Voter Drop Boxes Face Challenge in Arizona, as States Weigh Legalizing, Banning or Protecting Them

As Arizona faces a lawsuit over its ballot drop boxes, states across the country have taken different approaches to using unmanned receptacles for elections.

The Arizona Secretary of State has been sued for allegedly overstepping state law by permitting unstaffed ballot drop boxes, while Wisconsin is facing a lawsuit to allow ballot drop boxes.

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Commentary: Voters Will Reject Inflation Reduction Act’s Assault on Medicare

In the last few weeks, House Subcommittees have conducted important hearings on President Joe Biden’s implausibly named “Inflation Reduction Act” and its assault on Medicare.

The law is an assault on Medicare because it violates a core promise of the program – that in exchange for paying a special payroll tax your entire working life, the program will be there for you when you are older.

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Pence’s Poke at Ramaswamy’s Youth Raises Age Again as a Campaign Issue

Ohio entrepreneur and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has taken a lot more flak from his opponents as he rises in the primary polls.

But the political outsider and first millennial to run for the Republican Party presidential nomination is starting to draw fire about his youth — from none other than former Vice President Mike Pence, Ramaswamy’s elder by 26 years.

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As Indictments Pile Up, Trump Running Even or Better with Biden in New Polls

Despite facing three criminal indictments, former President Donald Trump is crushing his GOP presidential nominee competitors and running neck and neck with President Joe Biden, according to the latest polls.

In battleground Arizona, a new Emerson College poll finds Trump leading Biden by 2 percentage points in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 presidential election.

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Commentary: The Establishment Uses ‘Hate and Fear’ to Manipulate Voters

Hate and fear might as well be the GOP’s motto. And while there was a time when a liberal like me saying that would be accurately labeled hyperbolic, that time has passed. Show me what, aside from hate and fear, the modern Republican Party is all about.
Columnist Rex Huppke, writing for USA Today, July 16, 2023

Huppke’s comment is something we hear all the time. The campaign to dehumanize MAGA Republicans as hatemongers and fearmongers is a staple of the liberal media, is the playbook for Democrat politicians all the way up to President Biden, and is supported by almost the entire academic community. This dehumanization campaign isn’t restricted to Democrats. Establishment Republicans either equivocate, or explicitly join Democrats in demonizing MAGA Republicans.

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Report Finds 8,241-Vote Discrepancy in Arizona’s 2022 Election Between Number of Individuals Who Voted and Ballots Counted

A report from the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) found that there may be an 8,241-vote discrepancy between those who cast votes in Maricopa County’s 2022 election and the number of ballots that were counted. This is “about 29.4 times” the difference between the contested attorney general’s race, the report stated, which Democrat Kris Mayes won by 280 votes.

On Friday, Mohave County Judge Lee F. Jantzen denied Abe Hamadeh’s request for a new hearing in his election challenge.

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GOP Presidential Candidates, Sans Trump, Descend on Iowa for Senator Joni Ernst’s Annual Roast and Ride

In many ways, the start of the 2024 presidential election year began Saturday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines — with Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s annual Roast and Ride. 

Eight Republican presidential hopefuls assembled all under one roof, making their case to some 750 Iowans on why they’re best suited to lead the most powerful nation in the world. 

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GOP Senators Demand Biden Account for Taxpayer Money Used in Federalized GOTV Effort

As the Biden administration goes about the legally suspect quest of federalizing get-out-the-vote efforts, more than a dozen U.S. senators are asking for an accounting of the “Promoting Access to Voting” campaign. 

U.S. Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Bill Haggerty (R-TN) are among the 14 Republican senators who sent a letter to Biden requesting full transparency on Executive Order 14019, which directs federal agencies to submit strategic plans to the White House describing how they will use taxpayer-funded resources to “provide access to voter registration services and vote-by-mail ballot applications.” 

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More Questions Surround POS Poll Showing DeSantis Faring Better than Trump in Georgia

The latest Public Opinion Strategies (POS) poll shows Florida Governor Ron DeSantis outpacing former President Donald Trump in battleground Florida — at least in a head-to-head matchup with President Joe Biden. 

But the POS poll once again underrepresents traditional Trump voters in its latest quest to spin DeSantis as more electable than the Republican Party presidential nomination frontrunner, a top pollster tells The Georgia Star News. 

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Commentary: The GOP Has an Obligation to Protect Its Voters

One of the most startling gaps in the literature on the function of political parties is the lack of discussion about the most important reason they exist: to protect their voters from the abuses of government and the totalitarian temptations of the opposition party.

The formation of political parties grew from a need to organize people and get them to the polls around a set of ideas that could be put into practical action. As they originally functioned, there was a reciprocal relationship between citizens and parties. Yet, on a practical and self-interested level, the party had appeal for voters because of the benefits it bestowed on those who supported it.

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State Senator Chris Kapenga Commentary: We Need Voters to Weigh in on Bail Reform Amendment

I first ran for office because I saw problems in our state and wanted to be part of the solution for positive change. One such issue is the growing epidemic of crime in our communities.

My biggest frustration lately is seeing issues in our community, but having a Governor with whom the Legislature fundamentally disagrees on the solutions. It often feels like the wheels are spinning but we are going nowhere.

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AmericaPack and EZAZ Present Strategy to ‘Flip Arizona Solid Red’

AmericaPack and EZAZ, two of the main conservative grassroots organizations in Arizona, are pairing up to “flip Arizona solid red.” EZAZ’s Merissa Hamilton spoke to a large group of AmericaPack supporters Friday evening about the “Arizona Rescue Mission” the groups have crafted to get more voters voting Republican and running for office. State Rep. Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) and State Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) provided updates on the Arizona Legislature, and a Phoenix Police Department (PPD) sergeant talked about the lack of patrol officers within the PPD.

Hamilton told the attendees about the new grassroots project, “[This is] so that we have the infrastructure built so that when the election cycle comes around next time, not only will this room be filled, but it will be filled with new faces with people that have not been as involved … and it will be because of us.”

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Most Voters Concerned About Efforts to Expose Kids to Transgender Movement: Poll

A majority of general election voters are worried about efforts to expose children to the transgender movement through avenues like school curriculums, social media and drag queen shows, according to a new Summit.org and McLaughlin and Associates poll.

About 41% of the 917 surveyed voters with an opinion on the issue reported being very concerned and angry about such efforts, while around 30% said they were somewhat concerned and upset, the poll‘s results showed. Roughly 71% of 826 respondents said they supported holding pharmaceutical companies and doctors legally liable for any harmful side effects that result if they promote puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for underage children seeking gender transition.

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Registered Republicans in Arizona and Maricopa County Continue to Increase Their Lead Over Democrats

Registered Republicans in Arizona increased their lead over Democrats from about three percent to over four percent over the past year. This is the biggest gap since 2018.

Similarly, in Maricopa County, Republicans increased their lead from about four percent more than Democrats to almost 4.5 percent more, according to the latest numbers from the Arizona Secretary of State.

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New Poll Shows Overwhelming Disapproval of Biden’s Handling of Spy Balloon Affair

While he made time to attack Republicans during Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden failed to note his handling of the Chinese spy balloon affair. A new poll might just explain why the Democrat avoided the topic. 

More than 63 percent of voters say they disapprove of the Biden administration’s handling of the spy balloon episode, according to the poll conducted by The Trafalgar Group for Convention of States Action. 

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Bill Demands Elections Commission Cleans Up Wisconsin’s Voter Rolls

A bill released last week for co-sponsorship aims to remove ineligible voters from the state’s official voter registration list in a more timely fashion, a key election integrity concern that has dogged Wisconsin’s voter rolls for years. The legislation, authored by state Rep. Ty Bodden (R-59th Assembly District) and Sen. Andre Jacque (R-1st Senate District), would require the Wisconsin Elections Commission to clean up the WisVote database.

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Elon Musk Urges ‘Independent-Minded Voters’ to Vote Republican

Billionaire business magnate Elon Musk on Monday urged “independent-minded” Twitter followers to vote for Republicans in the midterm elections Tuesday, arguing that shared power between the two parties is better for the country.

“To independent-minded voters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic,” Twitter’s new CEO wrote.

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Oregon Prepared to Institute ‘One of the Most Extreme’ Gun Restrictions in the Country

Oregon voters are considering passing one of the most restrictive gun control measures in the country that would raise the barriers to purchase a firearm and place gun owners on a searchable database.

Measure 114, often referred to as the Reduction of Gun Violence Act, is a ballot measure that will require background checks, firearm training, fingerprint collection and a permit to purchase any firearm, according to the legislation. Oregon already requires background checks for gun owners, and the new legislation will cost the state $49 million annually while also placing an expected 300,000 residents on a gun owner database, according to Fox News.

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Election 2022 Report: Ohio Voters Carry Little Power

Ohio voters carry less weight than voters around the country, according to a new WalletHub report released earlier this week.

The report calculated the number of elected officials in the federal government per the adult population in each state for the most recent election years. For example, the report ranks California’s votes weak based on the number of people each of its senators must represent, while Wyoming’s votes are strong based on the same reasoning.

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Commentary: The Left’s Power of Intimidation

Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, contains a message of hope for all who look to the invincible juggernaut of state power. She writes, “The great oak tree had stood on a hill over the Hudson . . . for hundreds of years . . . it was a thing that nothing could change or threaten . . . One night, lightning struck the oak tree . . . The trunk was only an empty shell; its heart had rotted away long ago; there was nothing inside-just a thin gray dust that was being dispersed by the whim of the faintest wind.”

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Ohio Secretary of State Pushes Prosecutions for Illegal Voters

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose referred 75 people to the Ohio attorney general and county prosecutors for additional investigation and potential prosecution based on accusations that they illegally voted during the 2020 general election.

LaRose’s office states that individuals who allegedly voted in one state and then cast an additional vote in Ohio, violating state law, have been identified.

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Poll: Most Voters Oppose Efforts to Ban Gas-Powered Vehicles

A new poll conducted by the Convention of States and the Trafalgar Group found that an overwhelming plurality of voters do not support measures to ban gas-powered vehicles, even though Joe Biden has voiced his support for such laws.

As reported by The Daily Caller, the poll was conducted between September 17 and 20, with a sample size of 1,079 likely voters in the upcoming midterm elections. The poll asked its respondents the question of “What do you believe is most likely to provide America with reliable, long-term energy independence?”

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Ohio Secretary of State Creates Public Integrity Division to Maintain Voter Confidence in State Elections

Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Wednesday the establishment of the Public Integrity Division. The newly-formed office, he said, will be dedicated to maintaining secure, accurate, and accessible elections in the state of Ohio.

“It’s time that we have it. We are consolidating several things that already exist. All of those are existing functions in our office but by putting them all under one roof with trained professionals we can do this work much better,” LaRose told The Ohio Star.

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Poll: Most Voters Support Abortion Restrictions in Graham’s New Bill

Most voters support banning abortions at 15 weeks or earlier, a poll from WPA Intelligence found.

The poll comes after Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced federal legislation that would ban abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions for for rape, incest and the life of the mother. A combined 62% of registered voters, including 48% of Democrats, believed abortion should only be allowed up to 15 weeks or earlier, the WPA Intelligence poll found.

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Arizona Latinos Most Concerned About Inflation, Jobs, Crime and Bipartisanship, New Poll Shows

Arizona Latinos are most concerned about inflation, jobs and rising crime, according to a new poll published by UNIDOS US, a research and policy analysis organization that has focused on Hispanic American issues since 1968.

The poll, taken between July 20 and August 1 ranked 14 issues in terms of priorities for Arizona based Latinos, finding that of those categories 49% considered inflation the most pressing concern. Thirty four percent focused on jobs and 27% on crime.

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Post-Leak Poll: Enthusiastic Voters Support Overturning Roe by Huge Margin

Voters who support the overturning of Roe v. Wade are almost twice as likely to say they are extremely enthusiastic about voting in the fall than those who want it to stay, according to a CNN poll released Friday.

The poll, taken after the leak of a Supreme Court draft decision that indicates the court could overturn the case, showed that 38% of those “happy” Roe could be overturned are “extremely enthusiastic” about voting, while only 20% of those “angry” said they had the same level of enthusiasm, CNN reported.

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Commentary: The ‘Trump Won’ Movement Will Be Vindicated

Group of people at a Trump rally, man in a "Keep America Great" hat

Imagine if, following the disputed 2016 presidential election, the recently sworn-in President Donald Trump had sicced his Justice Department, hand-in-hand with allies in Congress and state governments throughout the country, after his Democratic political opponents who maintained that his election was the work of Russian interference.

Although the claim that Trump was a Russian asset was laughably false, and the subsequent investigation into those spurious claims damaged the federal government’s credibility in immense and perhaps irreparable ways domestically and internationally, applying criminal penalties to the promulgation of that theory would have been wrong, anti-American, and contrary to the First Amendment. In keeping with his stalwart defense of American values, President Trump made no directive to the Justice Department to pursue criminal charges against these Democrats.

Similarly, his Republican predecessor allowed Democrats to freely “challenge an election”: Democrats had previously contested the 2000 election by claiming that George W. Bush was “selected, not elected” as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore. A smaller minority contested Bush’s reelection in 2004, alleging irregularities in Ohio and elsewhere.

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Wisconsin Supreme Court Leaves in Place Ban on Ballot Box Use for April Election

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is allowing to stand a lower court decision that bans the use of ballot drop boxes for the April elections in the state.

However, the boxes will still be permissible in primaries next week, with the possibility that the high court will allow them to be used in future elections.

Last month, a judge in Waukesha County ruled that boxes could not be used, a decision that was met with an appeals court ruling allowing them to be used during the February primary.

The state Supreme Court then intervened, ruling 4-3 Friday that they could be used during the primary but declined a request from the state Elections Commission to extend that policy through April.

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Advocacy Group Poll Shows Tennessee Voters Support Right-to-Work Amendment

The committee advocating for a right-to-work constitutional amendment said a recent poll shows 64% of Tennesseans will vote “yes” to add the amendment to the state constitution.

The Vote Yes on 1 poll, conducted by Cygnal between Jan. 24-26, surveyed 500 likely general election voters. The poll had a margin of error of 4.34%.

Eighteen percent of those polled said they would vote against the amendment.

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States Across the Country Could See Marijuana on the Ballot in 2022

Ballotpedia is tracking 20 citizen-initiated measures in nine states related to marijuana that could appear before voters in 2022. As of 2022, recreational marijuana is legal in 18 states and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana is legal in 36 states and D.C.

In Ohio, sponsors of an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana submitted an additional 29,918 signatures on January 13, after the secretary of state verified their initial petition contained 119,825 valid signatures–13,062 less than the number required. If enough of the additional signatures are found to be valid, the initiative will go before the state legislature. If the state legislature does not enact it outright, sponsors will have to collect a second round of 132,887 signatures to place it on the 2022 ballot. In 2015, Ohio voters defeated Issue 3 with a margin of 63.65% to 36.35%.

In Arkansas, voters could decide on two marijuana initiatives. One initiative would decriminalize marijuana, give limited immunity to cannabis businesses, and create regulations on the cannabis industry. The other would legalize marijuana use for individuals 21 years of age and older regardless of residency. Both campaigns have until July 8, 2022, to collect 89,151 valid signatures.

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Voters Favor Congressional Republicans on Range of Key Issues Heading into Midterms: Poll

Voters have swung in favor of Congressional Republicans’ handling of key issues by a significant margin as the midterm elections draw closer, newly released polling shows.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday reports that surveyed voters prefer Republicans work on the economy, jobs, immigration and national security. These figures, the latest in several polls showing poor numbers for Democrats, come alongside more than two dozen Congressional Democrats opting not to run for reelection.

The poll found voters prefer Republicans’ handling of the economy to Democrats 47% to 34%, Republicans’ work on jobs 45% to 35%, immigration 45% to 37% and national security 49% to 32%.

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Georgia’s Raffensperger: ‘Nationwide There Should Be a Law That Bans Ballot Harvesting’

Sign that says "protect election integrity"

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says he supports a national law that bans ballot harvesting, the third-party gathering and delivering of absentee ballots for voters.

“One thing that I do think we need is to make sure that nationwide there should be a law that bans ballot harvesting,” the Republican politician said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I don’t think that ballot harvesting is good. The only person that should touch your ballot is you and the election official. So I think that’s one solid election reform measure.”

Ballot harvesting is legal in some states but not in Georgia.

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One Year After Disputed 2020 Election, Many Practices That Riled Conservatives Still in Effect

Mail in ballot with U.S. flag

Just a year after the disputed 2020 election, states are in various stages of reforming election laws. Many of the same practices that angered conservatives are still in effect.

The Heritage Foundation published an Election Integrity Scorecard of all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their election laws. The scorecard examines voter ID implementation, the accuracy of voter registration lists, absentee ballot management, vote harvesting/trafficking restrictions, access of election observers, verification of citizenship, identification for voter assistance, vote counting practices, election litigation procedures, restriction of same-day registration, restriction of automatic registration, restriction of private funding of election officials or government agencies.

During a Just the News Special Report with Heritage Action for America and Real America’s Voice, HAFA Executive Director Jessica Anderson praised Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and Texas for their efforts on election integrity reform this past year. Those states currently rank at no. 19 (tied with Mississippi and Pennsylvania), 4 (tied with Arkansas), 1, 11 (tied with Kentucky), and 6, respectively.

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Commentary: Great American Stories Such as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

Bert and Ernie

This week in 1946, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was screened for the first time at the Globe Theatre in New York City. Audiences weren’t quite sure what to make of the film, even though it starred Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed and was directed by Frank Capra. Perhaps the economic jeopardy of life in Depression-era small towns was still all too real. Or maybe the specter of sons and husbands returning from the front reminded audiences of how many American fighting men had not come back from Europe or the Pacific.

Stewart, the leading man who portrayed small-town savings-and-loan owner George Bailey in Capra’s movie, was such a charismatic leading man that when studio executive Jack Warner heard in 1965 about Ronald Reagan’s plans to run for governor of California, he quipped, “No, no! Jimmy Stewart for governor. Ronald Reagan for best friend.”

But casting in movies, as in life, can be deceiving. It was something of an in-joke, for instance, to have Jimmy Stewart play the older brother who flunks his Army physical in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and can’t go to war. In real life, Stewart and Frank Capra both enlisted in the military after making “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” together in 1939. The Italian-born Capra, then in his 40s, produced an evocative series of films for the military called “Why We Fight.” Stewart did his part, too, and then some. After winning Best Actor for his role in 1940’s “The Philadelphia Story,” Stewart had become the most bankable star in Hollywood. Nonetheless, by the time Pearl Harbor was bombed, he was already in uniform, pulling duty at Moffett Field, south of San Francisco, in the Army Air Corps. By the end of World War II, Stewart had flown 20 combat missions in a B-24, become a squadron leader, been awarded a chest full of medals, and risen in rank from corporal to colonel.

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Trump to Hold News Conference on January 6, 2022 to Discuss ‘Rigged’ 2020 Election

Former President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he plans to hold a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on January 6, 2022, the one year anniversary of the Capitol Hill riot.

In a statement, Trump said the real insurrection took place on November 3rd, not January 6, which was a “completely unarmed protest.” The former president  questioned why the partisan select committee is not exploring the reason his supporters were on Capitol Hill that day, which was to protest the “rigged” 2020 election.

Why isn’t the Unselect Committee of highly partisan political hacks investigating the CAUSE of the January 6th protest, which was the rigged Presidential Election of 2020? Does anybody notice that they want to stay as far away from that topic as possible, the numbers don’t work for them, or even come close.

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Warning to Woke CEOs: Public Doesn’t Want Companies Speaking Out on Social Issues, Study Finds

Most voters say companies should not speak out on social issues, while most corporate executives think they should, a new opinion survey has found.

While 63% of corporate executives “agree unequivocally that companies should speak out on social issues,” only 36% of voters feel the same, according to a poll conducted by the Brunswick Group.

“As the data show, the organizational impulse to weigh in on any and every social issue is disregarded by audiences, disconnected from what people want, and even diminishing to corporate reputation,” the advisory firm explains.

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