Author: Minority Rule, Give Us the Ballot & Herding Donkeys
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Voting rights reporter: @motherjones
Speaking: annette@speakersforall.com
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Dec 7, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Huge case before SCOTUS today: Republicans want to reinstate extreme gerrymander in NC giving GOP 71-78% of House seats in state where Trump got 49.9% of vote & grant state legislatures unprecedented power to pass new gerrymanders & voter suppression laws motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
Leonard Leo & Federalist Society engineered right-wing takeover of SCOTUS. Now they want court to give state legislatures king-like power to rig state & national elections. One anti-democratic system entrenching the other
Jan 28, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
SCOOP w/ @RyanLittleE: Georgia voters 45 times more likely to have mail ballot applications rejected & not vote in Nov 2021 vs 2020 after GOP passed new voting restrictions
That rate would've led to 38,000 fewer votes in 2020, 3x Biden's margin of victory motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
“States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever” Mitch McConnell claimed last year
Here are facts: "During municipal elections in Nov, Georgia voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail ballot applications rejected—and not vote as a result—than in 2020"
Jan 20, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Stunning stat: 48 Democrats who supported reforming filibuster to pass voting rights bills represent 34 MILLION more Americans than 52 senators (all Republicans + Sinema/Manchin) who opposed it
48 senators who voted to reform filibuster represent 182 million Americans, 55% of US
52 senators who upheld filibuster represent 148 million Americans, 45% of US
Sinema & Manchin represent 2.8% of US population but allowing 41 GOP senators representing just 21% of country to block voting rights bills supported by 70% of Americans that would protect voting access for tens of millions. US political system completely broken
“Sinema, by refusing to support changes to the filibuster, is now giving the anti-democratic party veto power over protecting democracy. She is saying it would be divisive and partisan to respond to a divisive and partisan effort to weaken democracy” motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
Jan 10, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
This week is one of most pivotal in history of American democracy. If Dems don’t pass federal legislation now to stop voter suppression, extreme gerrymandering & election subversion, GOP will make it impossible to have fair elections going forward motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
Republicans not just suppressing votes & subverting fair elections, but trying to enshrine anti-democratic system where they hold power no matter the views of a majority of voters
“They are basically signing off on a political apartheid system” says @ericholder
Dec 6, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Breaking: Justice Department files suit challenging extreme gerrymandered Texas redistricting maps
Under extreme gerrymandered Texas US House & state legislative maps:
Whites 40% population but control 60% districts
Latinos 39% of population but control 20% districts
Blacks 12% of population but control 2% districts
Asians 5% of population but control 0% districts
Nov 22, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Breaking: Georgia legislature passes gerrymandered Congressional map giving GOP 64% of seats in state Biden won with 49.5%. GA gained 1 million people over last decade, all from people of color, but new map increases # of white GOP districts & reduces minority representation
GOP rigging next decade of elections through gerrymandering:
-Control 80% of US House seats in OH where Trump got 53%
The most egregious example of racial gerrymandering this year: GOP-controlled county commission in Galveston Texas passed new redistricting map eliminating only district held by Black commissioner. This is direct result of SCOTUS gutting Voting Rights Act motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
For 22 years Stephen Holmes has been only Black & minority county commissioner in Galveston TX
3 white male GOP commissioners voted last Friday to dismantle his district
This is what happens when Congress fails to protect voting rights
Nov 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Breaking: Georgia senate passes gerrymandered state senate map giving GOP 59% of seats in state Biden won with 49.5%. As @PoliticsWolf notes, Trump won half the districts by 15 points or more, making it nearly impossible for Dems to win chamber even when they get more votes
"the absence of federal voting rights protections is having a devastating impact on representation for communities of color, erasing decades of hard-fought gains & preventing fast-changing demographics from leading to a shift in political power" motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Nov 3, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Breaking: Senate Republicans block debate on John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Fails 50-49. This is FOURTH time GOP has blocked vote on voting rights legislation this year
In 2006 Senate reauthorized VRA 98-0. Today only one 1 GOP senator, Lisa Murkowski, voted for it
51 senators who supported John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act represent 44 million more Americans than 48 GOP senators who filibustered it. Does that sound like democracy to you? motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Oct 20, 2021 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Breaking: Senate Republicans block debate on Freedom to Vote Act
It’s completely undemocratic that 41 GOP senators representing just 21% of country can filibuster legislation supported by 70% of Americans that would expand voting access for tens of millions
If Dems fail to reform filibuster to pass Freedom to Vote Act, GOP will retake power through voter suppression, gerrymandering & election subversion and use that power to overturn future elections. Don’t say you weren’t warned motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Oct 19, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Late last night Texas legislature passed extreme gerrymandered US House maps
Whites 40% population but control 60% districts
Latinos 39% of population but control 18% districts
Blacks 12% of population but control 0% districts
Asians 5% of population but control 0% districts
If Dems don’t reform filibuster to pass Freedom to Vote Act, GOP will retake House through extreme gerrymandering & lock in anti-democratic power in states like Texas for next decade & beyond motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Oct 13, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Texas House passed extreme gerrymandered GOP state House map at 3:30 am last night. Democracy quite literally dying in dark
Whites 40% population but control 59% districts
Hispanics 39% of population but control 20% districts
Blacks 12% of population but control 2.7% districts
Can’t emphasize this enough: Freedom to Vote Act would ban extreme racial + partisan gerrymandering being rushed through by Republicans in states like TX but Dems running out of time to pass it before new maps become law motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Oct 4, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Voting rights is infrastructure of democracy & if Dems don’t act now to protect GOP will gerrymander back control of House & lock in anti-democratic control of states like TX for next decade. Amid budget fight don't lose sight of huge stakes for democracy motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
95% of population growth in TX from communities of color but GOP Congressional map completely nullifies demographic change
# of white districts increase & # of Latino & Black districts decrease
# of safe GOP seats goes from 11 to 22 & # of competitive seats goes from 12 to 1
Sep 27, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
95% of Texas population growth in last decade came from communities of color & state gained gained 11 Hispanic residents for every new white resident but new GOP congressional map doesn't create any new majority Hispanic districts. This is what gerrymandering looks like
40% of Texas population is white but 60% of Congressional districts have white majorities under GOP plan
# of majority Latino & Black districts declines even though 95% of population growth from communities of color texastribune.org/2021/08/12/tex…
Sep 24, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Every single investigation into 2020 election has confirmed accuracy of results & proven how rare fraud is. But that’s not the point. It was never about “election integrity” for Republicans but trying to delegitimize any Democratic victory
Agree with @ThePlumLineGS: media should stop saying Arizona “audit” confirms Biden’s win, which we already know, and focus on how entire point was to manufacture lies to lay groundwork for even more egregious voter suppression washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Sep 21, 2021 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
95% of growth in Texas came from communities of color & whites now minority but 20 of 31 state senate districts in new GOP map have white majorities & no new Latino, Black or Asian-American districts created
This is what extreme gerrymandering looks like
motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Dems have mere weeks to pass Freedom to Vote Act in order to block extreme gerrymandered maps set to pass in Texas & other states
“We have to be willing to either reform the filibuster or get rid of the filibuster in order to protect democracy” says @RafaelAnchia
Sep 14, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
New Dem voting rights bill would expand voting access for millions of Americans, ban partisan gerrymandering & crack down on dark $. Now it's time to stop giving Mitch McConnell veto power over protecting voting rights & reform filibuster to pass it motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Freedom to Vote Act includes:
-ban on partisan gerrymandering
-automatic & Election Day registration
-no-excuse mail-in voting & access to drop boxes
-prohibitions on election subversion
-two weeks early voting & Election Day holiday
Sep 1, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Today in Texas you can carry a gun without a permit but you can’t register to vote online or get an abortion after 6 weeks
Texas Republicans so invested in voter suppression b/c they want to enact cruel unpopular policies with no accountability
“The GOP doesn’t need to have support of majority of population if it skews composition of electorate to win majority of votes”
NEW: GOP could take back House in 2022 by picking up 6-13 seats under new gerrymandered maps in GA TX FL NC alone
Dems face redistricting bloodbath if they don’t pass ban on partisan gerrymandering ASAP
You can’t out-organize extreme gerrymandering motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
New analysis by @TargetSmart shared exclusively with @MotherJones finds GOP could pick up 5 seats in FL, 3 in TX, 3 in GA & 2 in NC through gerrymandering, giving them control of House in 2022
Dems could win 50% of vote in Georgia but control only 20% of House seats
Jul 13, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
If Mitch McConnell can steal 2 Supreme Court seats for Trump with 51 votes to take away voting rights, Senate Democrats should be able to pass legislation with 51 votes to protect voting rights
“For the People Act is supported by 68% of Americans & would expand voting access for tens of millions but it can be blocked by 41 Republican senators representing just 21% of the country. Biden needs to make public case for eliminating filibuster”
