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Illinois Workers’ Rights Amendment Sets New Bar For Worker Power Policy

December 15, 2022 Jennifer Sherer, Economic Policy Institute. , , , ,
Illinois - On election day, Illinois voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing all workers organizing and collective bargaining rights, setting a new high bar for state labor policy at a moment when policymakers should prioritize empowering workers to address historic levels of income inequality and unequal power in our economy. The Illinois Workers’ Rights Amendment adds language to the state constitution affirming that “employees shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work.” The new clause also specifies that “no law shall be passed that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.”

Next On The US Supreme Court Chopping Block: Democracy

December 10, 2022 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. , , ,
On December 7, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case Moore v. Harper, a case which could effectively eliminate the influence of the popular vote in presidential elections. In Moore, a case which the Court, now dominated by a far-right majority, will likely decide before July 2023, it is possible that justices will rule in favor of allowing state legislatures the authority to decide the outcome of presidential elections, regardless of the popular vote. Peoples Dispatch spoke to Brian Becker, founding member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and part of the PSL’s central committee, about a pamphlet he authored, titled “The Supreme Court vs. Democracy.” In our conversation, Becker outlined what is at stake regarding the future of democracy in the United States.

Our Power Delivers Signatures For Referendum On Consumer-Owned Utility

November 5, 2022 Evan Popp, Maine Beacon. , , , ,
A group seeking to place an initiative on the November 2023 ballot to replace Maine’s unpopular investor-owned utilities, Central Maine Power and Versant, with a nonprofit power company submitted over 80,000 signatures Monday, far exceeding the total needed to trigger a referendum. Our Power, the group spearheading the campaign, announced its haul at a press conference at the State House before handing its petitions into the Secretary of State’s Office. That office now has a month to verify the signatures, but with a wide margin over the slightly more than 63,000 signatures needed for a ballot initiative, Our Power’s referendum is very likely to be on the ballot in November 2023. “We have news for you, CMP and Versant, and for your greedy corporate and foreign-government owners. Today, over 80,000 Maine voters are ready to revoke your monopoly privilege,” Andrew Blunt, executive director of Our Power, said at Monday’s press conference.

Ethics Commission Votes To Subpoena ALEC Over Its Campaign Software Scheme

March 6, 2022 David Armiak, Exposed CMD. , , ,
The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted 3-2 today to subpoena the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for information about its provision of sophisticated campaign software to its legislative members. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission last July alleging that ALEC’s gift of valuable voter management software, developed by Republican operatives and linked to the Republican National Committee’s voter database, constituted an illegal and unreported in-kind campaign contribution. CMD also filed an IRS whistleblower complaint against ALEC over the controversial program, valued at as much as $6 million per election cycle.

Fascism’s ‘Legal Phase’ Has Begun

January 30, 2022 William Horne, Truthout. , , ,
When Republicans blocked the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act on January 19, 2022, they removed the last safety net preventing the U.S.’s plummet toward authoritarianism. As a result, we are at this moment in a state of free-fall, the culmination of a state-level Legislative And Enforcement Landscape that directly mirrors Jim Crow — or as fascism scholar Jason Stanley recently put it, “America is now in fascism’s legal phase.” Although we do have ways of fighting back, the situation is dire. We often hear that the U.S.’s founding documents, courts and institutions make it immune to despotism, but this claim is simply false and erases our country’s troubling history with white supremacy — one the GOP is poised to reinvigorate.

The Disintegrating Façade Of US Democracy

January 20, 2022 Netfa Freeman, Black Agenda Report. , ,
A poll taken in December 2021 reflecting that a majority of “Americans” now “believe that democracy in the United State is in danger of disappearing” accommodates the bipartisan erasure of those colonized by US settler colonialism. Several US news outlets have reported that the Schoen Cooperman Research poll on “U.S. Perceptions of Government” reflects the opinions and concerns of “Americans” at large. The poll reflects that 51-percent of respondents agree with the statement that democracy in the US is at risk of extinction, a position shared almost equally between party affiliations. The sentiment is most acute among the younger generation. However, there is a deeply flawed premise in not just the poll itself but likely in the respondents to it as well.

NYC Enacts Law Allowing Over 800,000 Immigrants To Vote In Local Elections

January 10, 2022 Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. , , ,
A New York City law granting more than 800,000 lawful permanent residents the right to vote in local elections took effect Sunday after the recently elected mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, declined to veto it. The New York City Council had voted 33-14—with two abstentions—for the measure to allow noncitizens who have resided in the city for at least 30 days to vote for mayor, council members, and other municipal offices beginning next year. "The New York City Council is making history," declared Ydanis Rodríguez, the former council member who sponsored the bill, last month. "New York City must be seen as a shining example for other progressive cities to follow." Rodríguez—an immigrant and naturalized citizen from the Dominican Republic who is now the city's Department of Transportation commissioner—added Sunday that "we build a stronger democracy when we include the voices of immigrants."

Detroit Voters OK Launching Reparations Commission

November 3, 2021 Candice Williams, The Detroit News. , , ,
Detroit voters favored launching a reparations commission Tuesday, and a proposal to decriminalize psychedelic plants passed by a wide margin. Another, Proposal S, failed with 53.9% voting no to amending a section of the city charter to allow voters to push ordinances that include appropriating money. More than 80%  of voters said yes to Proposal R, which calls for the launching of a reparations commission, while 61% of voters said yes to decriminalizing psychedelic plants. Another ballot proposal to amend the city charter to allow for citizen-driven ballot initiatives tied to city spending, Proposal S found no support among nearly 54% of voters, while 46% voted yes. Proposal R asked whether Michigan’s largest city should form a committee to consider reparations for residents, 77% of whom are Black.

Minneapolis Voters Could Change How The City Approaches Public Safety

November 2, 2021 Anoa Changa, NewsOne. , , ,
Last year after George Floyd’s murder, community organizers spurred a national conversation on the role of policing and public safety. The collective outrage and sustained protests led to democracy in action. In Tuesday’s election, Minneapolis voters have a chance to change the way the city handles public safety.  Organizers like Miski Noor want voters to embrace the opportunity to change how the city deals with public safety and vote in favor of the public safety amendment known as Question 2. Noor, an organizer with Black Visions, spoke with NewsOne over the weekend in between get out the vote events. Reflecting on the energy of early voters in line to cast their ballots Saturday, Noor says Minneapolis has been waiting for this change.

North Carolina: More Felony Offenders Can Now Vote

August 24, 2021 Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press. , , ,
Raleigh, NC — Tens of thousands of North Carolina residents convicted of felonies but whose current punishments don’t include prison time can register to vote and cast ballots, a judicial panel declared Monday. Several civil rights groups and ex-offenders who sued legislative leaders and state officials in 2019 argue the current 1973 law is unconstitutional by denying the right vote to people who have completed their active sentences or received no such sentence, such as people on probation. They said the rules disproportionately affect Black residents and originated from an era of white supremacy in the 19th century. In a brief hearing following a trial last week challenging the state’s voting restrictions upon felons, Superior Court Judge Lisa Bell said two judges on the three-judge panel have agreed they would issue a formal order soon allowing more felony offenders to register.

The Legacy Of White Liberals Exploiting The Black Vote

March 18, 2020 By Solomon Comissiong, Blackagendareport.com , ,
On March 3, 2020, former Vice President, Joe Biden, to the euphoric pleasure of Democratic Party elites, was brought back from near political death. After terrible showings in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Biden was on the verge of receiving his "last rights" as a corporate politician.

You Can Be Free To Vote, Even Behind Bars

March 14, 2020 By Kenyetta Rich, Otherwords.org , , , ,
Birmingham, Alabama is a landmark city for the American civil rights movement. Even today, it’s ground zero for a vital fight over voting rights. I visited Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham recently to deliver inmates a simple message: you are free to vote, even if you don’t know it. And now is the time for you to claim and exercise this right. I was there with volunteers from The Ordinary People Society (TOPS), the League of Women Voters...

Court: Florida Can’t Bar Felons From Vote Over Fines, Fees

February 20, 2020 BobCaina Calvan and Curt Anderson, AP News. , , ,
Tallahassee, FL  — Florida cannot, for now, bar felons who served their time from registering to vote simply because they have failed to pay all fines and fees stemming from their cases, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tallahassee federal judge’s preliminary injunction that a state law implementing Amendment 4 amounted to an unfair poll tax that would disenfranchise many of the released felons. “We disagree with the ruling,” said Helen Ferre, chief spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. She said the state would immediately ask the entire 11th Circuit to reconsider. The case is one of several now before judges amid high-stakes legal skirmishes over Florida elections, which have drawn national scrutiny because of the state’s perennial status as a political battleground and the razor-thin margins deciding some high-profile contests.

The Push To Overturn Felony Disenfranchisement In Southern States

December 17, 2019 By Benjamin Barber, Facingsouth.org , ,
In the last U.S. presidential election in 2016, 6.1 million Americans could not vote because of laws that disenfranchise people with past felony convictions. In all, 32 states permanently disfranchise at least some people with felony convictions, while Kentucky and Iowa permanently disenfranchise everyone who's committed a felony. In six Southern states — Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia — more than 7 percent of the adult population is disenfranchised because of such laws, which have disproportionate impacts on minorities and the poor.

Georgia Groups Move To Block Use Of Unverifiable Voting Machines

August 19, 2019 Garland Favorito, Popular Resistance. ,
One day after the U.S. District Court of North Georgia banned the current Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system beginning in 2020, plaintiffs in the case motioned to block a proposed new unverifiable BMD voting system. The motion was filed on the grounds it impairs Georgia voters’ Constitutional right to vote because the voting system is not verifiable to the voters and evidence in the DRE trial has proven the state incapable of running electronic-based elections of any kind.
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