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400+ Elected Officials Demand U.S. Senate Wait on SCOTUS Nominee
Over 400 state and local elected officials from 48 states and Washington, D.C., signed a letter urging the United States Senate to respect the will of the people and wait to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court until after the election. This election is already underway, and millions of ballots have been cast. Rushing the process to consider a Supreme Court nominee puts the rights of our communities directly at risk and threatens access to vital services like health care for all Americans.
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Pascua Yaqui Tribe Fights for Early Voting Access
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona has fought for the restoration of their one and only early voting location on the reservation. The county recorder closed the site years ago before the 2018 midterm election but now, as the pandemic has added risk to in-person voting and many Native Americans worry about relying on the mail, the early voting site is more important than ever. Although the reservation has an Election Day polling place, leaders are cautious about having too many voters in a confined place on one day. As early voting continues, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s only hope is for the chief election official, who has so far refused, to reinstate the early voting site.
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Census Cut Short
Thursday, October 15th was the last day to get counted in the 2020 Census, the Supreme Court ruled just days before. In a tumultuous fight to end the census early, the Trump administration got its way, leaving advocates scrambling to get community members counted across the country. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has continued its fight to exclude unauthorized immigrants from Congressional apportionment figures. Such an exclusion, along with the truncated census timeline and complications due to the pandemic, will have long-lasting impacts on communities of color and each state’s representation in Congress, the Electoral College, and resource allocation across the country.
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Egregiously Long Lines As Americans Vote Early
Nationally, Black and Latino Americans wait 45-46 percent longer to vote than white voters. Already this year, voters from Ohio to Georgia to Texas are turning out en masse to vote early–but being forced to overcome obstacles made worse not just by the pandemic, but intentional and racist voter suppression. So many of the lines we are seeing today are “not by accident but design.” In Texas, Harris County’s lone drop-off site (thanks to Texas Gov. Abbott) “has to serve 2.3 million voters, in a county that stretches across 1,777 square miles.” In Georgia, some voters had to wait eleven hours to vote.
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Ranked-Choice Voting Gains Momentum
Maine will make history this year as the first state to use ranked-choice voting (RCV) in a presidential election. The system allows voters to vote for their preferred top candidate without the concern of vote splitting or “throwing away” a vote for the person they prefer but who they don’t think can win. Voters in Alaska and Massachusetts will also decide on whether to adopt RCV for state and federal elections in upcoming ballot inititatives.
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States Still Have Time to Secure Elections
With November 3rd right around the corner, security concerns are prominent—Florida’s online voting registration website crashed on the filing deadline while Georgia is experiencing long lines and trouble with electronic poll books. There's still time for states to implement election security steps to protect their election systems and their constituents’ votes. States are encouraged to review their IT resiliency plans, implement paper backups, and change passwords on key systems 7-10 days before the election.
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At the Intersection of Reproductive and Voting Rights
Fannie Lou Hamer illuminated the intersection of voting rights and reproductive rights. Her storytelling and advocacy brought to light the injustices and civil rights abuses forced upon Black women in Mississippi—she shared stories of voter suppression and forced sterilization. State legislators and advocates alike must fight for both reproductive and voting rights together to grant true justice and freedom to all.
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Legislators Link Democracy and Reproductive Justice
Reproductive freedom and voting are intrinsically linked. Equitable access to the vote and fair redistricting means better representation of our communities and responsiveness to our basic needs like comprehensive healthcare, including contraception, maternal care, and abortion care. See why these Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council legislators believe voting rights are critical to reproductive freedom.
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