Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Nearly a dozen new state laws shift power over elections to partisan entities
Illinoisnewsnow.com ^ | 8/12/21

Posted on 08/13/2021 4:00:19 AM PDT by cotton1706

Among the dozens of election reform laws changing rules regarding how voters cast ballots, several have also diminished secretaries of states’ authority over elections or shifted aspects of election administration to highly partisan bodies, such as state legislators themselves or unevenly bipartisan election boards.

“Inserting partisan actors into election administration … is really a worrying trend when you understand it in the context of what happened in 2020,” said Jessica Marsden, counsel for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit founded by former executive branch officials in the White House Counsel’s Office and Department of Justice.

Partnering with States United Democracy Center and Law Forward, Protect Democracy distributed a memo raising the alarm over the “particularly dangerous trend” of state legislatures attempting to “politicize, criminalize, and interfere in election administration.”

Analyzing the Voting Rights Lab’s state-level bill tracker and bill descriptions, ABC News identified at least nine states, including battlegrounds Arizona and Georgia, that have enacted 11 laws so far this year that change election laws by bolstering partisan entities’ power over the process or shifting election-related responsibilities from secretaries of state.

Each law was enacted by a Republican governor or by Republican-controlled legislatures voting to override Democratic governors’ vetoes.

These new laws include one that requires local election boards in Arkansas to refer election law violation complaints to the State Board of Election Commissioners — made up of five Republicans and just one Democrat — instead of their respective county clerks and local prosecutors; another that generally bars the executive and judicial branches in Kansas from modifying election law; and one giving Ohio state legislative leaders the power to intervene in cases challenging state statutes and cases challenging redistricting maps.

(Excerpt) Read more at illinoisnewsnow.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last
Translation: they don't like power over elections shifting from THEIR partisan entities.
1 posted on 08/13/2021 4:00:19 AM PDT by cotton1706
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: cotton1706

“This is unprecedented in ways that I couldn’t have even dreamed up myself,” Audrey Kline, the national policy director for the National Vote At Home Institute, told ABC News. “It does feel like there’s a backlash, and there’s really a misunderstanding about how elections really work.”

Audrey probably doesn’t even see herself as “partisan”

Only people like her should be involved in election outcomes, not icky bodies like legislatures.


2 posted on 08/13/2021 4:05:01 AM PDT by cotton1706
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706
...several have also diminished secretaries of states’ authority over elections or shifted aspects of election administration to highly partisan bodies, such as state legislators themselves

So an ELECTED BODY is partisan!

3 posted on 08/13/2021 4:11:11 AM PDT by HandBasketHell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706

And Secretaries of State aren’t partisan? State legislatures not only should be making election laws, they should be choosing their state’s senators.


4 posted on 08/13/2021 4:15:30 AM PDT by Russ (I )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: All

The misnomered Protect Democracy is a nonprofit founded by former executive branch officials in the Biden White House Counsel’s Office and Biden Department of Justice.

Partnering with States United Democracy Center and Law Forward, Protect Democracy distributed a memo raising the alarm.

The Biden/Pelosi vote cartel is sweating over the “particularly dangerous trend” of state legislatures attempting to “politicize, criminalize, and interfere in election administration.”


5 posted on 08/13/2021 4:17:22 AM PDT by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doe't know which bathroom to use)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706
Among the dozens of election reform laws changing rules regarding how voters cast ballots, several have also diminished secretaries of states’ authority over elections or shifted aspects of election administration to highly partisan bodies, such as state legislators themselves or unevenly bipartisan election boards

In reality, Republican state legislatures have taken the power to steal elections from highly partisan, corrupt, secretive Secretaries of State and put that power to control elections in the hands of the people through their legislatures.
No longer are we going to sit idly by and be robbed of our votes by state Secretaries of State who have been bought and paid for by Zuckerberg, Soros, Bezos etc.

6 posted on 08/13/2021 4:24:57 AM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706
Here is what stuck out at me:

“Inserting partisan actors into election administration … is really a worrying trend when you understand it in the context of what happened in 2020,” said Jessica Marsden, counsel for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit founded by former executive branch officials in the White House Counsel’s Office and Department of Justice. Partnering with States United Democracy Center and Law Forward, Protect Democracy distributed a memo raising the alarm over the “particularly dangerous trend” of state legislatures attempting to “politicize, criminalize, and interfere in election administration.” Analyzing the Voting Rights Lab’s state-level bill tracker and bill descriptions, ABC News identified at least nine states, including battlegrounds Arizona and Georgia, that have enacted..."

Gee.

I probably have this wrong, but...isn't is the actual JOB of State Legislatures to set their election laws, and no damn business whatsoever of Jessica Marsden and other scum like her, "Protect Democracy", "Law Forward" and various and sundry former "officials" from the "executive branch", "White House Counsel's Office", and "Department of Justice" scumbags?

Isn't it the job of the State Legislators, as the closer entities to the citizenry as opposed to the unelected dirtbag Leftists who were former government leeches now working for entities that despise this country and work for its downfall?

Just like the Communist fronts in this country and world wide in the 1930s through 1950s, you can spot Soros supported and other Leftist organizations a mile away just by examining their leopard-like spots represented by their names like "Protect Democracy", which never change. As always, you can look at any Leftist organizations name, and easily and accurately divine their true intentions by simply substituting a verb or adjective, in this case if you were to name it "Destroy Democracy" instead of "Protect Democracy", it would be far more accurate.

7 posted on 08/13/2021 4:25:21 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Liz

Ah yes, I didn’t see your post, but see mine above. We think alike on this.


8 posted on 08/13/2021 4:26:13 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706
Translation: they don't like power over elections shifting from THEIR partisan entities.

Exactly.

Secretary of State positions were weaponized by Soros and others.

The Legislatures are reacting to that.

9 posted on 08/13/2021 4:29:28 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706
This is unprecedented in ways that I couldn't have even dreamed up myself,” Audrey Kline, the national policy director for the National Vote At Home Institute, told ABC News.

Good!

“It does feel like there's a backlash, and there's really a misunderstanding about how elections really work.”

Did this far left vote sealer really think they could openly steal a presidential election in broad daylight without a very strong reaction and counter measures?

10 posted on 08/13/2021 4:29:52 AM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706

The constitution gives the state legislatures sole power to set up the elections anyway they see fit. It was never supposed to be handled by the Secretary of State(s). That’s the real news here.

Creating plausible chain of custody rules for the ballots is the goal of all of these new laws. Making it harder to cheat is what really has the Dems all spun up. And so it goes….


11 posted on 08/13/2021 4:31:27 AM PDT by Mustangman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rlmorel

Yes. Telling isn’t it.


12 posted on 08/13/2021 4:31:27 AM PDT by cotton1706
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706; Liz
And of course, I neglected to highlight in red bold "The Voting Rights Lab".

I don't even have to go online and check it. I would be willing to bet my bank account that if you change the name from "The Voting Rights Lab" to "The Voting Corruption Lab" and it is pretty accurate. (after I finished writing this sentence, out of curiosity, I did look "The Voting Rights Lab" up, and...I should have found someone to take up that bet)

13 posted on 08/13/2021 4:31:37 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SmokingJoe

REALITY CHECK BY SmokingJoe

Republican state legislatures have taken the power to steal elections from highly partisan, corrupt, secretive Secretaries of State and put that power to control elections in the hands of the people through their legislatures.

No longer are we going to sit idly by and be robbed of our votes by state Secretaries of State who have been bought and paid for by Zuckerberg, Soros, Bezos.........and the ruthless Biden empowered Chinese.


14 posted on 08/13/2021 4:33:59 AM PDT by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doe't know which bathroom to use.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706

Well, I guess the only fair solution is to turn elections over to objectively fair and unbiased entities like Google and Farcebook.


15 posted on 08/13/2021 4:37:43 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmokingJoe

REALITY CHECK BY SmokingJoe

Republican state legislatures have taken the power to steal elections from highly partisan, corrupt, secretive Secretaries of State and put that power to control elections in the hands of the people through their legislatures.

No longer are we going to sit idly by and be robbed of our votes by state Secretaries of State who have been bought and paid for by Zuckerberg, Soros, Bezos.........and the ruthless Biden empowered Chinese.

.......................

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Brad Raffensperger Begged For Chinese Votes
Georgia Has A Manchurian Secretary of State?
by PATRICK HOWLEY January 4, 2021

Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was placed into office in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2015 by a powerful network of Mandarin-speaking Chinese people in the United States of America.

NATIONAL FILE has obtained video of Raffensperger speaking at an event with Mandarin-speaking Chinese people, begging the Chinese people to get him more than 100 votes to secure his victory in the election (which he ended up winning by 159 votes).

A Mandarin-language newspaper that actively coordinates with United Front, a network controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, even explained the strategy to place Raffensperger into office by use of “absentee ballots” that could be obtained by one Chinese person and distributed to others. Raffensperger is trying to stop Communist China’s geopolitical foe President Donald Trump from gaining a proper accounting of the votes in the 2020 presidential election.

HERE IS A LINK TO RAFFENSBERGER MAKING A CALL IN MANDARIN CHINESE THANKING THE CHINESE FOR ELECTING HIM TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN 2015.

The article about Raffensperger’s election in the United Front-linked newspaper can be translated into English via Google Translate, and states the following — emphasis added:

“One of the reasons why we did not participate in elections in the past was that “one more vote, one less vote has no effect on the results of the election.” This time is different. In the first round of election, there were only two candidates left in the 50th District of the House of Representatives where Johns Creek was located: Brad Raffensberger (sic) and Kelly Stewart. They are all conservative Republicans, with almost the same political opinions. Only 2,500 of the 25,000 voters in the first round voted: Brad was only 26 votes behind Kelley.

Brad took the initiative in the city center the previous weekend. Last Saturday he visited the Atlanta Modern Chinese School with more than 500 students. On Sunday, he hosted 30 Chinese at home to talkive to approach the Asian community to understand and listen to our voices. He visited the Chinese Dance and Culture Scho about his ruling philosophy. As a city councillor, he also participated in the award ceremony of my boy scout team and spoke on behalf of the city government…

According to statistical calculations, we only need 100 Chinese votes this time to determine the outcome of the election and make Brad a victory. He will represent our voice in the state legislature in the future. We have already boasted about Haikou with him and guaranteed 100 votes. This is an excellent opportunity for us Asians to show their strength. Your vote has never been so important. Election day is Tuesday, February 3. If you can’t vote in person on the day of something, I can apply for an absentee ballet (sic) for you. After you receive it, you can fill in and send it out. Due to the tight mailing time, if you need, please email me vale@PingMortgage.com.

In addition, in the municipal council election in September this year, Chinese people are likely to stand for election. Thank you for your attention…Xiao Yu”

(NOTE: Georgia law forbids people applying for absentee ballots for other people except if the person is out of the county temporarily or if the person applying is a direct relative of the voter).

HERE IS A 2017 ARTICLE IN WHICH THE SAME CHINESE-LANGUAGE PUBLICATION BRAGS ABOUT HANDPICKING RAFFENSPERGER FOR OFFICE, stating, “After a month of hard work and help from the Chinese, he finally won the final election…Shun aroused fighting spirit, so I and Brad reported the number of Chinese votes every hour. In the end, Brad won the victory. The numbers we quoted are very close, obviously the Chinese votes played a key role in winning.”


16 posted on 08/13/2021 4:37:50 AM PDT by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doe't know which bathroom to use.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Liz

So, in her mind it is better to have a single, partisan Sec. of State deciding the rules, rather than hundreds of partisan people arguing through to a decision.

got it...


17 posted on 08/13/2021 4:38:26 AM PDT by CaptainKip
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706
or shifted aspects of election administration to highly partisan bodies, such as state legislators

US Constitution be damned.

18 posted on 08/13/2021 4:40:35 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706

bkmk


19 posted on 08/13/2021 4:41:09 AM PDT by sauropod (Amateurs built the ark; Professionals built the Titanic. Anon)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

Georgia’s Raffensperger, Sterling and Fuchs All Connected to Firm that Helps Georgia Democrats Run as Republicans
The Gateway Pundit ^ | July 26, 2021 at 3:50pm | Joe Hoft
FR Posted on 7/26/2021, 8:12:48 PM by E. Pluribus Unum

Georgia’s corrupt Secretary of State Raffensperger, his corrupt CFO Sterling, and his corrupt deputy secretary of state Fuchs weren’t upset about Democrat election wins in Georgia, they wanted it that way. Instead, they slandered President Trump for calling out obvious fraud in their state.

A report at the Georgia Record this weekend uncovered the many connections between top Republicans in Georgia who were connected to a firm that groomed Democrats for Republican jobs. No wonder these individuals did all they could to prevent President Trump from winning reelection.

Landmark Communications of Atlanta, GA bills itself as the ‘go to’ firm for GOP candidates to get elected in Georgia.

The founder, Mark Roundtree, says this about himself on Landmark’s website:

Mark Rountree is President of Landmark Communications, Inc., which he founded in 1991.

Campaigns & Elections Magazine has recognized Mark as one of Georgia’s five “Top Influencers” as well as “the go-to man for GOP legislative candidates.”

Unfortunately, Landmark has a history of helping Democrats get elected running as Republicans. This phenomenon may have contributed to the absolute cesspool of corruption in the Peach State when it comes to the performance of Republican officials during the 2020 election cycle. Some of these candidates have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

We believe there has been a concerted effort among Democrat operatives to do just that – infiltrate the GOP and run ‘progressives’ as Republicans, who are lying about their beliefs and views on the issues. All of the information below is from publicly available information.

(Excerpt) Read more at thegatewaypundit.com ...


20 posted on 08/13/2021 4:44:29 AM PDT by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doe't know which bathroom to use.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson