Mediaboss Marketing

East Havens celebration for receiving the esteemed Democracy Cup an award given to municipalities with the highest percentage of voter turnout proved short-lived as the town had to forfeit the honor due to inaccuracies in reported voter turnout.

The town reported a 68.71% voter turnout and according to a statement from the East Haven Office of the Registrar of Voters, as part of the celebration, Secretary of the State (SOTS) Stephanie Thomas was set to visit East Haven on Tuesday (Jan. 30) at 9:00 am to present the award.

However, a statement from the SOTS to Yankee Institute revealed a different story.

The SOTS asserts, Due to a human error during East Havens data entry process that follows an election, the mathematical output we used to select the Democracy Cup winner was incorrect. Once East Haven saw our talking points for the award ceremony, they investigated and quickly discovered the error. East Haven is not the winner in the Mid-Sized Town category.

Seeking further clarification, the East Haven registrars office replied to YI that they have since revised the percentage to 36.4% turnout, attributing the discrepancy to an error in the total number of electors.

According to an email response from East Haven Registrar Alberta Vitale, The total number of electors should have been based on the total for each district from all of the voter checklists (two checklists per district; one for streets A-L and another for M-Z; total electors needed to be manually added then input into the election database.) The numbers entered were from only one checklist for each district and therefore represented only about half of the quantity of electors.

Vitale also clarified that, the error does not affect the outcome of the elections in East Haven as votes per candidate is based on tabulator data and is correct.

In response to the unexpected turn of events, East Haven resident and poll volunteer Lorena Venegas shared her perspective on the situation, highlighting concerns about transparency and accountability in capturing and reporting local voter statistics.

Speaking to Yankee Institute, Venegas remarked, This is an example of the lack of transparency and accountability in capturing and reporting local voter statistics. The next step is for the result sheets to be updated at the local and Secretary of the State office.

Having been a poll volunteer in the last three elections, Venegas likes to follow the numbers and knew when [she] read that head moderator sheet, something was wrong.

Reflecting on the incident she stated, It matters to me to have integrity in voting processes.

Venegass insight sheds light on the importance of vigilance in maintaining the accuracy of election data and how a lack of transparency and accuracy disenfranchises voters from participating in the electoral process.

Regarding the announcement of the official winner, theSOTS office responded, stating, We have not formally announced it yet, but we have notified the town. We will be issuing an announcement when we can do a presentation to them with the Secretary.

Continued here:
East Haven's Democracy Cup Win Reversed Due to Math Error - Yankee Institute

Democracy on Trial by Michael Kirk is a thorough documentary of the systematic and lengthy evolution and execution of the attempt to overthrow the government. It has deep roots in the mindset of the dictator wannabe way before he was elected. The coup attempt on January 6 was the tip of the iceberg.

Anyone who watches this 2 h 23 minute film will see the complete truth of what happened inside the White House and throughout America that lead to what we all saw that historical day. Some of the watchers may become a jurors in the Jack Smith and other trials.

What is very comforting and an inspiration of what should happen this year is how manydid the right thing all along. The film makes me optimistic that the MAGA mob will not succeed because of the courage of many Americans going forward .

It deserves an Oscar for best documentary. (Poll bellow, hopefully many watched it already)

This documentary by PBS will play a role in the political dynamics going forward. Lets do what we can to make it happen.

This 18 minute interview with Michael Kirk, before the release, gives you the why and how of his warning to all about the possible future based on the rationally explained past. It gives a clear picture of the thinking and goals behind the documentary.

Read more here:
Democracy on Trial is a masterpiece documentary at the perfect time that should go viral. - Daily Kos

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the reelection of former President Trump would be the “end of democracy” in an interview released Saturday by The Guardian.

“It will be the end of democracy, functional democracy,” Sanders said in the interview. 

The Vermont senator also said in the interview that he thinks that another round of Trump as the president will be a lot more extreme than the first.

“He’s made that clear,” Sanders said. “There’s a lot of personal bitterness, he’s a bitter man, having gone through four indictments, humiliated, he’s going to take it out on his enemies. We’ve got to explain to the American people what that means to them — what the collapse of American democracy will mean to all of us.”

Sanders’s words echo those President Biden made in a recent campaign speech during which he said that Trump’s return to the presidency would risk American democracy. The president highlighted the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in an attempt to cement a point about Trump and other Republicans espousing a kind of extremism that was seen by the world on that day.

“Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice democracy to put himself in power,” Biden said in the speech that took place near Valley Forge and on the day before the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack.

Biden also said that Trump’s false claims about “the 2020 election never could stand up in court.”

“The legal path just took Trump back to the truth. That I’d won the election and he was a loser,” Biden said.

“Trump lost 60 court cases — 60. Trump lost the Republican-controlled states, Trump lost before a Trump-appointed judge and then judges. And Trump lost before the United States Supreme Court. All of them. He lost. Trump lost recount after recount after recount and state after state,” he said.

Read the original post:
Sanders says Trump reelection would be the end of democracy - The Hill

I think our democracy is at more grave risk now than ever, Schiff said in an interview. And its clear that that issue is going to be front and center and needs to be front and center on the national stage.

Schiff is not alone in using a policy rollout to amplify his campaign persona. His rival, Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, released a plan earlier this week to shake up the Senate by banning earmarks and prohibiting stock trading by members of Congress and their families long-held positions that are prominently featured in her first major campaign ad. (Schiff also included a ban on congressional stock trades in his proposal.)

Rep. Barbara Lee, the third major Democrat in the race, has touted her support for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war to highlight her progressive, anti-war credentials. Lee and Porter have both trailed Schiff in recent polling; last months POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found the two women locked in a heated battle for second with Republican contender Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers star.

The centerpiece of Schiffs agenda is his Protecting Our Democracy Act, legislation that he first introduced in 2020 to bolster Congress ability to enforce subpoenas, limit presidential pardon power and strengthen whistleblower protections. The bill passed the House in 2021, but stalled in the Senate, although some provisions increasing Congress oversight of the executive branch made it into law. Schiff reintroduced the legislation last year, but it has yet to get a hearing in the GOP-led House.

Schiff said he has since concluded that legislative reforms would not go far enough and that major structural reforms were necessary. Some of his proposals, such as abolishing the Electoral College or overturning the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision on campaign finance, would require constitutional amendments. He also backs changing the Senates rules to abolish the filibuster, which he says is necessary to enshrine voting rights, abortion protections and gun safety measures into law.

If were going to make significant reforms to protect a democracy, were going to have to get rid of the filibuster, Schiff said. And I would trade wild swings in policy because the majority in the Senate can actually get things passed over the democracy-defeating stalemate that we have with the filibuster.

While eliminating the filibuster has gone from fringe to mainstream among most Democrats, the stance is undeniably risky for the party with a 2024 Senate map that is far friendlier to Republicans. GOP priorities such as national abortion restrictions or clampdowns on immigration would be easier to pass under a simple majority.

I recognize that, yes, [Republicans] will have a freer hand, Schiff said. But so will we. And their policies are so unpopular that should they ever get the chance to enact them, theyll be thrown out.

Other elements of Schiffs proposal include:

Eliminating gerrymandered congressional districts

Making voting easier by designating Election Day a federal holiday, expanding automatic voter registration through government agencies like the Department of Motor Vehicles and universal vote-by-mail access

Restoring voting rights to felons who have served their time

Reforming the judiciary by instituting term limits for Supreme Court justices, creating an enforceable ethics code and banning stock trading for judges

Such politically charged changes are unlikely to sail through a deadlocked Congress any time soon. And Schiff acknowledged that all the reforms in the world could be for naught if elected officials choose to abuse their oath of office.

If the Congress was populated by George Santoses, nothing will save us, he said. But theres a lot we can do to constrain the worst impulses of human nature and the worst impulses of members of Congress. And these reforms are designed to do both.

POLITICO is co-hosting the first debate for the California Senate race on Monday, Jan. 22. All four major candidates have accepted an invite to appear onstage: Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee and Republican and former Dodgers player Steve Garvey. Sign up for California Playbook to get the latest news on this and other campaigns.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the content of Porters ad. Her proposal to ban earmarks and stop congressional stock trading are prominently featured in the commercial.

Read the rest here:
Schiff would abolish filibuster, end the Electoral College in his pro-democracy plan - POLITICO

Likely voters across the political aisle diverge on whether having a strong economy or functioning democracy is a bigger concern over the next few years, according to a new CBS/YouGov poll.

Fifty percent of the total likely voters polled said having a strong economy is the higher concern, while the other half of respondents said having a functioning democracy was the bigger concern.

Broken down by party identification, 64 percent of Democratic voters said having a functioning democracy as a higher concern, and 36 percent listed having a strong economy as the bigger concern. Among Republican voters, 35 percent said a functioning democracy was a greater concern while 65 percent said a strong economy was more of a concern.

Independent voters were split closer down the middle, with 52 percent saying a functioning democracy was the bigger concern and 48 percent saying a strong economy.

Among the age groups polled, those aged 64 or lower largely leaned slightly toward a strong economy as the higher concern, with 56 percent of respondents 30 years old and younger and 54 percent between the age of 30 and 64 choosing the economy. But among those 65 and older, only 39 percent chose having a strong economy as the issue of higher concern, with 61 percent finding having a functioning democracy of greater concern.

The matters of the economy and preserving democracy were the top concerns among registered voters when deciding who they would support in the 2024 presidential election, according to a Quinnipiac poll released last June.

The new CBS/YouGov poll comes just before the GOP primary officially begins Monday with the Iowa caucuses, where the primary candidates are vying to secure the support of the first state in the election cycle.

The poll surveyed 2,870 adults in the U.S. between Jan. 10-12, 2024, and has a margin of error of ±2.5 points.

Excerpt from:
Voters split on whether democracy, economy is bigger concern in 2024 - The Hill