Pay Attention To Your Local and State Legislatures
By Sharon Synowsky
Friends,
While we are so focused on Donald Trump and his myriad of legal woes; while we are focused on Congress and all the GOP shenanigans; and while we are watching the nationwide GOP slo-mo implosion; State legislatures are trying to undo Democracy from the ground up. In Pennsylvania alone, the PA House and Senate GOP members have introduced Memoranda and Bills that should raise alarms, in my opinion.
Senate Bill 99, introduced by PA GOP State Senator Cris Dush:
Eliminating Satellite Offices and Dropboxes:
This bill will eliminate ballot stuffing by eliminating satellite offices and drop boxes. This bill will require an elector choosing to submit their ballot in person to do so at the primary office and give it to an employee at that primary office.
Satellite offices and drop boxes have proven problematic in Pennsylvania elections. There is an overwhelming amount of video evidence showing that ballot stuffing is still a problem in Pennsylvania. Our own governor admitted that he had someone else submit his ballot on his behalf. We have also heard from constituents who have witnessed individuals receiving a ballot, filling it out, and submitting it all from a satellite office. If this is the case, these satellite offices are essentially functioning as polling locations.
(Sounds like this is straight out of 2000 Mules)
House Bill 978, introduced by PA GOP Representative Seth Grove:
Election Complaint Procedure
Soon, I will be introducing legislation to create an election compliance procedure within the election code.
New requirements for the Secretary of State:
• Maintain a 1 (800) hotline for voters to report election issues and fraud.
• Cooperate with the independent prosecutor.
• Annual training for district attorneys and their staffs on federal and state elections laws.
New requirements for county board of elections:
• Cooperate with election integrity officers.
• Cooperate with independent prosecutor.
New poll watcher requirements:
• Must be provided meaningful access to all election processes.
• County Board of elections must:
• Provide designate election official to respond to issues poll watcher report.
• PA DOS must develop a reporting process for poll watchers to report issues.
• County Board of elections must investigate and report on all issues poll watchers report.
• All election information in this section shall be turned over to the independent prosecutor.
• County Board of elections shall record all canvassing meetings with sound and visual recordings.
Creates the position of Independent Prosecutor:
• Attorney General shall appoint, with Senate confirmation, at least 90 days prior to the primary election.
• Must be a prosecutor with experience in prosecuting election law violations.
• Review all election complaints.
• Coordinate all oversight will all federal, state, and local law enforcement.
• Publish a report after each election on each compliant received and how it was addressed.
Creates a county Election Integrity Officer:
• County District Attorney or designee.
• Work with County Board of Elections, County Election Director, and Judge of Elections to improve chain of custody and internal controls to:
• ensure integrity of elections.
• prevent fraud and illegal voting.
• recommend data analytic tools to prevent fraud and illegal voting.
• ensure proper evidence can be developed to prosecute election law crimes.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20230&cosponId=38768
(Every MAGA idiot will be tying up elections for years with this one)
There are many others, too many to include in this article. Suffice it to say there is plenty of anti-LGBTQ+, anti-woman, anti-democracy legislation being brought forth. I share them on X/Twitter with the warning PA PAY ATTENTION! Because it is imperative to pay attention to your State legislatures. Sh*t rolls downhill, and more often than not, the State GOP electorate is mimicking the US Congress GOP.
In Pennsylvania you can go to https://www.legis.state.pa.us/ for all things State legislature: Senators and Representatives by name, District and Party; Committee assignments, meeting schedules and topics; Bills and Memoranda. Set up notifications, track legislation and more. I’m not sure if any other States use legis.state, you can try plugging your State in place of PA and see. ( https://legiscan.com/ IS Nationwide and has a drop-down menu from where you can pick which State you want to view. It is very user-friendly.)
I would also check in on your local (city/county/municipal) councils. While they are more concerned with keeping their community in working order, they sometimes throw a GOP item on their agendas. Just a Google search of your town/city/county/municipality will lead you to their website. From there you can either attend meetings in person, watch it livestreamed or read the meeting minutes.
So please, if you aren’t already, plug into these elected bodies. We need to save Democracy at EVERY level of Government. The only way to do that is to be aware and informed. It’s easier to grab the attention of your city council, borough/county council or State Representatives and Senators through petitions, calls or emails than it is to catch the attention of any of the US Congressional members’.
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