Absolute power corrupts absolutely
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Hi Friend,

 

There’s a quote from a British politician: absolute power corrupts absolutely.
While this politician had been speaking about the absolute power of monarchies,
it applies in the US, where our broken system allows political parties to vie
for absolute power over our political system at the expense of voters. 

 

It’s crippling our democracy. But that’s where we come in. We, the people,
have the power to reform the system and put the power back in the hands of
voters, but we have to get to work. 

 

Here are three things to think about this week.

Absolute power, district by district
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This week, our friends at Issue One released a new report
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the US, highlighting 12 states where legislators have attempted to reduce the
number of competitive districts in the state. Gerrymandering isn’t just a
Republican issue or a Democrat issue; both parties are guilty of attempting to
reduce the power of the voter by rigging the legislative maps. 


Whether it’s Alabama’s map that violates the Voting Rights Act, or New York’s
map, where legislators ignored a law to draw fair maps, the voting rights of
Americans are under attack, from the very politicians who claim to represent
them. Check outIssue One’s report
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on their list. 

Rethink your donations
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As the 2022 midterms heat up, your inboxes, airwaves, and mailboxes will
certainly become flooded with asks from politicians asking you to donate to
their campaigns, assuring you that the fate of the country rests in your
ability to give them $5. As thisdeep dive profile from The New Republic shows
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, however, that isn’t the case. More often than not, these campaigns are making
money for the sake of making money — and the dollars raised has very little
impact on the outcome. 


Because of things like partisan gerrymandering and the general polarization of
the electorate, often times, races are determined by the partisan makeup of the
district, rather than advertising or fundraising numbers. Instead of feeding a
broken political industry, you as the voter have the opportunity to change it,
donating to reforms that can improve the system
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drive it.

Utahns have something to say
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Good news: a bipartisan op-ed from Utahns who are standing up for their vote
at home system. As the Republican-led Utah state legislature debates making
massive changes to the state’s successful and secure vote at home system,
Republican LaVarr Webb and Frank Pignanelli write in the Deseret News
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why destruction of one of the state’s “crown jewels” is not a good idea. 

 

Importantly, Utahns like their political system. The attacks on the system are
unfounded, and do more damage to the state’s voters than good.Read their full
piece here
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.

Brett
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Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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