Tag Archives: voter fraud

Far-Right Climate Denier Javier Milei Wins Argentina Presidential Runoff

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“No one so extremist on economic issues has been elected president of a South American country,” said U.S. economist Mark Weisbrot.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 11-19-2023 by Common Dreams

Javier Milei. Photo: Vox España/flickr/CC

Javier Milei—a far-right admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump who says that climate change is a “socialist lie” and who pledged to take a “chainsaw” to social programs—will be Argentina’s next president after winning a decisive victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Sergio Massa, Argentina’s Peronist economy minister, conceded defeat Sunday evening to the 53-year-old Milei, a radical libertarian economist often called the “Trump of Argentina” who will take office amid a looming recession, triple-digit inflation, and a nearly 40% poverty rate in Latin America’s third-largest economy.

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Voting Rights Groups Raise Alarm About House GOP Introducing ‘Big Lie Bill’

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One critic warned the legislation would “increase the influence of billionaires, corporations, and secret money in our elections while putting up barriers for eligible voters to vote.”

By Jessica Corbett Published 7-10-2023 by Common Dreams

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.). Photo: Congressman Bryan Steil/Facebook

Voting rights advocates across the United States on Monday responded with alarm to Republicans introducing what its backers called “the most conservative election integrity bill to be seriously considered” in the U.S. House of Representatives in decades.

Dubbed the “Big Lie Bill” by critics, the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act is spearheaded by Committee on House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and includes nearly 50 standalone bills from the chamber’s GOP members.

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‘Historic Day’ as Brazilian Court Hits Bolsonaro With 8-Year Political Ban Over Election Lies

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“This decision will end Bolsonaro’s chances of being president again, and he knows it,” said one political scientist.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 6-30-2023 by Common Dreams

Jair Bolsonaro, speaking during the Session: “Special Address by Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil“ at the Annual Meeting 2019 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 22, 2018. Photo: World Economic Forum/Flickr/CC

Brazil’s highest election authority on Friday barred Jair Bolsonaro from running for any public office for the next eight years over the disgraced former far-right president’s abuse of power related to baseless claims of electoral fraud—the first of 16 election-related charges he faces.

Five members of the seven-judge Superior Electoral Court (TSE) found that Bolsonaro violated election law last July when he summoned more than 100 international diplomats for a nationally televised 50-minute presentation in the Palacio da Alvarada—the executive residence—during which he disparaged the judiciary and claimed the country’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to hacking.

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‘I Did Not Believe It For One Second,’ Hannity Says of Trump’s Big Lie While Under Oath

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One public policy expert called sworn depositions from Sean Hannity and other Fox personnel the “strongest evidence yet to emerge publicly that some Fox employees knew that what they were broadcasting was false.”

By Brett Wilkins  Published 12-23-2022 by Common Dreams

Sean Hannity speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

Sean Hannity, the Fox News opinion host and erstwhile purveyor of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie,” did not believe the disgraced former president’s 2020 election fraud claims “for one second,” details from a sworn deposition revealed Wednesday.

Hannity, who was deposed as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News, was asked under oath if he believed claims by conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, amplified on his show, that the Colorado-based company was part of a plot to rig its voting machines to switch large numbers of votes from Trump to President Joe Biden. Continue reading →

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The US Christian Right groups actively involved in voter suppression

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OPINION: Religious and anti-abortion groups are trying to restrict voting rights ahead of the midterm elections

By Annika Brockschmidt  Published 11-3-2022 by openDemocracy

Occupy Wall Street joined the NAACP as thousands marched in midtown Manhattan on December 10, 2011 to defend voting rights. Photo: Michael Fleshman/flickr/CC

Anyone who wants a future in today’s Republican Party must openly claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, or at least dance around the question of electoral fraud enough to appease their dear leader.

Meanwhile, a coalition of conservative dark money groups with strong ties to the religious Right have made it their mission to curb voting rights in potentially election-deciding swing states. They are using allegations of Democratic voter fraud and ‘election integrity’ as tactics to engage in voter suppression. Continue reading →

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PA Supreme Court Ruling Could Toss Thousands of Ballots Over ‘Irrelevant Technicality’

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Siding with a coalition of Republican groups, Pennsylvania’s high court ruled a week before the midterms that mail-in ballots received without a correct date on the outer envelope cannot be counted.

By Jake Johnson  Published 11-2-2022 by Common Dreams

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court – State Capitol. Photo: Craig Fildes/flickr/CC

Just a week before the midterms, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state election officials cannot count ballots submitted without a correct date on the outer envelope, siding with a coalition of Republican groups that sued to block undated mail-in ballots.

In a two-page order, the six-judge high court ordered election officials to “refrain from counting any absentee and mail-in ballots received for the November 8, 2022 general election that are contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes” even if they were received on time, pointing to two specific Pennsylvania statutes. Continue reading →

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Warnings of Right-Wing Violence Mount as Bolsonaro’s Son Claims ‘Biggest Electoral Fraud Ever’

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One expert said that former U.S. President Donald Trump is Bolsonaro’s “idol and his model” as the Brazilian leader and his allies launch baseless attacks on the electoral system.

By Julia Conley  Published 10-28-2022 by Common Dreams

Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil speaking during the Session: “Special Address by Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil“ at the Annual Meeting 2019 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 22, 2018. Photo: World Economic Forum/Flickr/CC

Political experts in Brazil are warning that President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies may be using a “roadmap” provided by former U.S. President Donald Trump to call the results of the country’s upcoming election into question before the votes are even cast.

Deploying almost the exact same language used by Trump following his loss of the 2020 presidential election, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the right-wing president’s son, said Wednesday on social media that his father is “the victim of the biggest electoral fraud ever seen,” adding that there have been attempts “to manipulate the result” of the runoff election scheduled to take place Sunday. Continue reading →

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‘Cold Hard Threat to Democracy’: GOP Sowing Chaos at Polls Even Before Election Day

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“Voters deserve better than this when they exercise their constitutional right at the polls,” said one government watchdog.

By Julia Conley  Published 10-27-2022 by Common Dreams

A ‘Vote Here’ sign outside an election polling place at Woodbury City Hall in Woodbury, Minnesota during the 2020 general election. Photo: Tony Webster/flickr/CC

Government watchdogs are warning that Republicans are operating a well-funded, well-organized campaign to sow “an unprecedented level of suspicion and unfounded doubt” in this year’s midterm elections by lodging dubious legal challenges even before Election Day arrives and training thousands on how to create confusion at the polls.

As the Associated Press reported Thursday, more than 100 lawsuits have already been filed regarding the election, which is still 12 days away. The lawsuits have largely been filed by Republicans and focus on issues including mail-in voting, voting machines, and access for partisan poll watchers. Continue reading →

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Armed ‘Poll Watchers’ in Arizona Heighten Alarm Over Right-Wing Voter Intimidation

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“This is obviously totally incompatible with liberal democracy and an open society,” said one commentator.

By Jake Johnson  Published 10-22-2022 by Common Dreams

Two masked individuals dressed in tactical gear sit near a ballot dropbox location in Mesa, Arizona on October 21, 2022. (Photo: Nicole Grigg/ABC15 Arizona/Twitter Screengrab)

Video footage released Friday night showing armed individuals sitting near a ballot drop box in Mesa, Arizona is heightening alarm over right-wing intimidation efforts as early voting kicks off across the United States.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office told a local ABC affiliate that it is investigating several individuals who were watching a Mesa voting location on Friday. The department confirmed that two individuals at the site were armed. Continue reading →

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Critics Warn Florida GOP Bill Designed to ‘Criminalize’ the Voting Process

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“American exceptionalism and denial means that no one will admit it, but between book burning, abortion bans, criminalizing trans kids, the Supreme Court’s attack on voting rights, and now this, we are truly veering on fascism.”

By Julia Conley.  Published 3-10-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo: ACLU

Florida is poised to establish a first-of-its-kind police force dedicated to stopping and investigating so-called “voter fraud” following the passage on Wednesday of a bill further overhauling the state’s voting system, a year after sweeping changes to election laws sparked outcry among voting rights advocates.

The Republican-led state House passed the new legislation, S.B. 524 in a vote of 76-41 on Wednesday, days after the state Senate approved the bill in a vote of 24-14. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had requested even more spending on an election police force than that $3.7 million plan that was passed, is expected to sign the bill. Continue reading →

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