the contiguous U.S., all gray wolves south of Canada were given federal protections under the Endangered Species Act in 1978.

Under that protection, their numbers slowly recovered in the Great Lakes region, and in 1995 federal wildlife officials reintroduced gray wolves to central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park, where their population has since flourished.

In 2013, the Obama administration also proposed to delist gray wolves, saying that the species had rebounded to the point where they were no longer at risk of extinction and should be managed by state and tribal governments.

A couple of years earlier, wolf populations in Montana and Idaho were delisted by a congressional budget rider, authored by a Democrat and Republican senator in each of those states who were pressured by agricultural and sportsmen groups. Wolves are an apex predator that, at times, kill livestock. Subsequent lawsuits saw gray wolves get delisted, relisted and delisted again in Wyoming.

Today, state wildlife agencies manage wolf populations in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and hunting of the species is permitted.

Similar hunting seasons are expected in some Midwestern states if the national delisting survives the anticipated court challenges, and wildlife groups contend that hunting seasons will limit wolves' ability to repopulate other parts of the country.

Randy Johnson, a large carnivore specialist for Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources, told Wisconsin Public Radio this month that if wolf management fell back to the state, it would use all of the tools available to find a balance "between a healthy and sustainable wolf population, but also addressing those social concerns and livestock concerns when and where needed."

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