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Judd Legum Profile picture
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5 Apr, 12 tweets, 10 min read
1. BREAKING

@Facebook pledged to suspend political donations for the first 90 days of 2021, then donated $50,000 to @RSLC, a Republican group pushing voter suppression laws

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
@Facebook @RSLC 2. The primary goal of the @RSLC is to elect Republicans to state legislatures and other state-level offices across the country.

In 2021, Republican state legislators introduced 361 bills to restrict voting in 47 states.

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
@Facebook @RSLC 3. @Facebook routed the donation through a fundraising vehicle that the RSLC set up in Virginia, a state with lax campaign finance laws that allows unlimited direct corporate contributions.

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
@Facebook @RSLC 4. Along w/supporting legislators pushing voter suppression laws, the @RSLC directly advocated for voter suppression laws

The @RSLC supported an even harsher version of the bill that became law in Georgia, banning no-excuse absentee voting and drop boxes

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
5. The @RSLC has also set up an "Election Integrity Commission" pushing purges of voter rolls and new ID requirements

It's chaired by AL Secretary of State @JohnHMerrill who attended a "Stop the Steal" rally and supported efforts to overturn the election

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
6. @Facebook tells Popular Information that the $50,000 donation to the RSLC was "standard practice" and represented "membership dues" to the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association.

The RLGA is not an org, but a caucus of the @RSLC

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
7. There is nothing that prevents the RSLC from using Facebook's funds for any purpose. Even if the RSLC represented that Facebook's donation would only support the RLGA, it would have no practical effect.

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
8. Regardless, GOP Lieutenant Governors have also been pushing voter suppression laws around the country. In Texas, Lt Gov Dan Patrick has made "election integrity" a priority & attacked @AmericanAir for opposing voter suppression laws in the legislature

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
9. @Facebook is not the only company quietly sending cash to the @RSLC while purporting to support voting rights.

For updates and accountability journalism, sign up for the newsletter

popular.info/subscribe
10. @Google says its "concerned about efforts to restrict voting at a local level."

Google also donated $20,000 to the @RSLC on 2/11/21

Google did not respond to request for comment.

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
11. @ATT says it "believes the right to vote is sacred"

AT&T donated $50,000 to the @RSLC on 3/9/21

AT&T did not respond to a request for comment

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…
@ATT @RSLC 12. Other recent corporate contribution to the @RSLC

popular.info/p/facebook-ple…

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
6 Apr
1. Mitch McConnell took $4.3 million from corporations over the last 5 years to fund his campaigns and now he wants corporations to "stay out of politics"

popular.info/p/mcconnell-ve…
2. McConnell still wants corporations to send him money

And therefore wants corporations to back his efforts to block legislation to strengthen voting rights

McConnell is demanding corporations stop speaking out against voter suppression bills

popular.info/p/mcconnell-ve…
3. This is odd, to say the least, considering McConnell has fought against virtually all restrictions on corporate political spending.

He has done as much as anyone to give large corporations "as much clout as possible in our politics"

popular.info/p/mcconnell-ve…
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
6 Apr
1. You might think that there is no chance to stop voter suppression legislation in Texas because Republicans control everything.

But passage is not certain.

The key chamber is the Texas House.

Follow along if interested.
2. There are 150 seats in the Texas House. That means you need 76 votes to defeat bill on the floor.

There are 67 Democrats and they are all opposed to voting restrictions

So that means you need to flip NINE Republicans to defeat the bill
3. Already, we are seeing some potential Republican defections.

(1) Rep. Kyle Kacal: "I don’t know if the measures that are being talked about are necessary."

(2) Rep. Lyle Larson: "Good ideas will attract more voters than suppression will deny." ImageImage
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
4 Apr
1. I think this approach to the Georgia's new law is deeply flawed.

It focuses on the hypothetical effect of the law while skipping over the motivation and the impact on individual voters.

Follow along if interested.
2. First, we don't know the effect of this law in the future. Nate admits the shortened runoff period could impact "turnout in exactly the kind of close, low-turnout race where it could easily be decisive"

Well, a close runoff election just determined control of the Senate!
3. So I don't think running these changes through an algorithm is the right approach. We need to look at the intent. And this bill is sponsored by the people who falsely claimed the election was stolen from Trump. The intent of the bill is to validate Trump's claims.
Read 8 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
3 Apr
REMINDER: @ATT has donated $574,500 over the last three years to the Texas officials pushing voter suppression legislation and now CEO John Stankey says that election laws are too "complicated" for the company to take a clear position

popular.info/p/texas-voter-… Image
@ATT If you work for @ATT and have thoughts or information about your company's position on Texas' legislation to restrict voting, please contact me

DMs open, jlegum@protonmail.com

I will protect your identity
For updates and accountability journalism on voter suppression legislation in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and around the country sign up for the newsletter

popular.info/subscribe
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
1 Apr
1. Kemp seems really committed to this blatantly misleading talking point.

So it's worth understanding the facts.

Follow along if interested.
2. Prior to Georgia's new law, there were four potential weekend early voting days and only one was mandatory and three were optional.

The new law makes two mandatory and two optional.

BUT major urban and suburban counties like Fulton County already used all four.
3. So if you like in Fulton or similar counties, where you'll find most of Georgia's Democrats and people of color, this second mandatory day does not expand access AT ALL.

It only expands access in rural Republican counties.

I'm sure that's a coincidence.
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
1 Apr
1. A week after Georgia's voter suppression bill was signed into law, major corporations are finally issuing strong statement opposing the law.

But especially at this point, talk is cheap.

What are these companies will to DO.

I decided to ask!

popular.info/p/a-corporate-…
2. Yesterday, @Delta CEO Ed Bastian released a memo calling Georgia's new law to restrict voting "unacceptable," counter to Delta's values, and "based on a lie."

So will Delta continue to donate to the politicians that promoted the legislation?

popular.info/p/a-corporate-…
@Delta 3. @Delta did not rule out future donations to the sponsors of voter suppression legislation in Georgia. Instead it send me this statement, which doesn't commit the company to any particular course of action.

popular.info/p/a-corporate-…
Read 8 tweets

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