Voting Evisceration and more — #NebDems News

فبراير 26, 2021

Republicans, it seems, don’t like it when lots of people vote. And, by gawd, they are determined to do something about it.

In Nebraska, two measures backed by Gov. Pete “My Daddy’s Rich” Ricketts would require folks to show ID to vote and change the way we cast or Electoral College votes. (There’s more on those measures below.)

After record turnout in 2020, Republican-controlled states appear to be in a race to the bottom to see who can pass the most egregious new barriers to voting.

According to a new analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, 253 bills to restrict voting access have been introduced in 43 states already this year.

As Ari Berman wrote in Mother Jones:

The explosion of new GOP bills making it harder to vote is increasing pressure on Democrats in Washington to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act to stop new voter suppression efforts. As one Georgia Republican told the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “If Democrats were looking for a reason to pass a new federal voting rights law, this is example 1A.”

The passage of new voting rights legislation will likely require eliminating the filibuster, which Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have said they will not do. If Democrats fail to act, the consequences for democracy will be felt for many years to come.

And as Esquire’s Charles Pierce once penned:

Make no mistake. The Republican Party at every level has abandoned any serious attempt at attracting any voters who are not voting for it right now.

Our modern Republican Party … has found it is easier to keep inconvenient people from voting than it is to find a way to appeal to any of them, and you can use the institutions of democratic government to do this.

Sigh.

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Nebraskans have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Our governor should be doing everything he can to get more shots in more Nebraskans’ arms, especially those people with critical jobs and professions like our public school teachers.

Right now, Nebraska is one of the worst-ranked states in vaccinations.

The Nebraska Democratic Party is conducting a 1-question-poll in order to gauge what people all over the state think about Gov. Ricketts’ leadership throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

Please let us know what you think and share with fellow Nebraskans.

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If you are interested in helping write a couple of Letters to the Editor — or even a guest op-ed — over the next year or so, please sign up here. We will send you an email when there is a pressing issue that would be good for an LTE or guest op-ed and ask for volunteers. We will provide assistance and encouragement.

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The NDP has designed a series of graphics in honor of past and present elected officials for Black History Month.

We will be posting them throughout the month on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

You can also view them all together here.

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Check out our slate of great Democratic Candidates for the 2021 city elections in Lincoln and Omaha!

See them here.

And see important voting information and dates at the NDP Voting Center.

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The Republicans have launched an attack on our voting process in Nebraska at the Legislature.

As reported by the Omaha World-Herald, state Sen. Julie Slama has introduced bills requiring voters to show ID in order to cast a ballot and another measure to change the way Nebraska allocates its five Electoral College votes — which helped President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris win the White House

Both measures had hearings this week before the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

Click here to see what you can do to help fight the measures.

Click here to read Preston Love, Jr.’s op-ed on the legislation.

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Help build the NDP and become a Monthly Donor!

Some 550 Democrats ran in races across Nebraska in 2020 and had a 71 percent win rate. Many of the services we offered those candidates were bolstered by our Monthly Donors.

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The NDP will be hosting Donors and Grassroots Volunteer Briefings. We will focus on the success of 2020 and looking forward to 2021-2022.

We hope you will join us. Each meeting should take about 1 hour (30 minutes presentation, 30 minutes Q&A). Please share that with your contacts and members.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to Finance Director Precious McKesson at precious@nebraskademocrats.org

The events begin at 6 p.m Central Time/5 p.m. Mountain Time.

–March 3: Donors and Grassroots Volunteer Briefing

–March 8: Donors and Grassroots Volunteer Briefing

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CAR RALLY TO SUPPORT ESSENTIAL MEAT PACKING WORKERS

In 2020, meat processing plant workers were among the earliest and hardest hit by COVID-19l throughout communities like Crete, Grand Island, Omaha, Dakota City and many other areas.

Now in 2021, it is time to show the Nebraska legislature that the safety of all essential workers is important to us!

Join us as we drive around the Capitol with messages of support, and hear from speakers, including NE State AFL-CIO President Sue Martin, about how legislation, such as LB241 can finally give workers basic protections, transparency with data and ensure the safety of plant workers.

• ARRIVE at 1:45 p.m. to get signs or to write messages of support on your car window, and then join the car rally as we cruise around the capitol.

• At 2 p.m., our formal program begins with a variety of speakers who will help inform us and share their experiences on the impact of COVID-19 on the meat packing workforce.

• We will hear from workers, family members, organized labor, farmers and concerned community members.

• Tune in to the livestream from your car, as you cruise around the block while we demonstrate, with one united image, that here in Nebraska we take the safety of essential workers as something of great importance!

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Welcome to the Party calls have resumed! We are excited to cover topics like city elections, voter registration and the Legislature. We also will be giving our caucuses and councils the floor to talk about their goals and how you can get involved.

The next call is March 9 with Omaha and Lincoln city election candidates
If you have suggestions for topics to cover, please email gina@nebraskademocrats.org.

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Sign up here to join Amanda Gorman, Hillary Clinton, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chrissy Teigen for this International Women’s Day event to help elect women candidates. Hope to see you on March 8!

It’s at 6 p.m. Central Time and 5 p.m. Mountain Time.

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Get your Biden and NDP swag at the NDP/Shirts 101 store!

The store now features some terrific Jomaha/Blue Dot swag!

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We leave you this week with a rendering by Mike Luckovich on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s appearance before Congress this week to face questions on how he’s hobbled the USPS.