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Category Archives: Government Documents

Justice Department to Monitor Polls in 27 States for Compliance with Federal Voting Rights Laws

Federal prosecutors are on call in every district in the country. Interfering with voting rights is a federal offense. Any effort to intimidate, harass, threaten or harm voters will result in a visit from the FBI. Witnesses or victims may call 9-1-1. (Making a false report is a crime, too!) Let’s keep voting safe, free, and fair. If you encounter violence, threats, or intimidation at a polling place, call 911 immediately. After alerting local authorities, report the incident to the Justice Department. For election-related complaints, contact the FBI: https://tips.fbi.gov/home

  • On Election Day, Civil Rights Division personnel will be available all day to receive questions and complaints from the public related to possible violations of federal voting rights laws. Reports may be made through the department’s website www.civilrights.justice.gov or by calling toll-free at 800-253-3931.
  • Individuals with questions or complaints related to the ADA may call the department’s toll-free ADA information hotline at 800-514-0301 or 833-610-1264 (TTY) or submit a complaint through a link on the department’s ADA website at www.ada.gov.
  • Complaints related to any disruptions at a polling place should always be reported to local election officials (including officials based in the polling place). Complaints related to violence, threats of violence or intimidation at a polling place should be reported immediately to local police authorities by calling 911. These complaints should also be reported to the department after local authorities have been contacted.
  • More information about voting and elections, including guidance documents and other resources, is available at www.justice.gov/voting. Learn more about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws at www.justice.gov/crt/voting-section.

What is voter turnout like in recent elections? How do Americans vote? How are Americans represented in government?

USA Facts – What are the basics of elections and voting in the US? Explore data on turnout rates, representation, and methods of voting. Turnout rate in federal elections for citizen voting-age population In 2020, 66.8% of the citizen voting-age population voted in the presidential election, the highest turnout since 1992. Table of Contents What… Continue Reading

ProPublica’s Coverage of the Election Issues That Matter to Voters

With just days to go before Election Day, political coverage is everywhere. ProPublica avoids horse race coverage of the election, instead deeply exploring issues that voters care about, like immigration, abortion, health care, the economy, extremism and education. Continue Reading

Trump’s Election Lawyers Must Heed Their Ethical Duties

Via LLRX – Trump’s Election Lawyers Must Heed Their Ethical Duties – Attorneys  Stephen Marcus and Bruce Kuhlik discuss the ethical responsibilities of lawyers in the context of predicted attempts by Donald Trump and his allies to undermine the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The authors argue that lawyers considering advocating unsubstantiated claims of election fraud should learn… Continue Reading

Lancet Countdown on health and climate change

Climate change is the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century, but it is also the greatest opportunity to redefine the social and environmental determinants of health. In 2015, countries committed to limit global warming to “well below 2°C” as part of the landmark Paris Agreement. The annual Countdown report provides… Continue Reading

Harris, Trump Voters Differ Over Election Security, Vote Counts and Hacking Concerns

Pew: More than seven-in-ten registered voters in the U.S. (73%) think the election this November will be run and administered at least somewhat well. Nine-in-ten Harris supporters say this, compared with 57% of Trump supporters. Just 20% of voters are highly confident the Supreme Court would be politically neutral if it rules on legal issues… Continue Reading

There Are Four Anti-Trump Pathways We Failed to Take. There Is a Fifth.

The New York Times Opinion [unlocked], Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, professors of government at Harvard and the authors of “Tyranny of the Minority.” :”…In the United States, the civic response to the Trump threat has been tepid. For a moment, business leaders seemed poised to defend democracy. After the Jan. 6 insurrection, many leading… Continue Reading

Can someone find out who you voted for?

NPR – No. Here is what you should know – “With less than [12 days] until Election Day and with early voting taking place across the U.S., many Americans are questioning the secrecy of their ballots. Election officials, voter registration organizations and election law experts — including New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver… Continue Reading

Is It Fascism? A Leading Historian Changes His Mind

The New York Times unlocked article Robert Paxton thought the label was overused. But now he’s alarmed by what he sees in global politics — including Trumpism…Paxton, who is 92, is one of the foremost American experts on fascism and perhaps the greatest living American scholar of mid-20th-century European history. His 1972 book, “Vichy France:… Continue Reading