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By Henal Patel and Shennell McCloud

In the midst of a long-overdue racial reckoning and partially in response to it America is experiencing a new wave of voter restriction laws harkening back to the decades of Jim Crow. Indeed, many of these laws are specifically designed to suppress the votes of Black and brown Americans across the country who showed up in strong numbers in 2020.

Concerned Americans watch day after day as efforts to pass democracy protection legislation in Washington are thwarted by political obstacles.

Were clutching tightly to hard-won rights while people in power are determined to yank us back decades.

We do, of course, need Congress to act. But we also need states like New Jersey to be a bulwark against these trends and to hold the line for the opposite stance: to say we are not afraid of more people voting. We wholeheartedly embrace democracy and seek to expand it.

So what should New Jersey do?

It is true that we have recently passed a slew of pro-democracy initiatives: online and automatic voter registration, restoring the vote to those on probation and parole, ending legislative prison-based gerrymandering and, most recently, early in-person voting.

But we have failed to enact a fundamental and logical opportunity to increase access to the ballot something that 20 states and Washington D.C. already have: same-day registration. In these states, people can register and vote on the same day. They have democracy in a day.

In contrast, New Jersey maintains a three-week arbitrary voter registration deadline that disenfranchises people every election. Studies have shown that same-day registration increases turnout by an average of 5%, with as much as a 10-percentage-point increase for young people. Studies have also shown that the greatest voter turnout increase is on Election Day and the days leading up to it. If your goal is to make voting as easy as possible, there is simply no reason to prohibit people from registering on the day they cast their ballot.

Same-day voter registration has also proven to increase voter turnout among people of color while denying people that access disproportionately affects African-Americans and Latina/Latino communities.

Of course, that is the point of many of todays new laws but New Jersey shouldnt be a member of that club.

A recent study found that Black voter turnout is on average 2 - to 17-percentage points higher and Latina/Latino is on average 0.1- 17.5-percentage points higher in states with same-day voter registration than similar states that do not have same-day voter registration. When enacted in North Carolina, African Americans made up 36% of those who utilized same-day registration to vote in the 2008 presidential election, even though they only made up 22% of the voting-age population.

Beyond voter turnout, same-day registration is an effective way to achieve more accurate voter rolls. When a voter registers at a new address, the voter rolls are updated and county elections departments have a more accurate picture of registered voters within their jurisdiction. These rolls also ensure that mail-in ballots and important voting information can be sent to the right address. In this way, same-day voter registration will help election officials.

Finally, contrary to scare-mongering claims, same-day registration is secure. Voters will be required to provide the same information they do in traditional voter registration, and county election officials will have the time to verify eligibility before counting their votes.

We like to think of ourselves in New Jersey as an enlightened state pushing back against many of the dangerous trends facing America right now. But we cannot claim to be a leader in the fight to save our democracy until we make voting as accessible and equitable as possible. Right now, we are behind 20 other states on this essential issue.

Legislators should pass A4548/S2824 and Gov. Phil Murphy should sign same-day registration into law quickly. Let them know.

Henal Patel is the director of the Democracy & Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

Shennell McCloud is the CEO of Project Ready, a nonprofit social justice organization.

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People in 20 other states can get democracy in a day. New Jersey, unfortunately, isnt one of them. | Opinion - NJ.com

BOSTON Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in calling on Congress to immediately act to safeguard democracy by passing legislation to protect against voter suppression and election subversion and, if necessary, reforming the filibuster.

Our democracy is at risk as more and more Republican-led legislatures push forward with dangerous legislation aimed at restricting voting access for communities of color, AG Healey said. These discriminatory policies are ripped from the same playbook as Jim Crow. Voting rights is the most important issue of our time, and its on us, as elected officials, to stand up and do whats needed to ensure the right to vote. Congress must act now.

In todays letter to Congressional leadership, the attorneys general describe how their offices worked to ensure that the 2020 general election was conducted freely, fairly, and with integrity. According to the letter, several factors contributed to the failure of former President Trump to overturn the elections democratic outcome including that the legal arguments used were generally so extraordinarily weak that they did not have even the veneer of legitimacy. Certain election officialsboth Republican and Democraticrefused to buckle under pressure at critical points, placing election integrity and our democracy, ahead of partisanship. And the attack on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, while dangerous, was inept. The attorneys general argue for robust federal protections to protect the will of the voters and ensure that we are not left relying on the hope that future subverters will be similarly incompetent.

Eighteen states have already passed laws that create new barriers to voting or make it easier to overturn election results. In a statement issued on June 1, more than 100 democracy scholars explain, [W]e have watched with deep concern as Republican-led state legislatures across the country have in recent months proposed or implemented what we consider radical changes to core electoral procedures in response to unproven and intentionally destructive allegations of a stolen election. The statement argues that laws being passed in large key electoral battleground states are dangerously politicizing the process of electoral administration and seek to restrict access to the ballot. The scholars warn that these laws could enable some state legislators or partisan election officials to do what they failed to do in 2020: reverse the outcome of a free and fair election.

The attorneys general argue in the letter that the profound challenges confronting our democracy demand that Congress act to prevent voter suppression and election subversion. Irrespective of ones views on the value of the filibuster in general, it must not be allowed to stop Congress from addressing these issues so fundamental to our Constitution and democracy.

Joining AG Healey in sending todays letter are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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AG Healey Calls on Congress to Pass Legislation to Safeguard Democracy - Mass.gov

A former National Security Council official whose testimony about former President Donald Trumps contacts with Ukraines government led to the presidents first impeachment trial unloaded about the continued threat he believes Mr Trump poses to the republic.

Speaking with The Washington Post for a discussion coinciding with the launch of his book, Here, Right Matters, retired Lt Col Alexander Vindman excoriated Mr Trump over the events of 6 January and explained that he believes the president has done more damage to the US than just about anyone else in recent history.

Hes an enormous threat, said Mr Vindman. I can make cold, hard calculations about the threat...former president of the United States Donald Trump poses. He continues to pose a keen threat based on propagating this lie that the election was stolen, in fact, he was the one trying to steal the election.

Mr Vindman added: Hes a vile man that has done more damage to the United States than any other leader in recent U.S. history.

The Independent has reached out to the office of Mr Trump for comment.

Mr Vindman left the NSC in July 2020 following his testimony to congress about Mr Trumps activities, citing bullying and retaliation from members of the Trump administration. He previously served as director for European affairs.

Mr Trump claimed to have never met Mr Vindman in a February 2020 tweet that simultaneously accused the military officer of being very insubordinate, causing his superior to file a horrendous report about him. The former president famously demonized members of his administration and the broader White House and military spheres who criticised him in any way following their respective exits from his administration.

The 45th president survived both impeachment efforts launched by Democrats over the Ukraine scandal as well as the attack on the US Capitol earlier this year, though his second impeachment trial ended in the most bipartisan support for a presidential impeachment in US history.

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Trump continues to pose a keen threat to US democracy, says impeachment witness Alexander Vindman - The Independent

Aug 7th 2021

IN THE LATE 1980s Zambians, inspired by the changes sweeping through eastern Europe, demanded the end of their own one-party state. In 1991 Kenneth Kaunda, the countrys founding president, reluctantly agreed to multiparty elections. He lost. But in leaving office willingly, even personally removing the presidential pennant from his car, Kaunda ensured that his country was a trailblazer for democracy. By the end of the decade nearly every country in Africa had gone to the polls. During the commodities boom of the 2000s the economy of the continents second-largest copper producer grew by about 7% per year. Though far from perfect, Zambia seemed more likely to become the next Botswana (democratic and middle-income) than the next Zimbabwe (despotic and wretched).

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How things have changed. Since it took office in 2011 the Patriotic Front (PF) has failed Zambians. In particular, under Edgar Lungu, president since 2015, corruption, human-rights abuses and poverty have all spread. The PF has increased external debt at least sevenfold, with loans spent on graft-ridden Chinese-built infrastructure. In June Amnesty International reported an increasingly brutal crackdown on opponents of the regime. Annual inflation is running at 25%, nearly the highest in two decades, and forcing 40% of Zambians to eat fewer or smaller meals, according to a recent study by a local NGO. Some middle-class Zambians are considering what Zimbabweans have done for decades: fleeing to South Africa.

All of which explains why the forthcoming elections matter. On August 12th Zambians should do as they did in 1991 and 2011vote out the incumbent president. The main opposition candidate, Hakainde Hichilema, would be a huge improvement on Mr Lungu. The businessman promises to clamp down on graft, open serious talks with the IMF about reforms and a loan, and win back the trust of foreign investors put off by the PFs punitive policies of heavily taxing and seizing mines. Zambians seem to like his ideas. Academic analysis of polls suggests that, in a fair fight, he would win just over half of the vote.

Sadly, it is not a fair fight. The PF must have read a textbook on election-rigging. While campaigning, it has abused state resources, from handing farmers subsidies to using taxpayer-funded helicopters. It has corroded the guard-rails of democracy, dismissing impartial members of the electoral commission, installing pliant judges in the Constitutional Court, and co-opting civil-society leaders. The police have blocked Mr Hichilema from campaigning, citing covid-19 rules which seem not to apply to Mr Lungu. PF stooges have intimidated the opposition.

There are also fears that, after the polls close, voting tallies could be altered and the internet shut off. Whether the declared outcome is an outright victory for one candidate or a run-off if no one gets over 50%, Zambia could see legal challenges, protests and blood on the streets.

Outsiders must hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Unfortunately, when it comes to criticising their peers elections, African countries are as toothless as an anteater. China, for all its pontificating about non-interference, usually backs the incumbent; the Chinese ambassador spoke warmly of the PF at the party conference at which it nominated Mr Lungu as its candidate, in April. America, Britain and the European Union often point out flaws in elections but are sometimes too willing to declare rigged votes good enough, as with Malawis stolen election of 2019. A year later Malawians peacefully overturned that dodgy ballot and voted for a new president in a re-run.

This would be harder in Zambia. Judges are less independent and the security forces have more guns. Still, Western countries can, for instance, warn against further violence and put pressure on the electoral commission to allow independent monitors to observe not just voting but the counting of votes as well. Western diplomats can also start to identify African mediators who could help in any post-election negotiations. They must not suggest that an election is passable by African standards.

Mr Hichilema has highlighted the stakes in the election. It could be the difference, he says, between recovery and Zambia deteriorating into a broken economy and failed state. Zambians should heed his warning. So should the rest of the world.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Zambias crucial election"

Read more:
Zambia's election is crucial, but it's not a fair fight - The Economist

How do democracies die?

The old question has a new urgency because global surveys are everywhere reporting dipping confidence in democracy and marked jumps in citizens frustrations with government corruption and incompetence. Young people are the least satisfied with democracy much more disaffected than previous generations at the same age. Most worrying are the survey findings for India, which is fast developing a reputation as the worlds largest failing democracy. In its Democracy Report 2020, Swedens V-Dem Institute noted that India has almost lost its status as a democracy. It ranked India below Sierra Leone, Guatemala and Hungary.

Things are serious. Not since the 1920s and 1930s has democracy faced so much trouble. That period saw the destruction of most parliamentary democracies. Only 11 survived. Since then, political scientists have pointed out, democracies have wilted in two connected ways. Some have suffered sudden death, in puffs of smoke and rat-a-tat gunfire. But death by cuts is more common.

Democide is usually a slow-motion and messy process. Wild rumours and talk of conspiracies flourish. Street protests and outbreaks of uncontrolled violence happen. Fears of civil unrest spread. The armed forces grow agitated. Emergency rule is declared but things eventually come to the boil. As the government totters, the army moves from its barracks onto the streets to quell unrest and take control. Democracy is finally buried in a grave it slowly dug for itself.

During the past generation, around three-quarters of democracies met their end in these ways. The military coup dtats against the elected governments of Egypt (2013), Thailand (2014), Myanmar and Tunisia (2021) are obvious examples.

Less obvious is the way democracies are destroyed by social emergencies. Think of things this way: Democracy is much more than pressing a button or marking a box on a ballot paper. It goes beyond the mathematical certitude of election results and majority rule. Its not reducible to lawful rule through independent courts or attending local public meetings and watching breaking news stories scrawled across a screen. Democracy is a whole way of life.

It is freedom from hunger, humiliation and violence. Democracy is public disgust for callous employers who mistreat workers paid a pittance for unblocking stinking sewers and scraping s**t from latrines. Democracy is saying no to every form of human and non-human indignity. It is respect for women, tenderness with children, and access to jobs that bring satisfaction and sufficient reward to live comfortably.

In a healthy democracy, citizens are not forced to travel in buses and trains like livestock, wade through dirty water from overrunning sewers, or breathe poisonous air. Democracy is public and private respect for different ways of living. It is humility: The willingness to admit that impermanence renders all life vulnerable, that in the end nobody is invincible, and that ordinary lives are never ordinary. Democracy is equal access to decent medical care and sympathy for those who have fallen behind. Its the rejection of the dogma that things cant be changed because theyre naturally fixed in stone. Democracy is thus insubordination: The refusal to put up with everyday forms of snobbery and toad-eating, idolatry and lying, bulls**t and bullying.

Fine principles, you may say, but what happens to a democracy when successive governments allow their social footings to be damaged, or destroyed? The shortest answer: Democracy suffers a slow-motion social death.

Especially when a constitution promises its citizens justice, liberty and equality, the splintering and shattering of social life induce a sense of legal powerlessness among citizens. The judiciary becomes vulnerable to cynicism, political meddling and state capture. Massive imbalances of wealth, chronic violence, famine and unevenly distributed life chances also make a mockery of the ethical principle that in a democracy people can live as citizen partners of equal social worth. If democracy is the self-government of social equals who freely choose their representatives, then large-scale social suffering renders the democratic principle utterly utopian. Or it turns into a grotesque farce.

Domestic violence, rotten health care, widespread feelings of social unhappiness, and daily shortages of food and housing destroy peoples dignity. Indignity is a form of generalised social violence. It kills the spirit and substance of democracy. When famished children cry themselves to sleep at night, when millions of women feel unsafe and multitudes of migrant workers living on slave wages are forced to flee for their lives in a medical emergency, the victims are unlikely to believe themselves worthy of rights, or capable as citizens of fighting for their own entitlements, or for the rights of others. Ground down by social indignity, the powerless are robbed of self-esteem.

No doubt, citizens ability to strike back, to deliver millions of mutinies against the rich and powerful, is in principle never to be underestimated in a democracy. But the brute fact is social indignity undermines citizens capacity to take an active interest in public affairs, and to check and humble and wallop the powerful. Citizens are forced to put up with state and corporate restrictions on basic public freedoms. They must get used to big money, surveillance, baton charges, preventive detentions, and police killings.

But the scandal doesnt end there. For when millions of citizens are daily victimised by social indignities, the powerful are granted a licence to rule arbitrarily. Millions of humiliated people become sitting targets. Some at the bottom and many in the middle and upper classes turn their backs on public affairs. They bellyache in unison against politicians and politics. But the disaffected do nothing. Complacency and cynical indifference breed voluntary servitude. Or the disgruntled begin to yearn for political redeemers and steel-fisted government. The powerless and the privileged join hands to wish for a messiah who promises to defend the poor, protect the rich, drive out the demons of corruption and disorder, and purify the soul of the people.

When this happens, demagoguery comes into season. Citizen disempowerment encourages boasting and bluster among powerful leaders who stop caring about the niceties of public integrity and power-sharing. They grow convinced they can turn lead into gold. But their hubris has costs. When democratically elected governments cease to be held accountable by a society weakened by poor health, low morale, and joblessness, demagogues are prone to blindness and ineptitude. They make careless, foolish, and incompetent decisions that reinforce social inequities. They license big market and government players poligarchs to decide things. Those who exercise power in government ministries, corporations, and public/private projects arent subject to democratic rules of public accountability. Like weeds in an untended garden, corruption flourishes. Almost everybody must pay bribes to access basic public services. The powerful stop caring about the niceties of public integrity. Institutional democracy failure happens.

Finally, in the absence of redistributive public welfare policies that guarantee sufficient food, shelter, security, education, and health care to the downtrodden, democracy morphs into a mere faade. Elections still happen and theres abundant talk of the people. But democracy begins to resemble a fancy mask worn by wealthy political predators. Self-government is killed. Strong-armed rule by rich and powerful poligarchs in the name of the people follows. Cheer-led by lapdog media, phantom democracy becomes a reality. Society is subordinated to the state. People are expected to behave as loyal subjects, or else suffer the consequences. A thoroughly 21st century type of top-down rule called despotism triumphs.

Might this be how democracy dies in India?

This column first appeared in the print edition on July 31, 2021 under the title Phantom democracy. John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and the WZB (Berlin). He is the co-author (with Debasish Roy Chowdhury) of To Kill A Democracy: Indias Passage to Despotism (Oxford University Press, 2021)

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How does a democracy die? - The Indian Express