RandySF
RandySF's JournalPA:Republicans are touting progressive Delco DA Jack Stollsteimer in messages defending GOP judges up for retention vote
The text messages to voters outraged progressive Democrats in Delaware County, who had just won a fight to have their party oppose the retention of three local judges listed in nonpartisan slots on Tuesday’s ballot after being elected originally as Republicans.
The texts touted a quote from Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, a Democrat seeking a second term Tuesday and widely expected to soon enter May’s primary for state attorney general, saying he supports retaining those judges for new 10-year terms.
“Our commonwealth’s constitution requires judicial elections to be nonpartisan for a reason: to protect the principle of judicial integrity,” the texts said, citing comments from Stollsteimer published in the Delaware County Daily Times last week.
But Stollsteimer did not send those texts and told Clout he had never heard of the little-known political action committee, Pennsylvania for Well Qualified Judges, that used his words.
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/clout/jack-stollsteimer-delaware-county-election-judges-20231103.html
The Philly mayor's race ends Tuesday. Here's what's happened so far and where things stand.
While campaigning in Overbrook on Saturday, Democratic mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker knocked on the door of a man who worked for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and whose wife worked for the city Office of Homeless Services.
The couple had grown tired of the city’s poor schools and high crime, he told her, but hadn’t moved out yet because city employees are required to live in Philadelphia. The man asked her to change the residency requirement so they could leave without his wife giving up her job.
“You’re not going to like my response. I want anybody earning their living from the city to live in the city,” Parker told the man. “You’ve got to let me try to make things better.”
Parker met the man during a get-out-the-vote motorcade she led on Saturday afternoon, with dozens of cars snaking through West Philadelphia, honking their horns, and making periodic stops for Parker and other Democratic candidates to fan out and knock on doors.
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/philadelphia-mayoral-election-2023-cherelle-parker-david-oh-20231105.html
VA: Md. Gov. Wes Moore campaigns for VanValkenburg, Willett in Henrico
As part of a day trip around Virginia ahead of Tuesday’s elections, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore made a stop Saturday to support Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, and Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico.
VanValkenburg, who has represented the area in the House of Delegates since 2018, is challenging Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, in the 16th District.
Willett, a delegate since 2020, is hoping to ward off Republican challenger Riley Shaia to represent Henrico’s 58th District in the House of Delegates. Both contests are among a handful of competitive races this year, offering both parties the chance to control each chamber.
While Republicans have the advantage of Virginia’s current governor, Glenn Youngkin, supporting them, Moore is pinch hitting from Maryland to support Democrats in his neighboring state.
https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/md-gov-wes-moore-campaigns-for-vanvalkenburg-willett-in-henrico/article_60c77c86-7b55-11ee-9add-83b526c77adb.html
VA: Who is spending money on Hanover's elected school board referendum
Hanover’s tug-of-war over the possibility of an elected school board has slowly become one of the most well-funded local issues on the ballot this November. Here is a look at the money that’s flowing into the debate and which groups are behind it.
A grassroots group of Hanover residents was successful at getting the elected school board referendum onto the November ballot for the first time after failed attempts for several years.
The group, Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board, garnered the necessary 8,500 signatures, or over 15% of the county’s registered voters. Now it’s down to the county’s voters to decide the outcome.
Hanover’s school board is currently appointed to staggered four-year terms by the county’s board of supervisors. Each supervisor appoints a school board member for their respective district.
https://richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/hanover-elected-school-board-campaign-finance-donations/article_2218d84a-78fd-11ee-931b-0f8d31f3b6a9.html
Days before election, far-right officials in California county insist on hand tally
n Shasta county, California, voters will decide this week on a school board race, the formation of a new fire department and a local tax. What observers in California and across the US are watching most is not what they will choose – but how their votes will be counted.
In the past months, Shasta has come to play an outsize role nationally as officials in this rural region of northern California have taken center stage in the election denial movement, which proposes “fixes” like the sole use of manual tallies to enhance “election integrity” based on the lie that the presidency was stolen from Donald Trump.
For much of the year, the far-right majority of the Shasta board of supervisors, the county’s five-person governing body, has focused its governing efforts on throwing out voting machines and instituting a hand-count system.
The board pushed ahead with the project despite strong concerns from the county registrar of voters.
A new state law, written in response to the developments in Shasta, barred elections offices from using manual tallies on an established election date in contests with more than 1,000 voters and, in the event of a special election, in contests with more than 5,000 voters.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/05/california-voting-machines-election-deniers
Republicans are testing an insidious new ballot tactic on Election Day
Ballot initiatives are an essential evolution of American democracy. Created over a century ago, they give millions of Americans a direct means to shape the laws that govern their lives and a check on legislative power when it’s not responsive to the people. In recent months, though, conservative politicians’ efforts to undermine the ballot process have taken a disturbing shift. Beyond their continued attempts to impose supermajority voter thresholds to make passing such initiatives nearly impossible, they have also resorted to manipulating ballot titles to deliberately confuse voters. The 2023 elections are a testing ground for this insidious tactic. Unless met head-on, it will spread like wildfire in 2024.
The ballot title is a concise summary intended to accurately convey the gist of a proposed law or measure. For many voters, this title is the only information they see before casting their ballots. As a result, the title needs to be accurate, concise and impartial. Research has shown that the change in ballot language dramatically impacts the support of initiative.
States differ in laws governing whether the ballot title is determined before signatures are collected or after. In some states, the government determines the ballot title before signatures are collected, without the direct input of the citizens who initiated the petition. This happens in states like Arizona, Michigan and Nebraska, and further highlights the importance of ensuring that the government’s role in determining the ballot title is transparent and impartial.
Roughly two-thirds of states with ballot initiatives, including California, Massachusetts, Missouri and Ohio, use ballot titles that rely on language within the petition. This approach ensures continuity and fairness, as the language in the petition was shared during voter outreach. But while a fundamental aspect of direct democracy is preserved, this method remains vulnerable to manipulation by disingenuous politicians.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/election-2023-republican-ballot-initiatives-rcna123511
Va. parties make final election pitches with big issues at stake
RICHMOND — It’s governor vs. governor as the clock winds down — not on the basketball court, as they once teased on social media, but on the Virginia stump, where Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has ventured to urge Democrats to vote against the Republican legislative candidates championed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
The odd spectacle of a gubernatorial political incursion is a sure sign that Election Day is almost here, as Republicans and Democrats alike mount a frantic final push to get out the votes ahead of Tuesday’s contest for all 140 seats in the General Assembly. Control of the legislature is at stake, and with it the question of whether Youngkin can steer Virginia to the right along with the rest of the South — particularly as it relates to imposing a 15-week ban on abortion, with exceptions — as well as enhance his national political stature.
Other big issues hang in the balance as well, such as gun control, environmental policy, taxation and public education, leading to a record-setting flood of money into campaign coffers as the rest of the nation looks on to see what Virginia suggests about political trends heading into next year’s presidential race.
And so armies of volunteers and campaign staffers fanned out in districts across the state Saturday, urging residents to cast ballots immediately on the last day of early voting or whipping them up to visit the polls Tuesday. Celebrities — or at least, politically famous people — turned out to help goose some enthusiasm.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/05/virginia-elections-youngkin-moore-campaign/
Harassment and AI: Election protections advance in Michigan
LANSING, MI – As state lawmakers wrap up for the year, Democratic leadership is advancing multiple bills regarding Michigan elections.
Among the priorities are two packages that moved closer to becoming law this week: protecting poll workers from harassment and regulating artificial intelligence in political campaign ads.
Expanding upon Proposal 2, the constitutional amendment, that Michiganders passed last year to protect voters from harassment and intimidation, lawmakers want to protect election workers, too.
House Bills 4129 and 4130 would make it illegal intimidate an election official, such as a clerk or poll worker, or otherwise prevent them from performing their duties.
https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/11/harassment-and-ai-election-protections-advance-in-michigan.html
Candidates race to the finish line in critical elections for Allegheny County executive and district attorney
Four candidates in two critical Allegheny County races used the last week before Election Day to make final pitches to voters and get supporters to the polls, in elections with huge implications for local government that have drawn national attention as early bellwethers for the 2024 presidential contest.
Members of the county GOP held a “door knocking day of action” Saturday across the county to support Joe Rockey, the Republican nominee for county executive. Democrats were set to hold a rally in McKeesport on Sunday for their nominee Sara Innamorato, with party leaders including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. And a local activist group held a meet-and-greet with candidates on Thursday.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a term-limited Democrat, is leaving office after 12 years, guaranteeing a new face in the county’s top elected office. It will either be Ms. Innamorato, a staunchly progressive former state representative, or Mr. Rockey, a political newcomer and former PNC executive who has run as a moderate.
It has become a political battle not only over local issues but national ones, too, and could have lasting implications into the 2024 elections and beyond.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2023/11/05/allegheny-county-elections-executive-district-attorney-innamorato-rockey-dugan-zappala/stories/202311050089
I hate the weekends before big elections.
It's that time when all of the possible scenarios begin to run through my head, which is no fun when you live with diagnosed anxiety.
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