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Voting & Elections 11.6.2020

The Guardian: Trump will no longer receive special Twitter treatment if he loses election

On Thursday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the watchdog group Common Cause submitted a joint letter to Jack Dorsey, the Twitter CEO, requesting Trump’s account be temporarily suspended to prevent the spread of misinformation about the election. “We fear that, in the absence of action by Twitter, the president may be successful in his goal of delegitimizing the integrity of our democratic processes for many, and not just Twitter users but other voters and members of the public, sowing uncertainty about the voting and elections process, and potentially inciting violence against civil servants or others,” the groups wrote. A Twitter spokesperson said the company has received the letter and “intends to respond”.

Voting & Elections 11.6.2020

USA Today: Fact check: Georgia ballot curing is not election fraud

“We’re all hands on deck right now to make sure that we can get folks who had to vote provisionally, that they’re able to cure their ballots,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, the state’s chapter of the national nonpartisan watchdog group. Most counties are almost done counting their outstanding absentee ballots, she said.  Common Cause Georgia requests lists of provisional voters from individual counties, and then volunteers reach out to those voters via text banking, phone banking or door-to-door knocking to inform them how they can cure their ballots, Dennis explained. On Friday, the organization hopes to reach 3,000 voters who cast provisional ballots, she said. “It’s a big effort, but we want to make sure that every vote in Georgia counts,” Dennis said, adding, “We want to make sure that every voter has equitable access to the ballot and to the balloting process, and every vote is counted in Georgia.” Responding to claims that ballot curing is equivalent to election fraud, Dennis said, “the curing process has been accessible for public viewing, so we definitely want to debunk those claims. That’s just fodder, and there’s no basis to those claims.” 

Voting & Elections 11.6.2020

Salon: Trump's election lies are dangerous to democracy. Twitter must suspend his account

Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn explained that "we are a democracy and democracies count all the votes. But the president is freely using his Twitter account in an attempt to deliberately undermine the nation's vote count and undercut Americans' faith in our elections." "We are urging Twitter to take immediate action to enforce its own policies and curb President Trump's Twitter campaign to spread disinformation and sow unrest amongst his followers," she added. "The president's actions are dangerous and irresponsible and Twitter has an obligation to be a responsible corporate citizen and safeguard our democracy."

Voting & Elections 11.5.2020

Washington Times: Twitter urged to suspend Donald Trump following election over fears president may incite violence

Leaders of two nonpartisan organizations sent Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey a letter urging him to take further action to stop Mr. Trump from posting more on his platform about the presidential race. The plea from the presidents of Common Cause and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law followed Democratic congressmen similarly calling a day earlier for Twitter to suspend Mr. Trump.  Mr. Trump has repeatedly violated Twitter‘s policies recently, they noted, evidenced by the company acting on several of his posts on the social media service after Election Day ended Tuesday. They argued that simply applying warning labels or limiting the spread of Mr. Trump‘s recent posts has proven to be “insufficient,” however, and encouraged Twitter to intervene further. “We fear that, in the absence of action by Twitter, the President may be successful in his goal of delegitimizing the integrity of our democratic processes for many, and not just Twitter users but other voters and members of the public, sowing uncertainty about the voting and elections process and potentially inciting violence against civil servants or others,” they warned in the letter.

Voting & Elections 11.5.2020

Associated Press: Poll watchers emerge as a flashpoint in battle over ballots

“There are specific rules in Pennsylvania about where poll watchers can stand and what they can do,” said Suzanne Almeida, interim director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. “It applies to both parties equally. Everyone has the exact same access. This is not about disadvantaging one party over another.”

Voting & Elections 11.4.2020

CNN: Voting in Pennsylvania was far from perfect but not a disaster, election protection coalition says

There were several voting issues reported to nonpartisan voting rights groups in Pennsylvania but people turned out and were able to cast their ballot, despite "significant obstacles" to do so, according to Suzanne Almeida, interim executive director for Common Cause Pennsylvania.  "An election is successful when every single eligible voter is able to cast their ballot and have equal access to a positive experience at the polling place. We did not see that yesterday, so that being said, we also did not see a disaster," Almeida said at a Pennsylvania Election Protection Coalition news briefing.

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