Taniel Profile picture
Oct 29, 2021 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
The three scholars that the state of Florida is forbidding to testify on the effects of the state's new voting restrictions are: Dan Smith (@electionsmith), Michael McDonald (@ElectProject), and Sharon Wright Austin.
“The university does not exist to protect the governor."

nytimes.com/2021/10/29/us/… Image
Last night I had not found the Twitter handle of the third scholar being targeted by the state of Florida for her expertise in voter restrictions, but here she is to support as well: @SharonA82707528 (alongside @ElectProject & @electionsmith)
More context: "Morteza Hosseini, the head of the UF board of trustees, co-chaired DeSantis’ 2018 transition team and has made major donations to the Republican Party."

And DeSantis's lawyers are balking at answering questions: thedailybeast.com/university-of-…
The University of Florida backtracks -- though the underlying issues here (voting restrictions, and a DeSantis state apparatus geared to protect them) remain:

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More from @Taniel

Nov 22
Pam Bondi was Florida's attorney general during Trump's first campaign & some of his first first term—and that generated plenty of stories on her legal decisions.

Here's just a slice of what you should know, featuring great reporting from the mid-2010s:
1—As Florida AG, Bondi nixed suing Trump over Trump U after she solicited a contribution from him & he gave $25,000: floridapolitics.com/archives/21237…Image
2—Bondi's office justified nixing Trump U suit by saying she'd only receiving only one customer complaint, but the AP found this: jacksonville.com/story/news/201…Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 4
these are getting underplayed this year, but the rules of democracy are *directly* on the ballot in many places

here, quickly, is my top 5 referendums on that
1️⃣ Arizona organizers worked hard to put an abortion rights measure on November's ballot.

But the GOP made its move too: They've put a separate referendum on the ballot.

It'd basically shut the door on future ballot initiatives in Arizona. boltsmag.org/arizona-ballot…
2️⃣ Connecticut, somehow, still requires an excuse for people to vote absentee.

A ballot measure this November will open the door to finally allowing everyone to vote by mail.

And this'll be particularly major for people with disabilities:

boltsmag.org/connecticut-ba…
Read 7 tweets
Nov 3
Abortion is big in the presidential race, of course, & there are many referendums on it.

But there's more: there are many races that are too overlooked where abortion rights is a key issue, for downballot offices that really matter to abortion policy.

My thread of the top 5: ⬇️
1️⃣ I have to start with Arizona's judicial elections.

Two things simultaneously:
1. Two of the 4 justices who voted to revive a near-total abortion ban this spring are up for retention.
2. GOP has advanced a measure to nullify these judicial elections. boltsmag.org/proposition-13…
2️⃣ DeSantis removed Tampa's elected prosecutor from office, citing in part the prosecutor's decision to sign a letter saying he wouldn't prosecute abortion. cases. (DeSantis has signed strict restrictions.)

That prosecutor is now running for his job back: boltsmag.org/hillsborough-c…
Read 8 tweets
Nov 2
Here's the final Ann Selzer/DMR poll of Iowa:

Harris is up 47% to 44%. 
(Not a typo. Last DMR poll had Trump up 47/43 in September.)
In 2016 & 2020, Selzer’s final poll looked like an outlier in opposite direction; days after, we learned it was actually not off, & had foreshadowed polling error in Rust Belt.

This, again, is just one poll; we’ll see soon enough whether it captured something no one else did.
Other details in poll:
—Poll was this Monday through Thursday.
—Margin is within MoE of 3.4%, of course (though this is a looooot more off from expectations).
—Harris up 28% among independent women, though Trump up among men.
—RFK at 3%

Link to the poll: desmoinesregister.com/story/news/pol…
Read 5 tweets
Nov 2
Here's what I'd say about why people care about the Selzer poll, besides the mythologizing. In final days of both 2016 & 2020, as polling had Dems in strong shape (well, esp. in 2020), it was the rare sign that something could be amiss in other polling. (1/3)
Extent to which Rust Belt white voters swung to Trump was just not understood before we saw results in 2016, tho Selzer gave a preview. (She also was first to capture IA changed in 2014.) There was this idea in 2020 that had swung back; her poll was clearest cold shower.
But of course: IT'S JUST ONE POLL! It's subject to the same margin of error, can be off in any direction, and in the moment it wasn't clear what they meant.

Same today: IT'S JUST ONE POLL.

But that gets to other thing about Selzer poll: it's clearly uninterested in herding.
Read 4 tweets
Oct 25
I think Arizona's elections may be the single most important rn — even putting aside the presidential election.

The amount of items on the ballot that could transform state politics, upend the election systems, as well as criminal justice and courts, is remarkable. Here's why.
Let's start with: Democrats have a chance to take control of the state government by flipping two seats each in the Senate & the House. That'd be the first time they do that since *1966*.

If you've followed MI and MN politics recently, you know a new trifecta can get very busy.
Despite GOP control of the legislature, progressives have managed to pass reforms like minimum wage through ballot measures.

But Republicans have put a ballot measure on the ballot... that would squash future ballot measures. boltsmag.org/arizona-ballot…
Read 14 tweets

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