Fears mount that election deniers could disrupt vote count in US swing states – The Guardian Source Link Excerpt:
Fears are rising that the vote count in November’s presidential election could be disrupted as a result of the proliferation of Donald Trump’s lies about stolen elections and rampant voter fraud in the key swing states where the race for the White House will be decided.
A new survey of eight vital swing states reveals that at least 239 election deniers who have signed up to Trump’s “election integrity” conspiracy theories – including the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him – are actively engaged in electoral battles this year. The deniers are standing for congressional or state seats, holding Republican leadership positions, and overseeing elections on state and county election boards.
The report by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a watchdog group focusing on special interests distorting US democracy, reveals the extent of denial in the eight critical states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It shows that corrosive efforts to damage public confidence in elections have proliferated there despite the drubbing the election denial movement received in the 2022 midterms….
“What was striking to us about our research is how much election denialism and the voter fraud lie have infiltrated and taken over the Republican apparatus in each of these critical states,” said CMD’s executive director Arn Pearson.
CNN Host Got Massively Triggered by the Cat Memes About Haitian Migrants– townhall.com Source Link Excerpt:
The liberal media and their partners in crime—the Democratic Party—had a total meltdown over the Haitian migrant story coming out of Ohio. There have been multiple reports of these people reportedly hacking up people’s pets, ducks, and geese. Tens of thousands were imported into Springfield, Ohio, thanks to the Biden-Harris immigration policy.
The story about pets being eaten has been debunked, but for a time, it produced excellent memes on social media that triggered liberal America to no end. CNN’s Dana Bash was particularly shocked by these memes, declaring cat memes to be racist. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) had a total meltdown over them.
CNN’s Dana Bash is at a loss for words about the “racist overtones” of cat memes. pic.twitter.com/lLmZGg1iLK
DeKalb GOP sues Georgia Secretary of State, claiming poor election security – Atlantic City Circle Source Link Excerpt:
The DeKalb County Republican Party has filed a lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger alleging that the encryption keys for the software used in the state’s Dominion Voting System are not stored securely.
The DeKalb GOP wants the Secretary of State’s Office to properly store the encryption keys and “immediately bring the Dominion systems used in Georgia elections into compliance with Georgia law.” The lawsuit alleges that the state’s Dominion system software has been in an “illegal and insecure state since at least 2020,” and that the Secretary of State’s Office has known this since March, 2024.
The DeKalb GOP also wants the Secretary of State’s office to make the Dominion system logs, cast-vote records and ballot images available to itself and the public for inspection within 24 hours of polls closing on Nov. 5.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 30 in Fulton County Superior Court, was announced by the DeKalb Republican Party on X on Monday. A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 30.
Cornel West disqualified from Georgia’s ballot, judge rules – 11 Alive Source Link Excerpt:
The decision means votes for West won’t be counted in Georgia, although his name will remain on ballots because the judge said it’s too late to remove it.
ATLANTA — A Georgia state court judge on Wednesday disqualified independent presidential candidate Cornel West from running for president in the state, ruling that West’s electors didn’t file the proper paperwork.
For now at least, the decision means votes for West won’t be counted in Georgia, although his name will remain on ballots because the judge said it’s too late to remove it.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox ruled it was too late to order new ballots printed, with military and overseas ballots scheduled to be mailed starting Tuesday. Instead, Cox ordered the state to post notices in polling places warning West had been disqualified and votes for him would be void, a common remedy in Georgia for late election changes.
U.S. House speaker withdraws spending bill that would require ID to register to vote • Virginia Mercury Source Link Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled a six-month stopgap spending bill from heading to the floor for a vote Wednesday, scuttling efforts by the GOP to show solidarity behind their plan, which included a provision requiring ID to register to vote in federal elections.
The spending bill, released by House Republicans last week in the heat of a presidential campaign in which immigration is a central focus, had no chance of becoming law amid opposition from Democrats, a cool response from many GOP senators and a veto threat from the Biden administration.
A number of House GOP lawmakers had also come out against the legislation.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that lawmakers plan to work through the weekend to find a path forward on the stopgap spending bill and language that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.
New rules for ballot drop boxes in Ohio puts restrictions on who can use them – BG Independent News Source Link Excerpt:
The latest attempt to prevent voter fraud in Ohio will make it more difficult for voters to use ballot drop boxes and make more work for election workers across the state.
On Wednesday morning, the Wood County Board of Elections discussed the impact of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s recent directive that only those people dropping off their own ballots may use the drop box.
That means people dropping off ballots for family members must come into the board of elections during business hours and fill out paperwork attesting to their relationship to the voter. They cannot use the drop off box.
Nearly four million Ohioans voted last November, with approximately 25% voting absentee, according to state data.
So the state directive could mean a lot more work for election workers across the state.
Republicans challenge North Carolina decision that lets students show university’s mobile ID – ABC News Source Link Excerpt:
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Republican Party sued North Carolina’s elections board on Thursday to block students and employees at the state’s flagship public university from offering a digital identification as a way to comply with a relatively new photo voter ID law.
The Republican National Committee and North Carolina filed the lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court three weeks after the Democratic majority on the State Board of Elections approved the “Mobile UNC One Card” generated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a qualifying ID.
The law says qualifying IDs must meet several photo and security requirements to be approved by the board. The UNC-Chapel Hill digital ID, which is voluntary for students and staff and available on Apple phones, marks the qualification of the first such ID posted from someone’s smartphone.
Republicans push for clean stopgap as leaders regroup on shutdown plan – The Hill Source Link Excerpt:
A growing number of House Republicans say they know how the current government funding drama ends: with a clean continuing resolution (CR) that kicks the shutdown deadline to after Election Day.
The question is how Congress arrives at that conclusion.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scrapped plans for the House to vote on his conservative funding bill Wednesday when it became clear it didn’t have the GOP votes to pass, catapulting the conference back to square one with less than a month until the shutdown deadline.
Some Republicans are pushing Johnson to make another attempt at clearing a conservative funding bill, arguing that a successful effort could help strengthen the party’s hand in forthcoming bipartisan negotiations.
Muddying the waters, former President Trump is urging Republicans to vote against any short-term funding bill that does not secure “absolute assurances on Election Security.”
Judge rules voting machine company’s defamation suit against Newsmax can go to trial– thehill.com Source Link Excerpt:
A voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Newsmax appears to be headed toward trial following a judge in Delaware’s ruling on Thursday.
The Florida-based company, Smartmatic, accused Newsmax and other conservative media outlets of airing defamatory statements that implied the company rigged the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Newsmax argued it was reporting on newsworthy allegations made by former President Trump and his allies, though the company previously issued a clarification saying, “it has not reported true certain claims made about these companies.”
Both Newsmax and Smartmatic asked Superior Court Judge Eric Davis to rule in their favor without the case going to trial. Davis granted partial summary judgment but said a jury will decide key issues. The trial is scheduled to start Sept. 30, The Associated Press reported.
FBI And CISA Addresses Claims Of Hacked Voter Information – The Cyber Express Source Link Excerpt:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have highlighted a growing concern about the spread of false claims related to voting. The announcement, titled “Just So You Know: False Claims of Hacked Voter Information Likely Intended to Sow Distrust of U.S. Elections,” aims to educate the public on how disinformation tactics are being used to manipulate perceptions and undermine trust in the U.S. electoral process.
The announcement comes amid increasing concerns over cybersecurity and the integrity of elections, particularly with the 2024 election cycle approaching. Both the FBI and CISA have observed a troubling trend where foreign actors and cybercriminals propagate misleading information about alleged breaches in U.S. voter registration databases. These claims often exaggerate or fabricate details about voter information hacking to discredit the electoral system and erode public trust.
It’s OK To ‘Help’ Mentally Incapacitated Relatives With Ballots– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
The New York Times encouraged a reader last week to “help” a 97-year-old woman with advanced memory loss — who is “becoming nearly impossible to communicate with” — to complete her ballot.
“When the situation is hazy, my inclination would be to err on the side of helping someone to vote, because voting is such a central form of civic participation,” wrote the Times’ “Ethicist” Columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah.
A reader wrote the Times, saying the grandmother has “advanced” Alzheimer’s and hearing loss. The reader wanted to know if it would be “unethical” to help the elderly woman vote in November, likely having the grandma do “the mechanics of voting” while family members “advise her.”
The reader claimed to have helped the grandmother fill out her absentee ballot in 2020.
Johnson pulls stopgap spending bill – Axios Source Link Excerpt:
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ditched a planned vote Wednesday on his six-month stopgap funding bill that included a crackdown on non-citizen voting.
Why it matters: It’s the latest setback for Johnson, who was facing opposition from fellow Republicans as well nearly all Democrats and raises pressure on GOP leaders to find an alternative path for avoiding a shutdown in less than three weeks.
“No vote today because we’re in the consensus-building business,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday.
That likely puts off a House vote on a stopgap bill until next week at the earliest.
At least eight GOP lawmakers publicly came out against the bill, despite pressure from former President Trump to back it, leaving Johnson short of the votes he would need to pass it out of the chamber.
Florida Democrats say state is in play but aren’t putting money where their mouth is – washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
Florida Democrats have been saying the Sunshine State, which has increasingly shifted toward Republicans in recent years, is in play in November, but the spending in the race has not backed up their claims.
Former President Donald Trump and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) are expected to win the presidential and Senate races in Florida in November, but recent polls have shown a closer-than-expected race in both contests. Democrats in the state have maintained they can flip the Senate seat, but a report from the Associated Press shows they have not invested in the campaign as bullishly.
Using data from AdImpact, the report shows Republicans and aligned groups have spent $12.7 million on advertisement reservations through Election Day, while Democrats and aligned groups have only spent $3.2 million on ad reservations for the Senate race as of Wednesday. While spending on advertisements could increase, the significant GOP advantage in spending is unlike most Senate races considered battlegrounds.
2nd Circuit rejects Donald Trump’s request to halt postconviction proceedings in hush money case – ABC News Source Link Excerpt:
A federal appeals court has rejected Donald Trump’s request to halt postconviction proceedings in his hush money criminal case, leaving a key ruling and the former president’s sentencing on track for after the November election
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has rejected Donald Trump’s request to halt postconviction proceedings in his hush money criminal case, leaving a key ruling and the former president’s sentencing on track for after the November election.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan cited the postponement last week of Trump’s sentencing from Sept. 18 to Nov. 26 in denying his motion for an emergency stay.
The sentencing delay, which Trump had sought, removed the urgency required for the appeals court to consider pausing proceedings.
14 pro-Trump electors linked to efforts to reverse his 2020 loss are back for 2024 -wyso.org Source Link Excerpt:
Fourteen presidential electors linked to efforts to reverse former President Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat are currently back on their states’ Republican slates of representatives to the Electoral College for the 2024 election.
Four years ago, what have been known as “fake electors” gathered in seven mainly swing states where Trump lost the popular vote to sign certificates that became part of a scheme by the former president and his allies to try to overturn the election results.
This year’s return of some of these Republicans as potential electors — confirmed in recent weeks through party filings to state election officials — raises questions about what they will do if Trump loses in their states again. The GOP nominee, who is facing four felony counts related to leading conspiracies to reverse the 2020 results and disenfranchise millions of voters, has refused to commit to unconditionally accepting the results of the upcoming 2024 election while continuing to repeat the lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.
The returning Republican electors are:
Michigan: Amy Facchinello, Hank Choate, John Haggard, Marian Sheridan, Meshawn Maddock, Timothy King
Nevada: Jesse Law, Michael McDonald
New Mexico: Deborah Maestas
Pennsylvania: Andy Reilly, Ash Khare, Bernadette Comfort, Bill Bachenberg, Patricia Poprick
Do Dems Believe Men Get A Choice Whether Their Children Live?– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
Kamala Harris touted herself as a champion for abortion in Tuesday’s debate, framing this life-and-death issue as a basic freedom. She told viewers she would “be a president that will protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”
This theme of abortion as “freedom” has run throughout her campaign, placing so-called abortion rights above the right to life and moving far beyond the former Democrat position of abortion being “safe, legal, and rare.” Tim Walz stands firmly with Harris, famously declaring: “We respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, because we know there’s a golden rule, mind your own damn business.”
But Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg raised an interesting question: What does “reproductive freedom” mean for men? Speaking at a “White Dudes for Harris” event, Buttigieg encouraged men to support Harris because he said abortion benefits them. He argued that “men are also more free in a country where we have a president who stands up for things like access to abortion care.”
Do Dems Believe Men Get A Choice Whether Their Children Live?– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
Kamala Harris touted herself as a champion for abortion in Tuesday’s debate, framing this life-and-death issue as a basic freedom. She told viewers she would “be a president that will protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”
This theme of abortion as “freedom” has run throughout her campaign, placing so-called abortion rights above the right to life and moving far beyond the former Democrat position of abortion being “safe, legal, and rare.” Tim Walz stands firmly with Harris, famously declaring: “We respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, because we know there’s a golden rule, mind your own damn business.”
But Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg raised an interesting question: What does “reproductive freedom” mean for men? Speaking at a “White Dudes for Harris” event, Buttigieg encouraged men to support Harris because he said abortion benefits them. He argued that “men are also more free in a country where we have a president who stands up for things like access to abortion care.”
Abortion Could Be Banned Nationwide If Trump Resurrects This Zombie Law– www.scientificamerican.com Source Link Excerpt:
When the Comstock Act was written, germ theory was still contested science, blood types and vitamins were medical mysteries, and the most common cause of death in the U.S. was tuberculosis, then known as consumption. And yet a movement has been gaining steam to use the 1873 law to ban a vital type of medical care nationwide: abortion. Experts say this strategy may well succeed if former president Donald Trump is elected to a second term in November.
Abortions are extremely safe—far safer than pregnancy, studies show. “Abortion is a very safe procedure,” says Glenmarie Matthews, a gynecologist at RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey. It is also vital medical care for much of the population. “We are trying to isolate abortion care from women’s health care, but it’s all intertwined into one thing,” she says. It’s also politically popular—the clear majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal under most circumstances.
Trump wouldn’t say whether he’d veto a national ban even as abortion remains a top election issue – Las Vegas Sun Source Link Excerpt:
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined to say during this week’s debate if he would veto a national abortion ban if he were elected again — a question that has lingered as the Republican nominee has shifted his stances on the crucial election issue.
In Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump said he would not sign a federal abortion ban, insisting that a ban would not pass Congress anyway. But he refused twice to say if he would veto such legislation if it landed on his desk. Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio, said in an interview with NBC News last month that the former president would veto a ban.
In response to moderators prompting him about Vance’s statement, Trump said: “I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness. And I don’t mind if he has a certain view, but I don’t think he was speaking for me.”
AS IT RIGGED? Former CLINTON ADVISER Calls for Investigation into ABC News!– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
You never know these days where the voice of common sense might come from. Today, it seems to be coming from Mark Penn — former adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton!
WONDERS NEVER CEASE!
🚨 Mark Penn, former top adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, calls for immediate internal investigation by ABC into ABC News’ Presidential debate for potentially “rigging the outcome of this debate.”
Quite frankly, Mark Penn makes the best case I’ve heard so far for something to be done about the blatant heavy-handed tactics of the ABC News moderators. First, here’s a clip of Mark on with Fox News talking about it today:
‘Finger On The Scale’: Former Clinton Pollster Says ABC Hosts Put Future Debates ‘In Jeopardy’ pic.twitter.com/B6Yd76433s
*IF* This Is True, ABC News Is About to Become Engulfed in a Major Scandal– townhall.com Source Link Excerpt:
I asked yesterday morning whether Kamala Harris’ camp got the ABC News debate questions in advance. The vice president was visibly nervous for the first portion of the debate but got into a groove, especially when she figured out that Donald Trump would take the bait she was chumming. When Trump took it hook, line, and sinker on the rally size dig, you knew he was going to be kicked off message when he had a wide berth to rip into Harris on inflation, immigration, and overall making us poorer than we were four years ago.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 13, 2024
Harris seemed ready for the questions, which explained her word salad responses, but she never answered any of the questions from moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. They did fact-check Trump live, though these interruptions were peppered with fake news—no shock there. Harris was never pressed for her mountain of lies, and we know why: an ABC whistleblower is alleging that not only did the Harris camp get questions in advance, but that she was given assurances that she wouldn’t be fact-checked by the moderators either. I’m not saying this is fact, but if this is true, it’s a major scandal:
BREAKING: ABC whistleblower allegedly will release an affidavit claiming the Harris campaign was given sample questions that were “essentially the same questions that were given during the debate,” as well as assurances that Trump would be “fact-checked” and she would not.
Harris Campaign Eyes Shakeup As Post-Debate Panic Sets In– trendingpoliticsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Vice President Kamala Harris — who has sat for just one pre-taped, 18-minute interview since becoming the de-facto Democratic presidential nominee in July — intends on doing a number of local and National interviews in the coming weeks, according to a campaign memo reported on by the New York Times.
While Harris has avoided both sit-down interviews and press conferences over the last 50 days, the campaign appears to be switching up its strategy after Tuesday night’s presidential debate. While a number of outlets have declared Harris the winner through polls and focus groups, a number of outlets found pro-Trump results as well, including Reuters and the New York Times.
A majority of polls and focus groups of undecided voters and independents have also produced positive results for the former president, as both key demographics preferred Trump’s answers on key issues like the economy and illegal immigration.
Kamala Harris Is Facing Severe Deficits Among Core Democratic Voter Groups– townhall.com Source Link Excerpt:
Kamala Harris wants another debate, whereas Trump said, ‘No mas.’ Some commented on how this was a tactical blunder for Trump—he should have demanded a debate on Fox News and waited for Harris to reject it. Whatever the case, Harris and her allies in the media are likely to waste a lot of time calling Trump a coward. Let them. Ms. Harris has severe deficits among crucial Democratic Party voter groups that spell disaster with less than 60 days from Election Day.
Harris is running behind Joe Biden’s numbers regarding black and Jewish voters. Right now, Trump is projected to win 18 percent of the black vote, the largest share for a Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972. As for Jewish voters, she’s gearing to earn the lowest share for any Democrat since Michael Dukakis.
RealClear Quick Take – Episode 12
Black Americans comprise roughly 13% of the electorate, and their support has been crucial to the Democratic Party for decades. Recent polls suggest they may not be as excited for Kamala Harris.
Taunting Trump might not have been what undecided voters wanted to see from Harris– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
The question now becomes whether Harris’s well-executed plan of irritating Trump and joining with the moderators and Trump himself to draw attention to his negatives was what the voters she most needs really wanted.
Trump pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis say that, according to their data from the top seven battleground states, the answer is no. “We found that despite the best efforts of Kamala Harris and [the] media to portray the debate as some kind of overwhelming win for her, voters did not see it this way as support for her remained flat,” they wrote in a memo released on Thursday. “The only change we saw was a 2-point bump for President Trump in both ballot configurations.”
“In our post-debate data, President Trump leads Vice President Harris by 2-points, 48% – 46%, and in the head-to-head ballot, he is up 3-points, 50% – 47%,” Fabrizio and Tunis continued. “Clearly, target state voters were not impressed by Kamala Harris’ empty platitudes and while the media would have people believe she is cruising to victory, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.” Their predebate numbers, they said, showed the two candidates tied.
Jewish Americans have long represented a faithful Democratic voting bloc, and the progressive wing’s unabashed antagonism toward Israel hasn’t changed that.
A Pew Research poll on the preferences of U.S. religious voters released this week found that 65% of Jewish respondents plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, while 34% back former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The survey of 9,720 U.S. registered voters released this week found the candidates tied overall at 49% each…
Shocker: 60% of voters moved to Trump after Kamala Harris’s failure to answer one important question– www.louderwithcrowder.com Source Link Excerpt:
The debate is over. Trump lost the debate. It’s ok to admit that. It doesn’t make you an anti-Trump op sent by the deep state to say so. It’s time to move on to what’s next. The good thing is that while she may have won on style points, Kamala Harris didn’t blow anyone away outside of journalisming employees. And while the moderators asked about topics that don’t matter to Normie-America, normies are STILL concerned about the economy.
Kamala didn’t address the economy. During Reuters focus groups of undecided voters, SIXTY PERCENT moved to Trump as a result.
Out of their focus group of ten people, six saw nothing from Kamala to assure them that the next four years would be any different from the last four. It echoed what we heard from a CNN group:
My life was better when Trump was in office. The economy was better. Inflation was lower. Things were better overall. And now, with Kamala’s administration, things haven’t been so fantastic. She’s saying she can fix the problems that her administration has caused, but I don’t know if I can afford to take that risk.
Five said they found Harris vague on how she would improve the U.S. economy and deal with the high cost of living. It remains THE top concern for voters.
Four of those six said she didn’t convince them she would be any different than Joe Biden.
