With Soros $upport, Clinton Lawyer Challenges Voting Laws...

With Soros $upport, Clinton Lawyer Challenges Voting Laws... https://t.co/CzJU3eCOqs

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) August 8, 2016

SEIZE THE HIGH GROUND FOR 2016

◼ This should be automatic for Republicans, given their party’s record and beliefs. - Peter Hannaford/American Spectator 4.3.15

March 7 marked 50 years since 1965’s “Bloody Sunday,” when millions watched on television as state and local police fired tear gas at the crowd and attacked marchers in Selma, Alabama. The national outrage that followed led to a speech by President Lyndon Johnson to a joint meeting of Congress — appealing for Voting Rights legislation. On March 17, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen introduced the bill.

Although the Democrats held two-thirds of the seats in both houses, these events gave it the momentum to pass, for Republican votes would counterbalance the worry that segregationist Southern Democrats would vote against it.

The bill passed and was signed into law on August 6 by President Johnson.

Forgotten by many, this followed in the tradition of Republicans pushing through the passage of the constitutional amendments —the 13th, 14th, and 15th — between 1865 and 1870 that outlawed slavery, clarified and protected citizenship rights, and prohibited denial of voting “on the basis of race, or previous condition of servitude.”

Alas, 50 years after “Bloody Sunday and 145 to 150 after passage of those three historic amendments, race relations are getting worse. Last month, the Justice Department released a report that the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department had systematically abused its power. There were two facts in the report that stunned Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart. He wrote:

What DOJ found made me ill. [Officer] Wilson knew about the theft of the cigarillos from the convenience store and had a description of the suspects. [Suspect] Brown fought with the officer and tried to take his gun. And the popular hands-up storyline, which isn’t corroborated by ballistic and DNA evidence and multiple witness statements, was perpetuated by Witness 101. In fact, just about everything said to the media by Witness 101, whom we all know as Dorian Johnson, the friend with Brown that day, was not supported by the evidence and other witness statements.

In response, many sounded off on Facebook and Twitter slamming Capehart, an African-American, as “a sellout.” The usual race hustlers sounded off, encouraging unrest. An underlying theme was that conservatives generally and Republicans, in particular, are racist.

As 2016 comes closer, some Democrat operatives will drum away at that sub rosa theme. Calumny was used effectively to undermine Mitt Romney in 2012, particularly that he was hard-hearted (he manifestly was not). Many voters are uncomfortable with the idea of voting for candidates who have been demonized as racist, sexist, or uncaring.

If the Republicans are to gain and keep the high ground and win in 2016 they need to seize the initiative now.

A good way to do so is to a pass a new coverage formula for Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Two years ago, the Supreme Court declared that section unconstitutional in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) on grounds that the formula was outdated.

Section 4(b) covers any state or local government where 50 percent of eligible voters were not registered to vote or did not vote in the 1964 presidential election. In essence, it can used to fight discrimination both intentional or coincidental.

The bill was reauthorized in 1970 and 1975 to include results of the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections; however, there was no updated formula when it was reauthorized in 1982 and 2006. A new coverage formula—sponsored by Republicans in both houses—would require that any state or local jurisdiction that does not have 50 percent voter registration and/or 50 percent voter turnout in any election from 2012 forward will be subject to pre-clearance.

The Supreme Court did not invalidate any other part of the act, so there is nothing to stop Congress from passing an updated Section 4(b) formula. It would be in the great tradition of the Republican Party to stand tall for protecting full rights for all.

Passage of a new Section 4(b) formula would not only uphold that tradition, but also deprive race hustlers such as Al Sharpton from claiming that nothing is being done about racial discrimination. Then, every Republican candidate in 2016 can make it clear to his/her constituents just who is taking action to write “finis” to discrimination.
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Peter Hannaford was closely associated with the late President Reagan for a number of years. He is a member of the board of the Committee on the Present Danger. His latest book is ◼ “Presidential Retreats.”

To win minority vote, GOP has to show it's ready to battle privileged interests

◼ How can Republicans do better with minority voters? - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner @TPCarney

The party establishment seems to think the answer begins with amnesty and more low-skilled labor — which just happens to be the policy preference of the GOP’s donor class. Beyond this, the party's top consultants offer only rhetorical tweaks around the typical GOP package of low-tax corporatism.

A better minority outreach can be found in libertarian populism.

OHIO: Voting machines swapping Romney for Obama

◼ Joan Stevens was one of several early voters at the polls on Monday. But when Stevens tried to cast her ballot for president, she noticed a problem. - Marion Star via drudge

Upon selecting “Mitt Romney” on the electronic touch screen, Barack Obama’s name lit up. It took Stevens three tries before her selection was accurately recorded.

Stevens said she alerted Jackie Smith, a board of elections member who was present. Smith declined to comment, but Stevens says she mentioned that the machine had been having problems all day.

Need a ride to the polls?

◼ Local organizations partner to help seniors, disabled get to the polls - Kaci Poor/The Times-Standard

For Eureka's low-income disabled and elderly residents, the challenge of getting out to vote on Election Day can be discouraging....Easing some of that transportation stress for would-be voters is exactly what Tri-County Independent Living, the Humboldt Community Access and Resource Center, and California United Homecare Workers are hoping to do this year. The organizations are pooling their resources and partnering for the first time to offer free transportation for the disabled and elderly living in the greater Eureka area on Nov. 6....

(Cindy) Calderon said the organizations have managed to raise over $700 to cover the cost of one bus to take voters to their local polling booths on Nov. 6. The bus will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and seniors and those with disabilities who live in the greater Eureka area can reserve a ride on the bus by calling the resource center before noon on Nov. 4. The Humboldt Community Access and Resource Center will confirm reservations, within a 30-minute window, on the evening of Nov. 5. Personal attendants are welcome and encouraged to accompany those using the bus service.

Early Voting cancelled for Monday - Stay tuned.

◼ ANNAPOLIS, MD (OCTOBER 26, 2012) - Governor Martin O’Malley today issued an Executive Order declaring a state of emergency with respect to Hurricane Sandy. Depending on how the storm develops, Hurricane Sandy may have an impact on early voting, which is scheduled to take place between Saturday, October 27 and Thursday, November 1.

The Election Law provides that "[i]n the event of a state of emergency, declared by the Governor in accordance with the provisions of law, that interferes with the electoral process, the emergency proclamation may: (1) provide for the postponement, until a specific date, of the election in part or all of the State; (2) specify alternate voting locations; or (3) specify alternate voting systems." Md. Code Ann., Election Law Article, Sec. 8-103(a). ◼ Via Talbot G.O.P.

◼ Federal offices in Washington area to be closed Monday because of Sandy - AP/Washington Post

◼ A timeline on Sandy that tells you what to expect and when, via Capital Weather Gang

Rep. Jim Moran’s Son Resigns Over James O’Keefe Video

◼ Patrick Moran, son of Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), resigned from his father's campaign on Wednesday after conservative activist James O'Keefe released a video that appears to show him offering advice to an undercover videographer who claimed to want to commit voter fraud. - TPM

"Effective immediately, I have resigned from the Moran for Congress campaign," Patrick Moran said in a statement to TPM sent from his campaign email address.

◼ Rep. Jim Moran’s son implicated in voter fraud scheme- Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

Florida Republicans receiving fake ineligibility letters aimed at suppressing their vote

◼ The Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections is investigating a number of fraudulent letters sent to voters in the state questioning their citizenship and voter eligibility, in a possible attempt to keep them home on Election Day. - Caroline May/Daily Caller

“We’ve received multiple reports of a fraudulent letter that impersonates supervisors of elections and indicates that eligible voters might be ineligible,” Chris Cate, spokesman for the Division of Elections, explained to the Tampa Bay Times, which reported the letters have gone mostly — if not entirely — to Republicans in the state.

“We’re working with the state’s supervisors of elections, as well law enforcement, to identify the source of the letters and put a stop to them,” Cate said.

CFRW Capitol Update: Prop 36: NO!

The California Federation of Republican Women OPPOSE Prop 36! Proposition 36 would revise the current Three Strikes law and would allow current convicted felons serving 25-life under Three Strikes to petition for a reduced sentence. The Three Strikes law was passed in 1994 and shortly after its passage crime in California dropped and has remained at those lower levels. Violent crimes have decreased by 18% and homicide decreased by 31% since Three Strikes' inception. Prop 36 would modify the three strikes law to impose life sentence only when the new felony conviction is "serious or violent". It authorize re-sentencing for offenders currently serving life sentences if their third strike conviction was not "serious" or "violent" and if the judge determines that the re-sentence does not pose "unreasonable" risk to public safety. It would continue to impose a life sentence penalty if the third strike conviction was for "certain non-serious, non-violent sex or drug offenses or involved firearm possession" and maintain the life sentence penalty for felons with "non-serious, non-violent third strike if prior convictions were for rape, murder, or child molestation." Proponents of Prop 36 say that this would “make room for dangerous felons,” but the truth is only 6.6% of all prisoners in California are these “third strikers.” If Prop 36 passes, it would allow 4,388 “third strikers” petition the courts for a resentencing and some of these criminals could be released “without any parole or supervision.” These are criminals so dangerous they are serving 25 to life sentences as charged by a District Attorney, as convicted by a jury, as imposed by a judge, and whose legal appeals have been denied. Prop 36 would allow these same criminals ask a new judge for a reduced sentence or to be set free, some without any parole or supervision! Prop 36 is opposed by every major law enforcement organization and the California District Attorneys Association. Prop 36 is dangerous and needs to be defeated!

CFRW Official Ballot Positions and Talking Points!

◼ Prop 30 - NO
◼ Prop 31 - NO
◼ Prop 32 - YES
◼ Prop 33 - YES
◼ Prop 34 - NO
◼ Prop 35 - YES
◼ Prop 36 - NO
◼ Prop 37 - NO
◼ Prop 38 - NO
◼ Prop 39 - NO
◼ Prop 40 YES

For all the props and their talking points on one PDF document, ◼ CLICK HERE.
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◼ OFFICIAL REPUBLICAN VOTER GUIDE
◼ TOM MCCLINTOCK ON THE PROPOSITIONS
◼ All of our posts on the Propositions

Perry sues Virginia elections board to gain ballot access UPDATED

◼ Taegan Goddard provides the obligatory zinger about a noted fan of states rights and the Tenth Amendment asking a federal judge to overrule Virginia’s preferences on ballot access. - HotAir

◼ Here’s the complaint, which is mercifully short. One interesting bit comes in paragraph 18, which says Perry submitted “over 6,000 petition signatures from qualified Virginia voters.” According to the Virginia GOP, ◼ he submitted more than 11,900 signatures total, which I guess means … only slightly more than half were from qualified voters? Good lord. The other important part, which you should take two minutes to read, is Count 1 spanning paragraphs 24 through 28. He’s arguing that Virginia’s requirement that petition circulators all be residents of the state who are either registered to vote or eligible to be registered imposes a too-heavy burden on his right to engage in political speech and therefore violates the First Amendment. Is he right? Well, here’s the leading Supreme Court precedent that he cites, which is also mercifully short. Skip down to section III and take two more minutes to read that. The question for the Court in that case was ever so slightly different: Colorado law allowed only currently registered voters to be petition circulators, not people who were eligible but who hadn’t registered yet. It was slightly more restrictive than Virginia’s system, in other words — and the Court found that it did in fact violate the First Amendment.

◼ UPDATE: Perry Loses Bid to Stop Virginia Ballots - Bloomberg

Texas Governor Rick Perry failed in his bid to stop Virginia election officials from printing or distributing primary ballots without his name on them.

A federal judge in Richmond said today that he wouldn’t stop the printing before the next hearing in the case, scheduled for Jan. 13. He didn’t rule on the merits of Perry’s challenge.

Scott Walker, Wisconsin GOP sue state elections and ethics agency over recall effort

◼ The top GOP lawmaker in the Assembly also took a shot at the Government Accountability Board - which he voted to create - saying it had strayed from its nonpartisan mission and might need to be replaced. - Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Waukesha County Circuit Court asks a judge to order the accountability board to look for and eliminate duplicate signatures, clearly fake names and illegible addresses.

◼ Gov. Walker sues to require the Government Accountability Board to check for fake/duplicate/illegible signatures on recall petitions. - Althouse

The GAB is putting the burden on Walker to challenge the signature, but its rules give Walker "only 10 days to examine, compare and then challenge more than 540,000 signatures – more than 50,000 signatures a day," which the complaint calls "a practical impossibility."

The National Popular Vote Plan is an initiative to effectively abolish the Electoral College without a constitutional amendment.

◼ Here is what would happen with an National Popular Vote Compact that hands all the needed 270 Electoral Votes to the national popular vote winner: Those states with larger populations – especially those with heavily populated big cities will pick the President. Period. - New Zeal

◼ Here is a summary of why the National Popular Vote Presidency is a really bad idea. - Upstate Voice

A major push to circumvent our constitutional method of electing a president is currently being efforted by the 501(c) organization National Popular Vote Inc., a George Soros funded who’s who of the progressive left. With the recent addition of California to the list, nine states have now signed into law a bill that awards all of the state’s electoral college votes to the winner of the “national” popular vote for president.
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If you want further information on Preserving the Electoral College, the Heritage Foundation is sponsoring an Event on this issue on Friday afternoon, October 28. See details here.

◼ National Popular Vote -- Electoral college reform and direct election of the President of the United States.
◼ California Is 9th State to Enact National Popular Vote Bill
◼ Bill now has 49% of the 270 electoral votes needed