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This year, with a minimum of four elections, some city and town clerks are turning their attention to vote-by-mail applications leaving them little time to do anything elseall year long. "It's insane," one clerk said.

We often hear impassioned pleas to protect the health and spirit of our democracy. Count us among those voices. Its a uniquely trying time for the nations fundamental democratic institutions, including those vital arteries that pump the lifeblood of local democracy through our communities: clerks offices.

Anyone who is truly appreciative of or concerned for American democracy should think of the local town or city clerk. These are the folks who put in the always crucial and too often thankless work to maintain the machinery of our electoral system, from voter and candidate registration to staging and overseeing elections. And over the last several election cycles that machine has seen much more sand thrown in its gears. There was the herculean task of shepherding elections amid a devastating viral pandemic. Then there was a targeted campaign to overwhelm election officials across the country, including Massachusetts clerks, with excessive and frivolous records requests based on a former presidents baseless election-denial conspiracy-mongering that he continues to amplify as the presumptive Republican nominee.

Now, the metaphorical sand in the gears is the product of some very real postcards inundating clerks in city halls and town offices throughout the Berkshires and across the commonwealth. You probably saw the tri-fold white postcards, sent by the Massachusetts secretary of state, in your mailbox a while back. After allowing a vote-by-mail option during the COVID-stricken 2020 election year, Massachusetts made that option permanent in 2022. Now any Bay State voters who want to utilize that option can request mail-in ballots with those postcard applications, which must be sent to every registered voter no less than 60 days before every primary or general election, in accordance with that 2022 law. You can still vote the old-fashioned way, so you dont have to fill out that postcard and forward it to your local clerks office. A lot of people did prefer that option, though, and handling those applications for mailed ballots has become a considerable time-sink for local clerks offices.

Having a vote-by-mail option, like any reasonable and secure way to expand the access and ease of voting, is a good thing. Like early in-person voting, if theres a way to accommodate folks with schedule conflicts, mobility issues or any other reasons that might prevent or dissuade them from standing in line at the polls on Election Day, we ought to pursue it. Given growing apathy and anemic voter participation of late, every reasonable step to encourage democratic participation is worth taking.

Some have concerns about the security of mail-in voting, fears no doubt fanned by Donald Trumps meritless attacks on mail-in votings legitimacy during the 2020 election. Those concerns can be addressed. Anyone concerned with Massachusetts system should educate themselves on how the process works when a clerk receives a mail-in ballot application. In fact, its the rigor of that system that is hamstringing many clerks offices. These applications have to be verified by the workers in those offices, including what Pittsfields assistant clerk of voter registration and elections referred to as problem children, a term for postcards with incomplete or inconsistent information. Thats a process that deserves and requires time, attention and, like all quality public services, money to run and staff operations.

Whether a clerks office gets a few dozen or a few thousand (or more) of these little postcards forwarded to them, thats a big amount of work added to the plates of the folks at the front lines of local democracy. Realistically, for most offices it means having to staff up which can be difficult for city or town halls quickly looking for more workers or room in their limited budgets. Pittsfield City Clerk Michele Benjamin told The Eagle that handling this years rush would not be possible without the help of volunteers. Meanwhile, in Sandisfield, the town clerk is a part-time position because the municipality cant afford to offer the benefits that would come with a full-time position. So Clerk Douglas Miner puts in hours on the weekend days he isnt paid to work in an effort to process all the vote-by-mail applications in time. The town did approve hiring an assistant for him another part-time position but Mr. Miner will continue putting in extra hours.

Im not in this job for the money, he told The Eagle. Neither are the volunteers in the Pittsfield clerks office. Yet if were going to be consistent with the lofty paeans to democracy its so fashionable to pronounce nowadays, we ought to put our money where our democratic values are. Clerks offices clearly need help to keep up with the states admirable efforts to expand voting access. Some municipalities, like Sandisfield, might not have that budgetary flexibility, but the state can and should step in to provide the budgetary backstop to make sure Massachusetts mail-in-voting system does not collapse on the backs of over-worked clerks, which could in turn give a foothold to those opposing sensible efforts to expand voter access and participation. Its not exactly a spend-happy mood on Beacon Hill at the moment, but the sort of help that could make the difference to clerks offices perhaps grants to pay for part-time positions allocated based on applications received would barely register as a rounding error on the states annual budget. Protecting democracy demands more than penny-pinching.

In the meantime, thank your local clerks office workers. Many are working overtime to uphold their end of the bargain. Massachusetts can and should do more to help them meet the challenges.

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Our Opinion: If we want to support democracy, it should include helping overworked clerks - Berkshire Eagle

For the seventh time in eight years, a Palm Beach County legislator is still trying to make it virtually impossible for voters to amend their Constitution.

You have to give Rep. Rick Roth credit for persistence in trying to suppress citizen participation in democracy in Florida.

Back to his old tricks, backed by the same old powerful business groups, Roth wants to increase the threshold from 60% to 67% for passage of a constitutional amendment.

Roths proposal (HJR 335) would impose another giant barrier to direct democracy in Florida, while empowering an even smaller minority of one-third of voters to decide the outcome of a statewide election.

This is a sinister ploy to silence the voices of Floridians in the last place where they still have an impact: at the ballot box.

If Roth had his way, Florida would never have raised the minimum wage in 2020, or restored the right to vote to convicted felons (2018), or demanded fairness in how politicians draw congressional and legislative districts (2010).

All three of those are in the constitution after clearing the 60% hurdle, but none reached the lofty 67% that Roth seeks.

Even the wildly popular Save Our Homes amendment, which since 1992 has capped annual assessment increases on homesteaded property at 3%, would never have become law.

Roths rationalization for the higher threshold rests on the premise that voters arent smart enough to figure out the risks of cluttering up the constitution.

The real purpose of the constitution is to protect citizens from our own government, Roth told members of a House subcommittee this week. So I see raising the bar as making sure that the constitution continues to protect you.

Protect us? From what?

Roths gobbledygook tells us nothing. He further weakened his case by noting that voters approved a legislative amendment in 2018 that requires a supermajority vote of two-thirds in the House and Senate to impose or raise state taxes or fees.

Guess what? That didnt reach the 67% threshold, either. It passed by 65.7%.

Florida is already the nations most difficult state for citizens to attain ballot access, as Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO reminded lawmakers in a hearing on Monday. The voters approved the 60% threshold nearly two decades ago.

A Florida ballot initiative now requires nearly 1 million valid signatures, which is an exhausting and expensive undertaking. The Legislature has repeatedly made it more difficult by shortening the lifespan of valid signatures and prohibiting petition circulators from being paid by the petition. (There have been abuses in the signature-gathering process, but a responsible Legislature would promote civic engagement, not try to destroy it.)

But in a tightly scripted House, where every Republican-sponsored bill that reaches the calendar is assured of passage, Roths fellow Republicans raised no insightful questions and rubber-stamped his bill at its last committee meeting Tuesday.

The party-line vote was 11-6, with the no votes cast by five Democrats joined by Republican Rep. Linda Chaney of St. Pete Beach. The local members of the Ethics, Elections and Open Government subcommittee are all Democrats, and voted no, including Rep. Jennifer Rita Harris, Rep. Lavon Bracy Davis and Rep. Kristen Arrington.

As for Roth, the West Palm Beach grower has never come close to winning 67% approval from voters in an election.

In a conservative, rural district stretching across the northern tier of Palm Beach County, he has won four House races with 58, 55, 56 and 60% of the vote against weak opposition. He never came close to reaching the 67% threshold that he wants to impose on others.

Facing term limits in November, Roth has announced plans to run for a state Senate seat.

Roths raising of the bar for democracy requires approval from three-fifths of the House and Senate. If it reached the ballot it would require 60% approval from voters. That may appear hypocritical, but thats the law in Florida.

The good news is that not one senator has filed the same bill, and the 60-day session will reach the midway point next week, so it appears for now that Roths record of futility will remain intact. But with this Legislature, you can never be sure.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Anderson. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.

Continued here:
Editorial: Renewing the annual assault on democracy in Florida - Orlando Sentinel

Dear Editor: I am a grandparent concerned about the future for my children and grandchildren.

This countrys representative democracy is at a critical point. If we citizens do not act, we may lose freedoms we now enjoy.

Donald Trump is central to this issue. A jury has determined he committed sexual abuse, which the judge termed rape. A court has determined him to be a cheat and a fraud. He has been charged with numerous federal felonies related to his role in the January 2021 U.S. Capitol riots and to his misappropriation of national security documents. He and his right-wing media supporters continue to mislead and lie about the facts in these matters. He brags about his actions, which led to the elimination of reproductive health rights of women. He has promised to be a dictator.

Admittedly, the state of our politics has been deteriorating for decades and is at an all-time low. It will get downright destructive if Trump returns to the White House.

I care about America and its promise for my and your children and grandchildren. I implore you to get involved, talk with your family and friends, and vote to ensure that Donald Trump is not elected again to the presidency of the United States.

Gene Lillge

Madison

Send your letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.

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Letter | Trump would erode democracy | Letters to the Editor | captimes.com - The Capital Times

By Acorn Staff | on February 03, 2024

Luis P. Sanchez, a Moorpark attorney with offices in Thousand Oaks, has announced the formation of the Madison-Lincoln Initiative, a pending not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to help preserve the nations democratic republic by providing workshops throughout the education community on the history, purpose and basic structure of the U.S. Constitution, and on how to foster civil discourse and civic engagement among our youth.

Sanchez holds a juris doctorate and a masters degree in business and tax law from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He has more than 20 years of legal experience and has taught in law classrooms for more than 20 years.

Sanchez will present a discussion on pertinent legal topics at any high school or college in America, in person or by Zoom, without cost wherever six or more students or faculty are willing to assemble for a 90-minute workshop.

He was twice honored as Outstanding Instructor of the Year by students at Sierra College, and has written two textbook supplements on California business law. His Madison-Lincoln Initiative is named after James Madison, the fourth U.S. president and chief architect of the Constitution, and Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president whose leadership during the Civil War culminated in the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to purge slavery from the Constitution.

Sanchez says he started his not-for-profit organization because of his concern that the American republic may not survive the bitter partisan differences that threaten to divide the country, unless, he says, we re-learn how to engage in respectful discourse with our fellow citizens and deepen our understanding of and commitment to the U.S. Constitution the supreme pact to which we are all pledged.

Sanchez also is offering to help interested students form their own Madison Lincoln Club to promote civic engagement and civil discourseacross partisan and ideological linesat their campus. Students and educators who are interested in having attorney Sanchez speak at their class or elsewhere at school, or if they would like to see a video synopsis of his presentation, email him at lpsanchezlaw@gmail.com or call him at (805) 770-1477.

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Initiative in the interest of democracy - Moorpark Acorn

When youre stuck in the wilderness, Bear Grylls wouldnt suggest you prioritize searching for Wi-Fi. Instead, survival experts would likely tell you to focus on Maslows hierarchy of needs. In other words, you should be trying to address physiological needs before you start thinking about self-actualization. Theres also a hierarchy of democratic needs, but its been forgotten by modern advocates for a more participatory and responsive democracy.

Before explaining further, I should make clear that I wholly support efforts to improve our democracy through thoughtful changes, such as open primaries and campaign finance reform. I applaud and encourage those individuals and organizations working on such causes. But Im increasingly concerned that were putting Wi-Fi before water. More specifically, Im concerned about the 48 million adults (or 23 percent) who struggle to read and the 70 million people (or about 20 percent) who live in or may soon live in a news desert. Absent addressing literacy and access to hard news the first two levels of the hierarchy of democratic needs electoral reforms will not be as impactful as intended.

Lets start with literacy and why its the first step toward democratic actualization. In a democracy, the people are the depository of the ultimate powers of the society, according to Thomas Jefferson. If we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with wholesome discretion, he continued, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."

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Jefferson wasnt alone in tying education and, by extension, literacy to the capacity of we, the people to fulfill our democratic responsibilities. According to historian Alan Talor, the Founders viewed education as "a collective, social benefit essential for free government to endure."

In short, democratic governance places power in the people, but to fully exercise that power individuals must have the requisite skills and knowledge. The alternative failing to empower individuals to make informed choices about how to wield their power is akin to giving someone a tennis racket without telling them the rules of the game and teaching them how to serve.

How to exercise that discretion is also contingent on knowing what choices are available thats where access to hard news comes in. Hard news conveys information important to citizens ability to vote, evaluate policies and identify issues in their communities. The Founders addressed this democratic need by creating an expansive postal system and subsidizing the production and dissemination of newspapers that contained more hard news than advertisements.

Today, in contrast, nearly a fifth of Americans live in a news desert, a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level. To make matters worse, the creation and spread of AI-generated content has the potential to pollute our information ecosystem making it harder to find democratically salient information. That's why I've called for a "right to reality" that requires subsidies for local and reliable news institutions. This financial boost would make quality journalism more available in every part of the country and, as a result, would dilute the effect of content meant to distract rather than inform.

How best to fully address these needs is a topic for another article. The key takeaway for now is that literacy and access to hard news must be at the top of our reform agenda because theyre at the foundation of the hierarchy of democratic needs. The sooner we focus our resources and attention on these foundational issues, the sooner we can build larger and more inclusive coalitions and movements.

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Literacy, news form the base of the hierarchy of democracy needs - The Fulcrum