State seeks sanctions over access to county voting machines @Topstories - #Elections HEAD TOPICS
State seeks sanctions over access to county voting machines
10/22/2022 12:53:00 AM State seeks sanctions over access to county voting machines
@Topstories #Elections
Source PennLive com
State seeks sanctions over access to county voting machines Pennsylvania’s state elections chief wants legal penalties against two Republican county officials and their lawyer for letting an outside group access voting machines this summer despite pending litigation on the subject. Oct. 21, 2022, 5:38 p.m.NEW!Mark Scolforo The Associated PressHARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state elections chief wants legal penalties against two Republican county officials and their lawyer for what she calls in a new court filing their “unprecedented, reckless decision” to give an outside group access to voting machines during pending litigation on that subject. Lawyers for acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman earlier this week asked the state Supreme Court to hold in contempt the two Fulton County commissioners and to dismiss the litigation that had been scheduled for oral argument before the justices next week. Chapman was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. Read more:
PennLive.com » For Republicans, winning Hispanic voters will be a bigger fight than South Texas For Republicans, winning Hispanic voters will be a bigger fight than South Texas Secretary of State warns of legal action if Cochise County board votes to hand count election ballots Amber Alert canceled: Missing Columbia County teen found safe, deputies say Get to know Cindy Hsu
We're getting to know our very own Cindy Hsu a little better with a series of rapid-fire questions. Read more >> For Republicans, winning Hispanic voters will be a bigger fight than South TexasNearly half of Hispanic Texans live in the state’s five largest counties, a voting bloc Democrats cannot afford to lose as they struggle to compete in the state’s vast rural areas. LOL, but apparently everywhere else, they don’t seem to have a problem Not all racists are republicans but ALL republicans are racists. Blacks or Hispanics who vote for them do themselves serious harm. It’s over. Texas is Safe Red. For Republicans, winning Hispanic voters will be a bigger fight than South TexasNearly half of Hispanic Texans live in the state’s five largest counties, a voting bloc Democrats cannot afford to lose as they struggle to compete in the state’s vast rural areas. Secretary of State warns of legal action if Cochise County board votes to hand count election ballotsSecretary of State Katie Hobbs says she will take legal action if Cochise County officials vote to hand count ballots during the general election. Why would a hand count be illegal, even if the law calls for a machine count? Why can't both be done? Someone nervous she’s going to lose? katiehobbs Oh look who decided to show up for work when she is afraid the ballots will actually be reviewed. No reason can’t have both parties in a room reviewing each one. Transparency is not something Hobbs wants. Amber Alert canceled: Missing Columbia County teen found safe, deputies sayThe Columbia County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s help to find a 16-year-old girl who was reported missing in Columbia County. Amber Alert issued for 16-year-old girl believed to be with 27-year-old man, possibly in JacksonvilleJUST IN: The Columbia County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s help to find a 16-year-old girl who was reported missing in Columbia County. Texas secretary of state to send inspectors to observe vote counting in Harris CountyThe state's most populous county, which is home to Houston and leans Democratic, will have inspectors performing 'randomized checks on election records” and observing 'the handling and counting of ballots and electronic media,' the Secretary of State's Office said. All eyes on deck this election. We will be damned if they cheat again. But not rural areas? Why just bring Him Crow laws back. Published: Oct.national media outlets .national media outlets .“Cochise County plans to vote to hand count every single race on every single ballot—w/ Election Day just 18 days away & early voting already started. 21, 2022, 5:38 p.m. “In this particular election environment, the concerns of Hispanics who live in Houston or McAllen or Del Rio or in Midland or in Lubbock or in Amarillo or in Paint Creek, Texas — it’s the exact same top three issues: crime, inflation and the border,” Abbott’s chief strategist, Dave Carney, said during a call with reporters Tuesday. NEW! Mark Scolforo The Associated Press HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state elections chief wants legal penalties against two Republican county officials and their lawyer for what she calls in a new court filing their “unprecedented, reckless decision” to give an outside group access to voting machines during pending litigation on that subject. Fernando Florez, a longtime Democratic activist, discusses the shift of Hispanic voters in Tarrant County and Texas at his home in the South Hemphill Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth. Lawyers for acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman earlier this week asked the state Supreme Court to hold in contempt the two Fulton County commissioners and to dismiss the litigation that had been scheduled for oral argument before the justices next week. Credit: Jamie R. Chapman was appointed by Democratic Gov. That’s illegal & risks the integrity & accuracy of the election. Tom Wolf. Abbott’s campaign has argued the public polls are not accurately gauging the Hispanic vote but has not provided any alternative numbers. Abbott’s campaign has argued the public polls are not accurately gauging the Hispanic vote but has not provided any alternative numbers. On Friday afternoon, the justices appointed Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer as a special master to gather evidence on the contempt request and make a report with recommendations by Nov. 18. Rafael Anchía , D-Dallas, dismissed the idea that Abbott could win half of Latino votes. During their long-running dispute with the state, Fulton County GOP Commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch had allowed one group, Wake TSI, access to voting machines as part of the failed effort to locate fraud that might overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat. “In every Latino family, you’ll have two Democrats and a tio loco, a crazy uncle, and it just hasn’t changed,” Anchía said at The Texas Tribune Festival in September. That prompted the Department of State to tell counties they “shall not” allow such access to voting machines. “Latinos are not dumb. It would also raise “operational and security concerns. Ulsh and Bunch were moments away from permitting a second group, Envoy Sage, to inspect the machines in January when the state Supreme Court put that on hold. The inspection planned in January was to involve computers, electronic poll books, ballot scanners and possibly more. And every time Republicans get in trouble they talk about scary brown people coming over the border. And every time Republicans get in trouble they talk about scary brown people coming over the border. Litigation over that inspection and the state’s order prohibiting outside access had been scheduled for oral argument at next week’s court session in Pittsburgh, but that was canceled with Cohn Jubelirer’s appointment. The contempt and sanctions request filed Tuesday was prompted by a disclosure in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed last month by Fulton County, Ulsh and Bunch against machine manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems Inc. But Republicans are already in power across the state, they argue, and even a small shift in the Hispanic vote makes the GOP more secure, while creating cause for alarm for Texas Democrats. The county disclosed that a third group, Speckin Forensics LLC of Lansing, Michigan, copied hard drives from Fulton County’s Dominion machines in mid-July. Tarrant County Tarrant County has experienced rapid growth since 2000. DEVELOPING: Cochise Co. “A more brazen example of litigation misconduct — indeed, outright defiance of this commonwealth’s high court — is difficult to imagine,” the state’s lawyers told the justices. That growth was driven by a huge increase in Latino residents, who went from 20% to 30% of the county population during that period. Chapman seeks contempt orders against Ulsh and Bunch, an order that they and their lawyer, Thomas J. Carroll, pay the state’s costs and legal fees and an order forcing the county to return the rented voting machines to Dominion. Tarrant County College professor Peter Martinez cautioned that does not mean that Latinos are entirely responsible for the county’s liberal shift, as nationally, an urban-rural divide has increasingly defined the Democratic and Republican parties. Tarrant County College professor Peter Martinez cautioned that does not mean that Latinos are entirely responsible for the county’s liberal shift, as nationally, an urban-rural divide has increasingly defined the Democratic and Republican parties. She argues they have spoiled critical evidence and wants the case dismissed. “In short, petitioners have thoroughly compromised the integrity of this proceeding, to the great prejudice of the secretary, the judiciary, and the public,” Chapman’s lawyers told the justices. … That population does lean to the left, and growth there represents an expansion of the Democratic Party,” Martinez said.com/Ob95hqergv — Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) October 21, 2022. Carroll on Thursday asked the high court for more time to respond, a request the justices promptly denied. “I would also argue that more of the white population is also leaning to the left in recent years because of people coming in from out of state. Carroll on Friday called the state’s motion “a stealth pleading that was completely irrelevant and not related to the case at hand,” declining to elaborate.” In interviews with a dozen Hispanic voters in Tarrant County, many cited deep cultural ties to the Democratic Party, which their families have supported for generations. Ulsh declined comment Friday and a message seeking comment from Bunch was not immediately returned. Rural Fulton County is overwhelmingly Republican, giving Trump more than 85% of the county’s vote in 2020. Virginia Murillo, 45, said she used to vote for Democrats in part because she was following the lead of her parents, who emigrated from Mexico. Virginia Murillo, 45, said she used to vote for Democrats in part because she was following the lead of her parents, who emigrated from Mexico. Allies of Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat have sought access to voting machines in other states. Details about access to sensitive voting equipment in Coffee County, Georgia, became public last month. She said Republicans appeared to better understand the needs of small businesses struggling with operating restrictions. A county election worker in Colorado who is accused of allowing an unauthorized person to break into her county’s election system to help Trump’s effort pleaded not guilty to all charges in the case last month. “That’s when I finally became aware that views aligned with them,” Murillo said. A related investigation is also underway in Michigan. “I never really thought that until one of my friends pointed it out. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Disclaimer . Despite steadily becoming a larger share of Tarrant County’s population, Hispanic people have had little political representation here. Despite steadily becoming a larger share of Tarrant County’s population, Hispanic people have had little political representation here.