Late three things coming at you
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Friend,

 

I feel upset writing today’s newsletter. Last week, I wrote to you all about
violence against the Asian American community after six individuals were killed
in a violent attack. This week, 10 more people have died in another mass
shooting—in Unite America’s backyard in the state of Colorado. 

 

These are people with lives: they had families, and friends, and jobs, and
plans for the future. I’d like to invite you to hold space for the families and
friends of the victims of this week’s tragedy, and last week’s.Read about their
lives
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.  Our ability to have meaningful political discourse about real solutions and
pass policies to make our country safer — like so many other issues — is
prevented by our broken and toxic politics. 

 

Here are three things to think about this week:

A reflection on the ongoing assault on trust in our elections
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Ahead of the election in November, President Trump was active in sowing doubt
about the validity and integrity of the outcome of the election. And while his
lawyers have since argued that no “reasonable person
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” would believe their claims, millions of Americans did. His continued lies
undoubtedly damaged Americans’ faith in our democratic systems, but he’s not
alone. Over the last few years, we’ve seen different efforts by our leaders to
undermine our elections.

 

This week, Ben Raffensberger
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, Georgia Secretary of State, and the man in the crosshairs of President
Trump’s ire, reflects on the prognosis for a democracy in which candidates
refuse to accept the outcomes of their races. “Republicans and Democrats both
need to see the resulting crisis of confidence as a reason to recommit to our
democracy and its institutions,” he argues, “ to work together to restore
public trust, to reform our election systems where that's required, and to
abide by the outcomes that our elections produce.”


Whether you agree with Raffensberger’s politics or not, his essential point
rings true: both parties have decided that winning is more important than our
democracy, that party is more important than country. Thedoom loop
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Saving money, saving time
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Election administrators are the experts on the nuts and bolts of what’s needed
to run the most important lever of our democracy, and here’s another; this one
comes fromAmelia Powers Gardner
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, the Utah County, Utah Clerk and Auditor who says that adopting ranked choice
voting has made her county’s elections cheaper and quicker. 

 

I could tell you the big picture benefits of adopting ranked choice voting —
it ensures officials have majority support and allows voters to express their
full opinion — but just as important and very simply: ranked choice voting also
just saves money. It saves man hours. It brings our elections to the 21st
century and makes people’s jobs easier. It puts voters first.



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Stay up to date with Arizona, Colorado, and Virginia
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You may already follow Unite America on Twitter
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you’re looking for a more local take on news in the reform movement, check out
Unite Virginia <[link removed]>, Unite Arizona
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Our state programs are working day in and day out to put voters first, and
have the latest information on bills, ideas, and opinions you should know
about. Stay up to date and support the movement building across the country.



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Best, 

Brett

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Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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