Mark Sherwood's Parting Gift: Voter Suppression

My soon to be (Republican) ex-Assembly Member apparently noticed on Saturday that Clark County Democrats were holding a convention... And he figured he'd have one more chance to promote his "signature legislation". Seriously, this was the level of conversation he was engaging in on Twitter.

Even though Sherwood is on his way out, he still can't seem to give up his fight against "voter fraud", one of the greatest dumbass "solutions" looking for a problem of our time. Even though voters are 39 times more likely to be struck by lightning and 3,500 times more likely to report a UFO encounter (!!!) than commit voter fraud, for some reason Mark Sherwood can't stop talking about this virtually nonexistent "CRISIS!!!" Is he planning to move to Area 51 soon?

Or is there another motivation? Across the country, Republican led state legislatures have passed restrictions on voting, such as voter ID laws and rollbacks of early voting opportunities. And funny enough, these restrictions hurt low-income voters, communities of color, and students the most. Conveniently for Republicans in these states, these voters tend to be the ones they struggle the most with. Coincidence?

The voter suppression bills that he and several other Republicans introduced last session also happened to match the "model legislation" proposed by ALEC, the increasingly controversial corporate funded radical right group that's been pushing "tea party" backed "model legislation" across the country. And yes, ALEC has "model legislation" for voter suppression. I wonder why?



Oh yes, and did I mention that "voter fraud" hardly ever happens? As always, here's Desert Beacon with the facts.

Conflating potential problems with actual incidences of voter fraud is misleading and serves to promote vote suppression without actually improving voting integrity. Indeed, an organization or party might seek to have the Prematurely Resurrected vote — but, that would require having someone assume the identity of the dearly departed, and then vote in the face of a possible $10,000 fine and 5 years in jail. Since, unlike shoplifting, prosecution is assured and the charges will always be for a major felony, voter impersonation is extremely rare.

How rarely voter fraud is attempted is demonstrated as follows: “A report by the public-integrity section of the Justice Department found that from October 2002 to September 2005, the department charged 95 people with “election fraud”; 55 were convicted. Among those, fewer than 20 people were convicted of casting fraudulent ballots.” [MJ]

A study from Barnard College came to similar conclusions: “The statistics bear me out. From 2002 to 2005 only one person was found guilty of registration fraud. Twenty people were found guilty of voting while ineligible and five people were found guilty of voting more than once. That’s 26 criminal voters — voters who vote twice, impersonate other people, vote without being a resident — the voters that Republicans warn about.”

Given the miniscule numbers of actual cases of voter fraud there is cause for concern about the willingness of courts to uphold vote-suppression statutues with insufficient attention to the actual evidence at hand. “The case for voter fraud—individuals impersonating others at the polls—is largely built on hype and the type of hearsay that should not be permitted in court for the purposes of denying individuals the right to vote. Unfortunately, in four cases so far the courts have been unwilling to police the evidence, take seriously the fundamental nature of voting rights, and protect franchise rights.“ [Schultz, HamlineU, pdf]

Got that? There is no "voter fraud" crisis. All the anti "voter fraud" bills seek to do is engage in voter suppression. And this isn't the first time Mark Sherwood has thrown a temper tantrum over this. Last year, Sherwood joined with Crescent Hardy to push a bill to end early voting in Nevada. Even though Jon Ralston may hate the concept of early voting, the fact of the matter is that it gives legal Nevada voters more opportunity to participate in "small d democracy". So obviously, the radical "tea party" right now hates it.

Even though Mark Sherwood may be on his way out, his dreams of voter suppression may still be "in the mix" in future legislative sessions. Let's hope they go exactly where last year's attacks on voting rights went. (Thankfully, nowhere.)

Meet the Candidates: Assembly District 21 (Eisen, Parke, & Wilkening)

On Wednesday, plenty of candidates came to the Henderson Democratic Club's April Legislature candidate night to razzle-dazzle local activists. In addition to hearing from two Assembly candidates running in District 20, we also heard from all three Democratic candidates running in District 21. Now remember, Mark Sherwood declined to run for reelection and AD 21 is one of the top pick-up opportunities for Assembly Democrats, so this is definitely a race the Democrats don't want to f**k up.





And hearing from the three candidates, it sounded like they wanted the room to know they had no intention of doing that.

Andy Eisen began by giving his personal background and saying why he wants to go to Carson City.



Steve Parke then gave his speech, which mixed his personal story with some hard policy... And it still came in under five minutes!



And finally, we heard from Rick Wilkening, who explained why he's stepping out of retirement to run for office.



In AD 21, we have three Democratic candidates who are all stepping out of private life to run for public office. All three now seem to be out in the field. All three seem serious about competing for the grand prize in November. And on Wednesday, all three had an opportunity to share with local voters and activists why they're running and what they want to do in Carson City next year.

Without a doubt, this is a seat that will be full of campaign activity all throughout the cycle! My neighbors here must be eager to meet these candidates at their doorsteps very soon. ;-)

Sign of the Times?

Who knew this one sign could cause so much trouble for a campaign?



This is just one of the Becky Harris campaign signs I pass by in my neighborhood. Here's another one:



As we discussed last week, Republican AD 21 candidate Becky Harris faces a competitive primary, and she will face a competitive (though more uphill) general election if she makes it past the primary. But yesterday, her big plans and lofty ambitions hit a bit of a snag thanks to the above pictured signs... And a rival campaign who apparently knew more in's and out's of Nevada campaign law than this lawyer did!

Candidate Becky Harris received a letter from the [Nevada Secretary of State's] office telling her that her campaign signs violated state law by not clearly identifying her as a new candidate for the Assembly seat.

“Based on the pictures of your campaign signage provided to this office in the complaint (enclosed), not using the terms “for” or “elect”, your sign is clearly in violation of (state law),” said the letter from Deputy Secretary for Elections Scott Gilles on behalf of Secretary of State Ross Miller in the letter dated March 27.

Harris said today she will add the word “elect” to her signs by about April 20 to make it clear she is not an incumbent.

Another Republican candidate for the seat, Swadeep Nigam, said today that Harris’ signs have not been changed since the letter was issued by Miller’s office.

“Ms. Harris has placed signs of various sizes throughout her district that give the clear implication that she is the incumbent in the assembly District 21 race,” Nigam said in a press release. “I would certainly hope this was not an attempt by Ms. Harris to deceive the voters of the district, but simply a matter of her being brand new to politics and ignorant of election law.

“However, if it is a matter of her not doing her homework on election law, I think it speaks volumes of her readiness to serve in the Assembly. Ms. Harris is a lawyer and if she can’t research and follow the Nevada Revised Statutes how can we trust her to write them?” Nigam said.

Although incumbent Assembly Member Mark Sherwood (R-Henderson) has endorsed Becky Harris to replace him in the new (and more Democratic leaning) AD 21, that still does not make her an incumbent. And frankly, considering the current political climate, I'm surprised anyone is really fighting about being considered the incumbent.

Especially when considering Harris' legal background, it's funny to see how Nigam caught her in this campaign law SNAFU. Maybe his background in the Clark County GOP led him to realize Harris could run into trouble over her campaign signs?

Without a doubt, the race here in AD 21 promises to be exciting all the way to Election Day in June... Then, it may continue to be exciting all the way to Election Day in November. And I won't be surprised to see candidates continue to find ways to trip up rivals to get ahead. However, this does surprise me at least a bit. I guess this is just a sign of what's to come as so much is at stake in the race for Nevada's Legislature.

John Lee Speaks... To Stonewall (And Gets a Surprising Response!)

We were all waiting for this. This was the big night. For the first time ever, John Lee appeared at a Nevada Stonewall Democratic function.





Yes, I can wait a moment while you try to put your head back together after it exploded.

OK, are you ready now?

So John Lee spoke at length on Nevada's legislative process, and of the state of our economy today (which I'll get to in a future story). But this morning, I want to give Lee a chance to explain for himself his past opposition to SB 283 and AB 211.



Honestly, I was surprised. He neither apologized for his votes nor tried to really rationalize them. He basically just said that they are what they are and he is what he is.





John Lee said flat out that he believes marriage should be restricted to straight couples, but I just asked him about SB 283, which is not even marriage. It just affords some basic rights, benefits, and responsibilities to Nevada families that are easily given to everyone else. I understand John Lee is "pro-family", so why not at least allow these families to have the same rights that he and his wife gave?



An actual constituent of John Lee then asked him about his vote last session against AB 211, the transgender inclusive workplace non-discrimination bill. Lee had said earlier that no one from Stonewall even bothered to talk to him, but she corrected him and stated she did schedule meetings with him in 2009 regarding SB 283, and in 2011 regarding AB 211. Now I realize that it was a mistake for many progressives to totally shut down lines of communication with Lee, however not everyone was doing that. And despite hearing from constituents and activists who did schedule meetings with him, Lee still voted against AB 211. Did he need to see this?



Or does he need to hear from more Nevadans who have experienced workplace discrimination first hand? How hard is it to understand that it's wrong to fire someone from a job just because of one's identified gender?

Well, at least John Lee came to Stonewall last night to hear our grievances. I'll give him credit for that. (No really, I will!) And hopefully now with lines of communication between Lee and local progressives, he'll take some time to reconsider his take on matters of LGBTQ equality.



Interestingly enough, another candidate stood up later in the meeting and briefly discussed his own first hand experience.



Steve Parke is running for Assembly District 21 in Henderson and Silverado Ranch. (Disclaimer: He's also my neighbor.) And like John Lee, Steve Parke is also "pro-family" (he has a wife and two kids) and LDS. And he explained so well both the legal and moral case for marriage equality. In just his one minute of speaking, he blew away the audience... And hopefully, helped Lee start on that path of reconsidering his take on matters of LGBTQ equality.

Between Lee coming to Stonewall and the introduction of new Legislature candidates there last night, my hope for next session is being renewed.

Leg Watch: Anonymous Hit Piece... Hits GOoPer in the You-Know-What

(By the way, welcome to Leg Watch! Next time the legislature is in session, I'll keep an eye on important legislation floating around Carson City. But for now, you can stop here to check up on the state legislature campaigns that are sometimes forgotten in the midst of the national campaign at our doorstep... But never dull!)



I first caught this on Saturday, when I was walking a neighborhood less than one mile from me in Green Valley. My Assembly Member, Ellen Spiegel, was the intended victim of this anonymous hit piece... A hit piece likely to have come from her Republican opponent or one of his allies. But whomever is responsible for it, they were too cowardly to own up to it...

And too stupid to do it smartly! For one, this was dropped in front of doors, bundled with ads for taco shops and pizzerias. Basically, it was bundled with "junk mail so crappy, it can't even go in the mailbox" and distributed as such. Usually for a hit piece like this, a campaign targets who they want to see it. I figured this would go to Independents and Republicans, but I found this in front of everyone's door. Do you really think any thinking Democrat would give this the time of day?

And even worse, this hit piece was not even going to all the right homes... As this was also being sent OUT OF DISTRICT! Yes, you heard me right. I saw more of these this morning when walking a neighborhood near Maryland & Pebble... An area FAR outside Assembly District 21! So not only did the perpetrator clumsily agree to send this out with junk ads for tacos and tires, but they couldn't even manage to send it entirely to people in the district!

And worse yet, this hit piece couldn't even get the facts right. Never did Ellen Spiegel vote to double her salary and/or "make taxpayers pay for it". Nope, that vote was actually a consideration of allowing for annual sessions of the legislature... You know, enabling our legislators to actually work for us more! (Plus there were many more things in AJR 6, nothing saying anything about raising lawmakers' salaries.)

So yet again, a group of Nevada Republicans (whoever they may actually be) got dirty... But couldn't be smart about their dirt. It was sent to the wrong houses, likely tossed directly into the garbage bin by many recipients, and contained outright lies that just took a little bit of research to debunk.

And worse yet, this may really backfire on them. Most of the neighbors I've spoken with don't even remember it. (It must have taken all of ten seconds for this to go from doorstep to trash can.) And of the ones that did remember it, they REALLY didn't like it. Again, a campaign needs to be smart when going negative... And this hit piece was anything but smart.

Oh, and by the way, did they really have to stoop so low as to find the most unflattering photo of Ellen they could find? Here's how she really looks.



Fools. I pity them sometimes. And this week, their botched attack on Ellen Spiegel is simply pitiful.