Introducing True The Vote

As the nation’s largest nonpartisan, voters’ rights and election integrity organization, True the Vote exists to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of America’s electoral process. We provide training, technology, and support to fellow citizens so that they can ensure election integrity in their own communities.

You can learn more by Clicking HERE

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True the Vote Wins Stunning Court Ruling Against IRS in Lois Lerner Scandal
Source: California Political Review
June 7, 2019
This decision marks the end of a nearly decade long battle that first began in 2010, when federal government agencies including the IRS, DOJ, FBI, ATF, OSHA weaponized against True the Vote and its founder, Catherine Engelbrecht. Under Obama Administration leadership, the agencies leveled a barrage of attacks, including twenty-three audits, investigations, and inquiries, against the group in an attempt to stop their work in election integrity. At one point the IRS got Child Services to try to take Ms. Engelbrechts’ children from her—this is how vicious Lerner and the crowd became, to stop honest elections. To stop those exposing the corruption of elections.

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REP. RASKIN RESPONDS TO GOP OVERSIGHT MEMBERS’ QUESTIONING OF VOTER SUPPRESSION PROBE

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by: Jamie Raskin (D-MD, 8th)

Washington, D.C. - April 16, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, issued the following statement in response to “federalism concerns” raised by Oversight Committee Members Jim Jordan (R-OH), Jody Hice (R-GA), Michael Cloud (R-TX), and Chip Roy (R-TX) regarding the Committee’s voter suppression probe:

“The U.S. Congress has the power and obligation to enforce the voting rights of the people as spelled out in the 14th, 15th, 17th, 19th, and 24th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, a power we have exercised repeatedly in statutes like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Americans with Disabilities Act to shut down state action hostile to democratic participation.

“It is our solemn duty today to investigate state-based assaults on popular democracy like the reported purges of hundreds of thousands of voters and the relocation of municipal polling places outside of municipal boundaries. It is obviously within our power under the Supremacy Clause and the Bill of Rights to conduct constitutional oversight in order to protect voters’ rights in the states, resistance by partisan state officials notwithstanding.

“My indignant colleagues should review prior letters the Oversight Committee sent in parallel correspondence to Democratic state officials in Rhode Island, Maryland, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, and Nevada in 2014 when the GOP-led Committee was conducting an oversight investigation into the Affordable Care Act (a federal law which they still seek to destroy). In these letters, then-Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and then-Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan articulated the decisive refutation to today’s frivolous argument: ‘The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate ‘any matter at ‘any time’ under House Rule X.’”

“It would be best if our GOP colleagues joined us in protecting voting rights, but at the very least they should stop trying to prevent us from doing our constitutionally-mandated work. Far from raising the ‘federalism concerns’ of Reps. Jordan, Hice, Cloud, and Roy, this is serious federalism in action. Our colleagues should get used to it.”

House Passes Historic Anti-Corruption and Democracy Reform Legislation

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by: Zoe Lofgren (D-CA, 19th)

Washington, D.C. - April 11, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- After Committee on House Administration Chairperson Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) managed floor debate for three days, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a sweeping reform bill to clean up corruption in Washington, make it easier to vote, and give every day Americans more power in our democracy by a 234 – 193 vote.

Lofgren delivered the following remarks in closing floor debate on H.R. 1 today:

“For eight years, this chamber has been silent. A silence that harmed people. We’ve allowed measures to reduce people’s access to the vote. Measures that caused the Fourth Circuit to find that African Americans voters were “targeted with surgical precision,”—measures that excluded voters on Indian reservations and that wrongfully tried to remove 95,000 naturalized Texans should be removed from the rolls.

“Today, that silence ends.

“This bill is not for its own sake.

“A member of the U.S. Senate said that H.R. 1 is a power grab – he’s right. It grabs power away from the special interests, the elites, the one percent – and gives it to the American people. I tell you plainly what it does: automatic voter registration to allow 50 million eligible citizens to vote, prohibits deceptive practices, increases access to the polls for voters with disabilities, helps states replace outdated voting machines and requires disclosure of dark money donors—not limiting their speech but simply asking them to stand by it.

“These reforms are not difficult. But they will require courage to make.

“Mr. Frederick Douglass who saw what our democracy was, and what our democracy could be, and said: “Where all is plain, there is nothing to be argued.”

“For that reason, I do not argue. But I look forward to joining you all in doing the will of the people and supporting this bill.”

Lofgren’s amendments were key in establishing and financing the Freedom from Influence Fund, a voluntary small-donor campaign finance matching system which amplifies the power of small-dollar contributions and limits the influence of big donors.

Her amendments specified all funding for the Freedom from Influence Fund will originate from a 2.75% assessment on federal fines, penalties, and settlements on bad actors like wealthy tax cheats and corporate lawbreakers who have committed financial crimes.

Earlier this morning on the steps of the House of Representatives, Lofgren highlighted the open, transparent, and deliberative manning in which House Democrats brought H.R. 1 to the House floor for a vote.

On Wednesday, Lofgren opened debate on H.R. 1. Click here to view her floor statement.

H.R. 1 makes critical reforms across three key areas:

Voting Rights

Improve Access – H.R. 1 expands access to the ballot box by taking aim at key institutional barriers to voting, such as burdensome registration systems, limited voting hours and many other roadblocks. H.R. 1 creates automatic voter registration across the country, ensures that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full rights restored, expands voting by mail and early voting and modernizes the U.S. voting system.

Promote Integrity – H.R. 1 fights back against Republicans’ assault on voting rights by committing Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act; prohibiting voter roll purges like those seen in Ohio, Georgia and elsewhere; and ensuring that discriminatory voter ID laws do not prevent Americans citizens from exercising their rights. H.R. 1 also ends partisan gerrymandering to prevent politicians from picking their voters and lets American voters instead choose their elected officials.

Ensure Security – H.R. 1 promises that American elections to be decided by American voters without interference from foreign entities. The bill enhances federal support for voting system security, particularly paper ballots, and increases oversight over election vendors.

Campaign Finance

Guarantee Disclosure – H.R. 1 shines a light on dark money in politics by requiring any organization involved in political activity to disclose its large donors, which will break the nesting-doll system that allows big-money contributors and special interests to hide their spending in networks of so called “social welfare” organizations.

Empower Citizens – H.R. 1 levels the political playing field for everyday Americans, empowering individuals with a multiple matching system for small donations and allowing the American people to exercise their due influence in a post-Citizens United world, while reaffirming that Congress should have the authority to regulate money in politics. The new system of citizen-owned elections will break special interests’ stranglehold on politics and enable Congress to advance an agenda that serves the American people.

Strengthen Oversight – H.R. 1 ensures that there are cops on the campaign finance beat that will enforce the laws already on the books. H.R. 1 tightens rules on super PACs and restructures the Federal Election Commission to break the gridlock and enhance its enforcement mechanisms. It also repeals Mitch McConnell’s riders that prevent government agencies from requiring commonsense disclosure of political spending.

Ethics and Accountability

Fortify Ethics Law – H.R. 1 breaks the influence economy in Washington and increases accountability by expanding conflict of interest law and divestment requirements, slowing the revolving door, preventing Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards and requiring presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns.

Impose Greater Ethics Enforcement – H.R. 1 gives teeth to federal ethics oversight by overhauling the Office of Government Ethics, closing registration loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents, ensuring watchdogs have sufficient resources to enforce the law and creating a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.

Judicial Watch Sues California and Los Angeles Over Dirty Voter Registration Rolls

By Judicial Watch




Washington, D.C. - December 14, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Judicial Watch announced that it filed a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County and the State of California over their failure to clean their voter rolls and to produce election-related records as required by the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (Judicial Watch, Inc.et al. v. Dean C. Logan, et al. (No. 2:17-cv-08948)). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California’s Western Division on behalf of Judicial Watch, Election Integrity Project California, Inc., and Wolfgang Kupka, Rhue Guyant, Jerry Griffin, and Delores M. Mars, who are lawfully registered voters in Los Angeles County.

Judicial Watch argues that the State of California and a number of its counties, including the county of Los Angeles, have registration rates exceeding 100%:

Eleven of California’s 58 counties have registration rates exceeding 100% of the age-eligible citizenry.

Los Angeles County has more voter registrations on its voter rolls than it has citizens who are old enough to register. Specifically, according to data provided to and published by the EAC, Los Angeles County has a registration rate of 112% of its adult citizen population.

The entire State of California has a registration rate of about 101% of its age-eligible citizenry.

Judicial Watch points out that this is due in part to the high numbers of inactive registrations that are still carried on California’s voter rolls:

About 21% of all of California’s voter registrations, or more than one in five, are designated as inactive.

California has the highest rate of inactive registrations of any state in the country…. Los Angeles County has the highest number of inactive registrations of any single county in the country.

Although these inactive registrations should be removed after a statutory waiting period consisting of two general federal elections, California officials are simply refusing to do so.

Judicial Watch explains that, even though a registration is officially designated as “inactive,” it may still be voted on election day and is still on the official voter registration list. The inactive registrations of voters who have moved to a different state “are particularly vulnerable to fraudulent abuse by a third party” because the voter who has moved “is unlikely to monitor the use of or communications concerning an old registration.” Inactive registrations “are also inherently vulnerable to abuse by voters who plan to fraudulently double-vote in two different jurisdictions on the same election day.”

Judicial Watch sent a written request for public records on November 16, 2017, and another on November 29, 2017, seeking information about “the number of inactive registrations on the voter rolls in Los Angeles County,” but was told each time that there were no responsive records.

Last summer, Judicial Watch sent a broader request for voter roll records that Los Angeles County and the State of California are required by the NVRA to keep and to make publicly available. Nothing was produced in response to this request. Judicial Watch points out that it is impossible to believe that there were no responsive records:

Los Angeles County, with over five million active voters and massive list maintenance responsibilities, and the Secretary of State of California [must] have exchanged emails responsive to [Judicial Watch’s] request for “all email or other communications between the Secretary’s Office and all California County voter registration officials concerning . . . [i]nstructions to the counties concerning their general list maintenance practices and obligations” and “[n]otices to the counties concerning any failure to comply with their voter list maintenance obligations.” Such emails should have been produced.

Section 8(a)(4) of the NVRA requires states to implement a program to remove ineligible registrants; and to turn over relevant records and information. Judicial Watch argues:

Los Angeles County is failing to properly conduct the list maintenance required by the NVRA by failing to properly train employees, failing to require and enter registrants’ birthdates, and failing to timely process reports that registrants have died, have committed disqualifying felonies, are mentally incompetent, or have registered twice.

Judicial Watch asks that the court enjoin Los Angeles County and the state of California from further violating the NRVA, and compel them to “develop and implement a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove from Los Angeles County’s rolls the registrations of ineligible registrants.” Judicial Watch asks to inspect and copy the requested voter roll records.

Judicial Watch sent a notice-of-violation letter in August 2017 to threatening to sue California and certain of its counties over their violations of the NVRA. California was one of 12 states to receive such letters from Judicial Watch.

“California may have the dirtiest election rolls in the country,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Federal law requires states to take reasonable steps to clean up their voting rolls. Dirty voting rolls can mean dirty elections. This lawsuit aims to ensure that citizens of California can have more confidence that their elections are fair and honest.”

Judicial Watch Senior Attorney and Director of its Election Integrity Project Robert Popper recently provided testimony to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity concerning the NVRA. Popper was formerly Deputy Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

Judicial Watch sent notice-of-violation letters threatening to sue 11 other states having counties in which the number of registered voters exceeds the number of voting-age citizens, as calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011-2015 American Community Survey: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee. Judicial Watch informed the states that should they fail to take action to correct violations of Section 8 of the NVRA, it would file suit.

Judicial Watch previously filed successful lawsuits under the NVRA against Ohio and Indiana that resulted in those states taking several actions to clean up their voting rolls. Judicial Watch is currently suing Kentucky over its failure to remove ineligible voters as required by the NVRA, and is suing the State of Maryland and Montgomery County over their failure to release voting-related records.

Judicial Watch is being assisted by Charles H. Bell Jr., of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP; and H. Christopher Coates of Law Office of H. Christopher Coates.


See more headlines at The Ponder News Web Site

NEW DATA DETAILS HOW STATES HANDLE VOTER REGISTRATION

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures

Denver, CO - October 25, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Fifteen states and the District of Columbia offer same day registration (SDR), which allows any qualified resident of the state to register to vote and cast a ballot all in the same day, according to new information released by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

NCSL defines how same day registration works, lists security processes employed, potential costs and its effects on voter turnout. Data on current SDR and Election Day Registration (EDR) is featured in an interactive map, including states that have passed but not yet implemented either procedure.

Additionally, details for SDR and EDR are broken down for each eligible state by statute citations, verification procedures, location and timeframe.

View this new page on same day voter registration.

NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.

FRC: President Trump to Address 12th Annual Values Voter Summit

Source: Family Research Council

Washington, D.C. - October 11, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- On Friday, October 13, President Donald Trump will address the 12th annual Values Voter Summit taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. President Trump will be the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit. This will be Donald Trump's third trip to the Summit, including last year when he attended VVS as the Republican presidential nominee.

"Values voters have waited eight years for a leader who puts America's mission first and respects the values that made America into a great nation," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.

"Values voters are coming to our nation's capital thankful to hear from a president who is fulfilling the promises that he campaigned on. Since the early days of the campaign, President Trump allied himself with values voters, promising to put an end to the 8 years of relentless assault on the First Amendment," added Perkins.

"President Trump's executive order on religious liberty and the follow up actions last week by HHS and DOJ, demonstrate that he is committed to undoing the anti-faith policies of the previous administration and restoring true religious freedom," concluded Perkins.

Thousands of grassroots activists from around the country will gather in the nation's capital to hear from President Trump and other confirmed speakers which include House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), RSC Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Dr. Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Dana Loesch, "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson, Todd Starnes, Steve Bannon, Judge Roy Moore, Sebastian Gorka, Lt. Col. Oliver North, and more.

FRC Action's Values Voter Summit is co-sponsored by AFA Action, American Values, Christian Healthcare Ministries, Association of Mature American Citizens, The D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship, The Heritage Foundation, United in Purpose, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, and Family Research Council. An exhibit hall, book signings, radio row, media row, and much more will be packed into this three-day conference.

For a schedule and more information on this year's Values Voter Summit, please click HERE

Idaho Democrats won't challenge new request for voter data

Boise:Idaho Statesman

Officials with the Idaho Democratic Party say a recent federal court ruling has limited their legal options to fight a second request from President Donald Trump commission investigating possible voter fraud.

Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Bert Marley said Tuesday that the best recourse is for Idaho citizens to ask Secretary of State Lawerence Denney to deny the request.

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Voter Fraud, Water Rights, Human Trafficking, Wetlands, Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement

Voter Fraud

On July 11, Congressman Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly (D-VA, 11th) whined in a letter to Vice President Pence urging him to rescind the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’s directive for sensitive voter data. Connolly said the directive “is a thinly veiled effort to carry out voter suppression on a national scale. States should not comply.” The Vice President serves as chair of the Commission.

In wake of the Huffington Post's report about hundreds of voters cancelling their registration cards, it seems to me that Democrats are getting worried that no one will be left to vote for them in the next election. The only voters being "suppressed", however, are the dead ones.

Water Rights

HR 23, the Gaining Responsibility on Water Act (GROW) passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives on June 13. The GROW Act modernizes water policies throughout the western United States and promotes improved water reliability in California. The bill expands water storage, develops water infrastructure, protects privately held water rights, and creates more abundant and reliable water resources to benefit both our communities and the environment. It also gives federal agencies the tools they need to help safeguard communities from the effects of future droughts.

The GROW Act prohibits past abuses of the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture that required private entities to relinquish their water rights to the federal government as a permit condition to continue operating on federal lands

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a serious problem across the globe, but it also exists in our communities. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, in Pennsylvania last year there were over 150 human trafficking cases reported and 575 human trafficking calls. The most common types of trafficking reported in Pennsylvania were sex trafficking and labor trafficking, and this week, the House passed two bills to assist in fighting both types.

The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act would help train Department of Labor inspectors to identify patterns and circumstances surrounding human trafficking so inspectors can assist law enforcement in recognizing and stopping this labor exploitation.

There is also the Empowering Law Enforcement to Fight Sex Trafficking Demand Act, a bill that would allow law enforcement agencies to apply for targeted grant opportunities through the Department of Justice. Law enforcement agencies and officials need a comprehensive approach to combatting human trafficking, but essential programs that are part of this approach are often expensive. The Department of Justice’s grant program can provide assistance in implementing programs that enable officials to better combat sex trafficking demand.

The Empower Educators to Prevent Trafficking Act (H.R. 2268) was included in a package of legislation - The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Protection Act (H.R. 2200) that passed the House on June 12th. This bill would authorize grants to help school districts establish a program if one doesn’t already exist, expand an existing program, and receive continued support for their efforts to train school staff about human trafficking.

Wetlands

On June 13, the bipartisan Wetland Determinations Efficiency and Transparency Act was introduced in the House of Representatives. This legislation aims to enact permanent reforms that make the wetland determination process more efficient, accountable and transparent.

According to Congressman Collin C. Peterson (D-MN, 7th), "This bill is a needed step to help ensure producers in our region don't face a determination backlog when trying to make improvements to their land. Making drainage improvements to land can increase yields, improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding. This common sense bill will simply make the process more efficient for producers to stay in compliance with conservation rules.”

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is responsible for determining whether land qualifies as a wetland, and therefore, is protected for conservation purposes according to so-called “Swampbuster” rules. If property is determined to be a wetland, certain changes – such as laying drain tile in a field – are not allowed without a landowner losing the ability to participate in federal Farm Bill programs and crop insurance. In recent years, producers have faced a significant backlog in wetland determination.

Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement

There are still ongoing trade discussions towards completing a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed regional free trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated among the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The economy of the State of Texas relies heavily on international trade, exporting $279.7 billion in goods in 2013, with 36.1% or $101.0 billion, sent to Mexico. Texas exports support thousands of jobs for Texas workers and sustain thousands of small and medium sized businesses based in Texas.

Abortion, Trumpcare, Voters, Terrorist, Suicidal Teens

In Arkansas, rape survivors will be forced to notify their attacker if they get an abortion
The Daily Dot
July 10, 2017
Arkansas women may soon be forced to notify their sexual partner or family members if they want to have an abortion, thanks to a provision passed in the state’s 2017 legislative session. H.B. 1566, the Tissue Disposal Mandate, would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion without communicating with the man who impregnated her — whether that be her husband, boyfriend, a casual hook-up, or a perpetrator of sexual assault.
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Here is an idea: outlaw abortion and we won't have that problem. If the mother is forced to confront her accuser, it should be in a court of law where he is being prosecuted for his crime, and the child should get the opportunity to survive by monetary support from the rapist for the rest of his life. It's not the child's fault he or she exists. Why punish the child by executing it?

Sen. Rand Paul: Senate GOP Decides to Keep Obamacare
Breitbart
July 12, 2017
The Senate Obamacare bill does not repeal Obamacare. I want to repeat that so everyone realizes why I’ll vote “no” as it stands now:
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Sigh....Get RID of Obamacare and legislate the insurance companies instead of replacing it with "Trumpcare". Is it that hard to understand? Why do people feel the need to fix something by making it more complicated?

Hundreds of Colorado Voters Withdraw Registrations in Wake of Trump-ordered Probe of Fraudulent Voting!
Breitbart
July 12, 2017
Colorado is one state that has agreed to comply with the voter fraud commission that President Donald Trump put in place with an executive order in May. And now county clerks in that state are reporting that they’ve seen hundreds of people withdraw their voter registrations. A spokesperson for the Denver Elections Division told a Denver media outlet that 180 people have withdrawn their registrations in the county since Monday of this week.
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That could be a good thing if all of the voters are dead Democrats. If they have nothing to hide, why would they withdraw? Apparently something illegal is going on or it wouldn't be happening. After all, if they refuse to vote out of protest, they are just hurting themselves.

ISIS finally confirms the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
MFS--The Other News
July 11, 2017
According to a statement by the Russian defense ministry carried in reports by the local media outlets, Al-Baghdadi was targeted along with at least 300 other insurgents and 30 top leaders of the terror group.
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The enemy of our enemy...

"Blue Whale Challenge" urges young people to end their lives
CBS News
July 12, 2017
The family of a Texas teen who hanged himself says their son was involved in a ghoulish online game that calls on participants to complete a series of tasks before taking their own lives, and some schools are warning parents about the so-called Blue Whale Challenge.
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How tragic...do parents not teach their children the difference between fantasy and reality now days?