BuzzFeed News: Trump Is Waging A Multistate, Multimillion-Dollar Legal Battle Against Mail-In Voting During The Pandemic. “President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party are devoting millions of dollars to wage a state-by-state legal battle against mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic, not only suing state officials but also intervening in cases where they aren’t a party to limit how Americans can vote from home.”
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Washington Post: How to track your ballot like a UPS package
Washington Post: How to track your ballot like a UPS package. “For an election marked by confusion and deceit about voting, ballot-tracking tech is a win for truth, justice and the American way. It won’t end all our debates about disenfranchisement and election fraud. But the transparency helps us hold local officials and the U.S. Postal Service accountable. And it can take away some of our own uncertainty about voting by mail.”
Hyperallergic: Guerrilla Girls and Julie Mehretu Among 60+ Artists Helping You “Plan Your Vote”
Hyperallergic: Guerrilla Girls and Julie Mehretu Among 60+ Artists Helping You “Plan Your Vote”. “A new, nonpartisan initiative launched by the nonprofit Vote.org seeks to channel the power of art to encourage voter participation. Along with links to register to vote, check absentee status, and set voting reminders, among other crucial resources, the ‘Plan Your Vote’ website offers a digital library of voting advocacy visuals that are free for anyone to download and circulate.”
ProPublica: Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able to Vote in November Because of the Pandemic
ProPublica: Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able to Vote in November Because of the Pandemic. “At least 68,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic outbreak began, some 41% of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S., according to a New York Times analysis. This ongoing crisis at care facilities across the country has had a troubling hidden effect: the looming mass disenfranchisement of America’s elderly and disabled.”
ProPublica: Facebook’s Political Ad Ban Also Threatens Ability to Spread Accurate Information on How to Vote
ProPublica: Facebook’s Political Ad Ban Also Threatens Ability to Spread Accurate Information on How to Vote. “Facebook this week said it would bar political ads in the seven days before the presidential election. That could prevent dirty tricks or an ‘October surprise’ and give watchdogs time to fact-check statements. But rather than responding with glee, election officials say the move leaves them worried. Included in the ban are ads purchased by election officials — secretaries of state and boards of elections — who use Facebook to inform voters about how voting will work. The move effectively removes a key communication channel just as millions of Americans will begin to navigate a voting process different from any they’ve experienced before.”
Washington Post: Google greenlights ads with ‘blatant disinformation’ about voting by mail
Washington Post: Google greenlights ads with ‘blatant disinformation’ about voting by mail. “Google has declined to remove ads from a shadowy group echoing President Trump’s misleading claim that there is a meaningful difference between voting by mail and absentee voting. Google took five days to reach its decision to leave the ads in place, alarming voting rights advocates as well as researchers in the University of Washington’s Human Centered Design and Engineering department who had alerted Google to the ads last week.”
Tech Transparency Project: Facebook Scaled Back Voter Registration Kickoff
Tech Transparency Project: Facebook Scaled Back Voter Registration Kickoff. “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in mid-June that his company would embark on the ‘largest voting information campaign in American history,’ with a goal of helping 4 million people register to vote…. But the effort got off to a slow and halting start, according to Facebook emails to state officials obtained by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), amid baseless Trump campaign complaints that the initiative was meant to help Joe Biden. Facebook quietly scaled back an initial registration drive over the July 4 weekend from two days to one and limited it to Facebook instead of extending it to Instagram and Facebook Messenger as originally planned, according to the emails, which were obtained through open records requests.”
Washington Post: Disinformation campaign stokes fears about mail voting, using LeBron James image and boosted by Trump-aligned group
Washington Post: Disinformation campaign stokes fears about mail voting, using LeBron James image and boosted by Trump-aligned group. “The website, called Protect My Vote, warns baselessly that mail balloting results in ‘lost votes and lost rights.’ An associated page on Facebook has purchased more than 150 ads, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times this month. They appear designed to tap existing anxiety about the integrity of the voting system to convince voters in swing states where minority turnout could be decisive that mail balloting is not reliable amid an uncontained pandemic leading many Americans to consider alternative ways to be heard on Election Day.”
NBC News: Plan Your Vote
NBC News: Plan Your Vote. “Mark your calendars. Everything you need to know about mail-in and early in-person voting, including the first day you can cast your ballot in the 2020 election.”
The Verge: VoteByMail makes it easier to request a mail-in ballot ahead of the election
The Verge: VoteByMail makes it easier to request a mail-in ballot ahead of the election. “Registering to vote by mail can be a tricky process that varies depending on the state you reside in. You’ll often need to find the right website, the right form, fill in the correct info, and find the right election official to submit the paperwork. VoteByMail streamlines the process by finding your local election official, assembling some basic information needed to request a ballot, and sending the whole thing off for you. You should still check with your local board of elections if you do not receive a mail-in ballot, to ensure you can vote when election season arrives.”
Arizona State University: Zócalo Public Square, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County present ‘When Women Vote’ series
Arizona State University: Zócalo Public Square, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County present ‘When Women Vote’ series. “In commemoration of this year’s centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Zócalo Public Square and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) will present a three-part livestreamed event that will highlight the past, present and future of women in protest, power and progress.”
The Civics Center: New Voter Registrations Have Plummeted Due to COVID-19
The Civics Center: New Voter Registrations Have Plummeted Due to COVID-19. “Voter registration rates in April and May of 2020 have plummeted in relation to the rates in the same months in 2016. Declines in voter registration rates have been as significant as 75% in some states. This decrease is likely credited to the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has caused the closure of schools and offices including many DMVs and the cancellation of nearly all spring in-person voter registration drives.”
The Jewish News: New Website Easily Connects Voters to Their Elected Officials
The Jewish News: New Website Easily Connects Voters to Their Elected Officials. “Contact My Politician allows users to simply type in their street address, which immediately brings up all their elected officials. The users can then send a written or video message to one or many of those officials, with any comments, questions or concerns they may have about pressing political topics. The politician is notified through the platform of any messages from their constituents, and they’re able to respond through the platform in both written and video form, as well. There’s also a portion of the website geared toward nonprofits, which allows the nonprofit to write a form letter in support of a specific position or initiative.”
WFAA: Dallas teachers use Instagram to help voters with down-ballot decisions
WFAA: Dallas teachers use Instagram to help voters with down-ballot decisions. “The non-partisan page features several quick, easy-to-digest posts on the candidates, the offices and other pieces of information voters need to make an informed vote from the top of the ballot all the way to the bottom.”
USA Today: Election lawsuits set record pace amid COVID-19 pandemic as results decide who votes and how Nov. 3
USA Today: Election lawsuits set record pace amid COVID-19 pandemic as results decide who votes and how Nov. 3. “Requiring an excuse for absentee voting. Paying for postage for mail-in ballots. Purging names from voter registration lists. Placing the names on ballots to provide an advantage in so-called ‘donkey votes.’ These are among the disputes that have generated a record number of lawsuits over the Nov. 3 election. Decisions in the cases will determine who will vote and how. And the political ground is shifting even during the ongoing primaries, as rulings change in the weeks before votes are cast.”
