‌‌‌‌Our First Election Day Since The 2020 Mess

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The United States experienced its first major Election Day since the 2020 elections last week, and though things went largely according to plan, it’s not hard to see the seedlings of problems down the road. We’re going to get into those, as well as a nationwide review of important stories from the past week of voting. 

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Alright, let’s dig in.

New Jersey Shows Big Lie Is Alive And Well

On election nights, the “precincts reported” statistic can get confusing, but a quick Google search will clear things up: Just because the New York Times or Associated Press say “100% precincts reporting” does not mean “100% of votes have been counted.” 
 

And yet an erroneous interpretation of that statistic, purposeful or not, fueled yet another round of election lies.

Even before counting started, Tucker Carlson called Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) reelection a “mere formality” because, of course, of all the dead people he falsely claimed vote in New Jersey. 

Then, the “precincts reporting” nonsense started: How could the vote change in “100% reported” areas, several viral tweets incredulously wondered? 
 

And, as we found out in 2020, there’s zero distance between insane Twitter accounts and, say, one of the Trump administration’s top homeland security officials, Ken Cuccinelli, who tweeted, “and people wonder why it can sometimes be hard to have confidence in outcomes...”

A top One America News’ reporter, who also worked with the Trump campaign in 2020, essentially called for New Jersey officials to simply throw out thousands of ballots.

Time To Change Our Century-Old Presidential Certification Process?

Even after the attempted violent overthrow of American democracy, we haven’t really made any changes to the election certification process that left America vulnerable. And law professors and worried congressional observers say it’s time for a change.

Specifically, they want a change to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which makes it easy for legislators to object to states’ votes, opening the possibility that future congresses will choose to toss out millions of voters’ preference.

In years past, small-d democratic goodwill has been assumed as part of the process. Now, things aren’t so simple. Who’s to say Republicans won’t baselessly claim voter fraud again in future presidential elections — when they may have control of Congress?

I spoke with one Republican former congressman lobbying his party brethren for change: “There needs to be new language, modern language. There needs to be clarity in the legislation, and there also, frankly, needs to be a higher level of opposition to trigger a debate on the floor of the House and the Senate over the results of the election,” former Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) told me. 

Around The States

Senate Republicans BLOCKED the JOHN LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ADVANCEMENT ACT. Why didn’t this news get top newsletter billing? Because, unfortunately, it was utterly predictable. 
 

The Justice Department sued TEXAS over its new package of voting restrictions, arguing that two new laws unlawfully impact disabled voters, voters with limited English proficiency, and voters seeking to participate by mail. 
 

High turnout in VIRGINIA for McAuliffe’s loss. (Meanwhile, apparently Gov-elect Glenn Youngkin’s 17-year-old son tried to vote… twice?) 

After an ad blitz from Republicans, NEW YORK voters (but not New York City voters) rejected some steps that would have made its voting laws not some of the worst in the country. 
 

Anti-maskers in Syracuse went ballistic after being asked to cover their mouths at polling places. 
 

A WISCONSIN sheriff wants the state’s election commission behind bars. 
 

MISSOURI redistricting commissioners are reportedly considering basing their redistricting efforts on the U.S. citizen, voting-age population alone, which would shift power to rural areas. State legislators have considered this sort of change for years, an effort that moved hand-in-hand with the Trump administration’s efforts to put a citizenship question on the U.S. census -- even though the census is supposed to count all residents, including undocumented people and children.
 

NORTH CAROLINA Republican legislators were sued over newly-approved congressional maps, which one plaintiff called “the epitome of partisan gerrymandering.” 
 

Close calls: Some races come down to a RECOUNTS and COIN FLIPS.

The Latest In Audit Mania

VIRGINIA State Sen. Amanda Chase still hasn’t delivered her promised proof of voter fraud in the gubernatorial election there (shocker), but she does want new restrictions on voting.

A WISCONSIN judge ordered Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) to turn over records related to his ongoing election review, accusing him of playing a “shell game” to keep the records private.
 

FLORIDA Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) wants specialized cops hunting for virtually non-existent voter fraud. Meanwhile, the University of Florida had to be pressured into letting expert professors testify against the state’s new voter restriction laws. 

Denver Channel: No ballot boxes for 100 miles: How a bill aims to make voting easier for Native Americans
 

Georgia Public Radio: Battleground: Ballot Box | The election law heard 'round the country
 

Associated Press: Voting distrust likely to continue despite smooth election

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