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John --
The midterm election was widely hailed as a
return to democratic order, with a slew of election deniers and other
extremists losing their bids for office. Unfortunately, it doesn’t
mean denialism has been expunged from the system. At least two counties proved it this
week by voting to
not certify their respective elections. The
unprecedented effort to block certification shouldn’t have an impact
on whether the election winners take office, but it does reveal how
strong the roots of election denialism remain, and how it only takes a
handful of bad actors to muck up the process.
But there’s good news on this front, too.
Take Maricopa County, Arizona, which was ground zero for election
denialism following the 2020 election. Kari Lake, the Republican
gubernatorial candidate who lost to her Democratic opponent, Katie
Hobbs, earlier this month, built much of her campaign around elevating
unfounded claims of electoral fraud. Unwilling to concede, Lake and
others in the GOP have seized on printer
malfunctions in Maricopa
County, the state’s most populous jurisdiction, which includes
Phoenix, to compel the board of supervisors to vote against election
certification. In defiance of these objections, however, the
Republican-controlled board voted unanimously on Monday to certify the canvass in the
county, insisting no voter was disenfranchised.
Turning away election deniers is only the
first step. The hard work comes next: building a coalition of leaders
committed to strengthening, reforming, and innovating our democracy.
It’s not enough to merely reject election denialism, as important as
that is. Fortifying our democracy against such threats also requires
leaders who will actively protect our elections through new ideas and
proven reforms.
OTHER NEWS &
VIEWS
New Jersey still wants fusion
voting
If advocates of fusion voting, in which one
candidate appears on multiple party lines on a ballot, had their way,
it would have helped New Jersey Rep. Tom Malinowski win a third term
earlier this month. Alas, New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way
would not allow Malinowski’s name to appear on the ballot as the
nominee of both the Democratic and Moderate parties (Malinowski lost).
While lawsuits surrounding the issue play out in state courts, fusion
voting has already won in the court of public opinion. A new poll
conducted by Braun Research on behalf of New America Foundation
surveyed 800 New Jersey residents about political polarization, the
two-party system, and fusion voting. Eighty-one percent of respondents
indicated they believe the two-party system is not working as it
should, and 68% said fusion voting can better express citizens’ views.
—New Jersey Monitor
All eyes on
Georgia
“Early voting in
Georgia’s runoff election between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and GOP
hopeful Herschel Walker kicked off over the weekend, marking the final
stretch in a race that will determine whether Democrats expand their
majority in the upper chamber or Republicans maintain a 50-50 split.
After a Georgia Supreme Court ruling allowed early voting to begin on
Saturday, turnout is already soaring. As of Monday morning, data from
the Georgia secretary of state’s website showed more than 181,000
Georgians had already cast their ballots—and a majority of those
voters were Black, a key Democratic voting bloc. The record turnout
follows a midterm pattern, where Georgia saw more than 230,000 votes
cast on the first day of early voting for the general election.”
—The Hill
McMullin: Breaking down walls of
division and dysfunction
“America is still a special place, but we’ve been weakened by
political division and dysfunction. Fortunately, our shared principles
have enormous power to unite us, as the encouraging results of these
midterm elections revealed in many places. We cannot rest on our
laurels now. We must continue to take the steps necessary to break
down the walls of division, find common ground, and advance solutions
to the major challenges we face.” —Evan McMullin in The Topline
At
Forward, we’re tired of politicians who do the bare minimum, paying
lip service to our democracy while failing to take the steps so
clearly needed to make it thrive in the 21st century. That’s why we’re
cultivating the next generation of leaders, who are committed to
strengthening the American system against election denialism and other
partisan forces that undermine it.
All the
best,
The Forward Party Team
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