RandySF
RandySF's JournalAbortion access defines key New York congressional races
On the night before he was first elected to Congress in August 2022, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, flanked by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other campaign supporters, was delivering the final speech of his campaign.
His address was very different than what he might have imagined it would be a few months earlier.
Ryan — a Democrat who graduated from West Point and served two tours of duty in Iraq — stood in front of a wall-sized American flag in a room often used for weddings and corporate dinners and talked mostly about abortion rights.
He spoke of "fundamental freedoms and rights being ripped away," adding "control over (women's) lives and bodies have been ripped away."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-rights-define-key-new-york-congressional-races/
Inside the ground game to win Florida abortion referendum votes
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There was standing room only for the volunteers gathered near the University of Florida on a recent afternoon to learn how they could campaign in favor of a referendum to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Among the tips they got: Don’t mention President Biden or Donald Trump by name. Describe abortion as a health-care issue, not a political one. And don’t be afraid to get personal.
“We must not make this a partisan fight,” said Julie Cantillo, one of the Yes on 4 campaign representatives leading the training. “Our goal is to kick all politicians, regardless of party affiliations, out of private medical decisions.”
Florida’s six-week abortion ban went into effect Wednesday, making the state one of the most restrictive for reproductive rights in the nation. Simultaneously, another front in the battle over abortion has begun: the fight to convince voters for or against a referendum enshrining access to the procedure in the state’s constitution.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/02/florida-abortion-referendum/
Why Yes-or-No Questions on Abortion Rights Could Be a Key to 2024
As Democrats confront a presidential race against a resurgent and resilient Donald J. Trump as well as a brutally challenging Senate map, they believe they have an increasingly powerful political weapon: ballot measures to protect abortion rights.
Two crucial presidential and Senate battlegrounds, Arizona and Nevada, are expected to put such measures directly before voters. So are other states with top Senate races, including Maryland and potentially Montana. And abortion rights measures are set or could appear on ballots in states like New York, Florida and Nebraska, where competitive contests could help determine whether Democrats win back the House.
Hopeful Democrats — and worried Republicans — are acutely aware that since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, every ballot measure seeking to protect or restore access to abortion has been successful, in both red states like Ohio and Kansas as well as swing states like Michigan. Those measures have sometimes fueled surges in liberal turnout that have lifted Democratic candidates to victory, as well.
So in every state where an abortion measure is already on the 2024 ballot or could yet appear, Democratic candidates, state parties and allied groups are campaigning furiously alongside the ballot initiatives, running ads, helping pour money behind them and bringing up the measures in speech after speech.
In Arizona, where Democrats are trying to flip the Legislature, the party’s candidates have gone so far as to collect signatures for the state’s ballot measure as they knock on voters’ doors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/us/politics/abortion-ballot-measures-2024.html
UK: Jeremy Corbyn urged to stand as independent at next election
The former Labour leader was stripped of the party whip in 2020 after he refused to apologise for institutional anti-Semitism during his time in office.
It means he will not be able to stand as Labour candidate in his seat of Islington North at the next election.
Now a group called Islington Friends of Jeremy Corbyn is urging him to stand.
They have launched a petition, which last night had reached more than 1,700 signatures.
The petition states: “Jeremy Corbyn has been our MP since 1983. For the past 40 years, Jeremy has dedicated his life to the people of Islington North, standing up for social justice, human rights and peace.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/01/jeremy-corbyn-independent-mp-next-election-labour-gaza/
Advocates say Supreme Court must preserve new, mostly Black US House district for 2024 elections
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Voting rights advocates said Wednesday they will go to the Supreme Court in hopes of preserving a new majority Black congressional district in Louisiana for the fall elections, the latest step in a complicated legal fight that could determine the fate of political careers and the balance of power in the next Congress.
A divided panel of federal judges on Tuesday rejected a map approved in January by an unusual alliance of Republicans, who dominate the Legislature, and Democrats who want a second mostly Black — and mostly Democratic — congressional district.
Republican state Attorney General Liz Murrill said she would appeal Tuesday’s ruling. And a coalition of individuals and civil rights groups filed a formal notice Wednesday saying they would go to the Supreme Court.
Jared Evans, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, said that by the end of the week advocates will ask the Supreme Court to keep the new maps in place for 2024, pending further legal action. He cited the need to have district maps in place soon. State election officials have said they need to know what maps to use by May 15 for the fall elections.
https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-black-house-district-2024-election-1ed871b6da43ebd571fe728e71157519
Chad interim ruler Mahamat Deby favorite to win presidential election
But in an unprecedented scenario for Chad, Succes Masra, once a fierce opponent of the Deby dynasty who then allied with them and was recently appointed prime minister, is clouding the outlook by attracting large crowds.
Two theories are circulating about what is going on in the African nation of 18 million people.
One is that Masra's candidacy for president is just a show to provide a democratic fig leaf for a vote Deby will easily win.
The other is that Masra has been galvanised by the crowds and now considers himself a genuine opponent. That could even push Deby into a run-off and convince junta to stuff ballot boxes.
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240502-chad-interim-ruler-deby-favorite-to-win-presidential-election
UK Tories pretend they're not Tories to win
LONDON — Andy Street was once a success story for the Conservatives — now he wants less and less to do with them.
The 60-year-old former department store manager was elected the first mayor of the West Midlands in 2016 and went on to win re-election by a wider margin in 2021.
He’s been hailed as a model for Conservatives in devolved government to copy, winning plaudits and votes for vocally putting regional needs first and foremost.
But as voters go to the polls across England and Wales Thursday, Street’s hardly shouting from the rooftops about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-local-elections-2024-conservative-candidates-andy-street-ben-houchen/
Spain's VOX (far right) counts on Trump, Meloni, Milei to boost EU election message
Spain’s far-right VOX party is counting on the support of former US president and Republican candidate Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and Argentina’s President Javier Milei, among others, to boost its message of a Europe of sovereign nations ahead of the European elections in June.
As the third largest party in parliament, VOX (ECR)is currently warming up for the launch of its main event campaign – Europa Viva 24 – which will take place in Madrid between 18 and 19 May.
Party leader Santiago Abascal aims for his “ultra” friends to help VOX reinforce its message centred around the idea of sovereign European nations.
This would serve as an alternative to the proposals – closer to a broad concept of federalism – of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s ruling Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D), and those of its main candidate for the elections, Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera, Abascal added.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/spains-vox-counts-on-trump-meloni-milei-to-boost-eu-election-message/
UK: Minister 'sorry' as veterans find ID card not valid for English elections
The veterans minister has apologised to former military personnel who have been prevented from using their veterans ID in order to vote in the local elections in England on Thursday.
Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial new rules, which require photo ID in order to vote, to allow veterans’ ID cards on to the list of valid identification.
The minister, Johnny Mercer, was responding to a complaint from a veteran who said he had been turned away at a polling station. “I am sorry about this. The legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards started coming out in January this year. I will do all I can to change it before the next one,” Mercer tweeted.
No 10 said it would be consulting on making the change. “This ID card was introduced very, very recently,” Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said.
“I think it’s something that we will want to look into. There’s already a very wide range of acceptable documents including a free voter authority certificate which is accepted at all polling stations so anyone who is eligible to vote can continue to do so.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/02/minister-sorry-as-veterans-find-id-card-not-valid-for-english-elections
With lawsuits and recount petitions rising, some Texas elections seem to go on forever
It has been 15 months since Democrat DaSean Jones was sworn in as a Harris County criminal district court judge. He’s presided over hundreds of cases since then. And he’ll be on the ballot again in November, this time for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court.
But there’s an asterisk on his 2022 election win: His opponent, Republican Tami Pierce, is still challenging the outcome in court, arguing that there were “improper or illegal votes that shouldn’t have been counted” and that the election was “plagued with mistakes.” Her case is awaiting a ruling from a Bexar County visiting judge.
It’s another example of a pattern officials and experts say they’re seeing around Texas in recent years: elections that just won’t end.
The November 2020 general election was easily the most litigious in recent history. But post-election legal challenges and recount petitions have been mounting ever since, experts say. And while there are no hard numbers, they say these challenges are becoming more common in lower-ballot elections around the state.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/02/texas-election-challenges-lawsuits-recounts/
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