truthout--2020-08-27--Pandemic Could Disenfranchise Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents

Walter Hutchins cast his first vote for president for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 , and he has voted in every election since .
The last thing he wants is for his “ 68-year streak , ” as he proudly calls it , to end in November .
An industrial engineer , Hutchins helped design the M16 , the weapon of choice for American soldiers during the Vietnam War , and he invented several tools that may be currently sitting in your garage .
He and his wife , Margaret , a teacher and ordained Episcopal minister whom he married @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , followed his jobs from Connecticut to Florida , New York and Wisconsin , until they retired to North Carolina .
Wherever they were , they always voted — in fire stations , churches , their retirement community .
When Walter became blind and hard of hearing , Margaret helped him in the voting booth .
This year , what stumped Hutchins , despite all his resourcefulness , was how he was going to exercise his basic constitutional right to vote during a pandemic .
The Davis Community nursing home in Wilmington , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for two years , has barred visitors since March .
Margaret , still in the retirement community nearby , can ’ t help him , nor can their four kids and eight grandchildren .
Neither can the nursing home staff .
A 2013 state law prohibits staff at hospitals , clinics , nursing homes and rest homes from helping residents with their ballots .
Some North Carolina counties , including New Hanover , where Wilmington is located , send teams into nursing homes to assist voters or bring them to polling places , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limited that service as well .
As the pandemic worsened , he and Margaret began to consider a more drastic measure to keep his streak intact .
“ It makes me angry that something like this could happen and that we ’ d be denied the right to vote just because of our age and condition , ” she said .
How to vote during a pandemic poses a dilemma for many Americans , who worry about the health risks of voting in person and whether the U.S .
Postal Service will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Such concerns are multiplied for nursing home residents .
Most , though not all , of the roughly 2.2 million Americans living in nursing homes or assisted living communities are elderly — and thus at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus .
They ’ re also part of the most politically engaged demographic in the country .
In 2018 , 66 % of Americans over 65 voted , compared with just 35 % of those 18 to 29 .
In 2016 , Donald Trump had an advantage over Hillary Clinton among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 44 % , according to the Pew Research Center .
At least 68,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic outbreak began , some 41 % of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S. , according to a New York Times analysis .
This ongoing crisis at care facilities across the country has had a troubling hidden effect : the looming mass disenfranchisement of America ’ s elderly and disabled .
Hutchins is one of hundreds of thousands of residents of nursing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be not able to vote this year because of coronavirus related-lockdowns and the failure of state and county officials to help a forgotten population of voters .
Many nursing home residents have some degree of mental impairment — nearly half of long-term care patients suffer from dementia or Alzheimer ’ s .
But those afflictions do not mean residents automatically lose their right to vote — competency requirements vary from state to state — and advocates say that nursing home staff often make arbitrary judgments about who can vote .
More egregiously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their voting rights .
Other residents are as mentally sharp as ever — yet still may not be able to vote this year .
Jay Leavitt jokingly refers to himself as a “ sort of a disaster case , ” a phrase that wildly undersells his productivity .
A former Fulbright scholar , with a doctorate in applied mathematics , Leavitt used to run the academic computing program at the University at Buffalo .
He ’ s 84 and is a quadrapelgic , but he ’ s still publishing research ; his current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prehistoric migratory patterns .
“ I ’ m sort of blessed .
Even though I ’ m a quad , my mental activities haven ’ t decreased .
As a matter of fact , they ’ re probably increasing , ” Leavitt said .
He normally stays in a nursing home in Hendersonville , North Carolina .
But this summer he was transferred to the River Falls Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Slater-Marietta , South Carolina , for treatment of a wound .
Over the years , he ’ s voted in person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helped other nursing home residents fill out their ballots .
He ’ s even grilled local candidates about conditions in North Carolina nursing homes .
Because of his disability , he can ’ t mark a ballot himself .
His wife used to help him .
But she isn ’ t allowed to visit him , and she is in the early stages of dementia , he said .
He ’ s succeeded in getting a North Carolina absentee ballot form , but he ’ s not sure where to send it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a witness .
The River Falls staff has not discussed voting with him or offered assistance to anyone he knows , he said .
“ I ’ m certainly very concerned ” about voting , Leavitt said .
“ I haven ’ t seen anything done in this nursing home.
” After ProPublica asked about Leavitt ’ s experience , a River Falls spokesperson said it would provide him with any voting help he needs .
The facility held a cookout in early July to register residents to vote , the spokesperson said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a top priority to help our staff and residents get involved in the electoral process and exercise their right to vote , ” River Falls administrator Tkeyah Brunson said .
“ Just as we have worked hard to help residents communicate remotely with friends and family , we want to help our residents enjoy their normal freedoms and quality of life during these difficult times , including the ability to participate in our democracy.
” Before the pandemic , recognizing the barriers that elderly and disabled voters in institutions already faced , almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assistance .
Florida ’ s program was typical .
A trained bipartisan team appointed by the election supervisor would travel to residential care facilities and help residents fill out absentee ballots .
The service was provided to any facility that had at least five people interested in voting and submitted a request at least three weeks prior to an election .
This year , Florida ’ s program has been suspended , leaving thousands without help in a swing state with one of the largest elderly populations .
A similar program in Wisconsin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visited nursing homes , has also been curtailed .
Karen Lee Weidig , who served as a special voting deputy in Madison , Wisconsin , for more than a decade , said she was “ stunned and disappointed ” that the program is not being offered this year .
“ The people to whom we present ballots very much want to vote , it ’ s a big part of their civic life , ” she said .
“ It might be the only part of their civic life.
” Some election officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules on the fly , according to internal emails obtained by ProPublica .
“ The assistant for the ballot can not be an employee of the care facility , ” stated part of a July presentation by Madison ’ s elections clerk .
Soon after , an elections official indicated those rules had been relaxed following questions from a local nursing home : “ Since the ballot is being mailed and SVDs are not present , the voter can designate ANYONE to help them mark their ballot ( including facility staff and administrators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individual counties decide whether to send what are known as multipartisan assistance teams ( MATs ) .
They have traditionally been funded by county resources and depend on volunteers .
On Aug. 1 , the state Department of Health and Human Services released guidance that “ strongly encouraged ” that those teams visit residents outdoors , no more than two residents at a time , and maintain 6 feet of social distance .
Officials in North Carolina counties that still plan to provide MATs told ProPublica that they will follow this guidance .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the guidelines , though appropriate during the pandemic , will make it much harder .
For one thing , not every voter is healthy enough to be outside .
When North Carolina ’ s League of Women Voters ran an informal precursor to those teams , volunteers had to go room to room , sometimes waking residents from naps , said Vice President Marian Lewin .
Even in normal times , MATs leave voters out , Lewin said .
“ You ’ re doing this out of the good of your heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the teams exist , ” they may consist of five or 10 volunteers for an entire county .
“ By their very nature , they ’ re inadequate.
” Martha Roblee , 67 , is a resident of the assisted living section of Scotia Village , a community care facility in Laurinburg , North Carolina .
Through her work with the League of Women Voters , Roblee has been helping to educate voters at Scotia , but there are people she isn ’ t allowed to reach in the skilled nursing wing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ decades .
Who ’ s going to help these people ?
” Roblee said .
One resident of an assisted living facility in southeastern North Carolina said she has helped other people there vote in prior elections .
The woman , who suffers from a genetic condition , said some of her “ dearest friends ” in the facility have died from COVID-19 .
Almost every day , she has a socially distanced lunch with her boyfriend of 15 years in the facility ’ s lobby , where they ’ re separated by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rocking chair .
He has a rocking chair , ” said the woman , who requested anonymity .
“ He brings Big Macs and he gets on his cellphone .
I get on my cellphone on speaker , and we just eat and jabber.
” Helping the elderly and disabled to vote will be very challenging in the pandemic , especially if MATs aren ’ t available , she said .
“ How would you do it ?
” she said .
“ How would you walk a senior citizen or a person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballot so that you knew the vote they wanted to cast was theirs ?
It would be a difficult thing .
You would have to get into their chair and think like they do , and look at that ballot through their eyes.
” Even if state law were to allow it , she said , the staff don ’ t have time to help with voting .
“ They ’ re juggling all kinds of things trying to keep us from going crazy , ” she said .
“ To put something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far , she said , the facility has not even discussed voting : “ We ’ re hard put to get our Pepsi machine filled.
” In June , to help relieve the boredom of life under a lockdown , Phoenix Assisted Care in Cary , North Carolina , posted residents ’ pictures on Facebook .
Each resident held a sign describing their interests and asking for pen pals from across the country .
( “ I like women , wrestling , eating out , ” one man ’ s sign read .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said that the response was “ hogwild ” ; the posts went viral and were picked up by national news organizations .
Since then , residents have received more than 110,000 letters and hundreds of packages .
But Phoenix hasn ’ t come up with a similar innovation to enable residents to vote .
In past years , about 40 have voted , usually in person , Horton said .
This year she isn ’ t sure what her facility will do , or if MATs will be enough .
“ My @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to expose them , ” Horton said .
“ This is a senior population .
It ’ s not gon na take but one person , and it ’ s gon na spread .
I ’ ve been doing this for 20 years .
This is really tough .
No one is seeing their family , you can ’ t vote .
It ’ s beyond something I ever thought I ’ d witness.
” This spring , a friend of Margaret Hutchins at the local League of Women Voters chapter asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joining a lawsuit challenging North Carolina ’ s vote by mail restrictions and ballot accessibility laws .
“ I thought that he ’ d be willing , and that I better call him and ask him , ” Margaret said .
Hutchins agreed .
He signed up as a plaintiff , along with the league ; Democracy North Carolina , a nonpartisan nonprofit ; and several voters who were either elderly , disabled or at high risk of contracting COVID-19 .
Hutchins was the only plaintiff confined to a nursing home .
Walter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hutchins , 54 , a correctional officer in Idaho , said he wasn ’ t surprised that his dad got involved in the case .
Walter was “ always very active in exercising his rights , ” Jim said .
“ Dad was a lifelong Republican .
Mom was a Democrat , so they always canceled each other out.
” Today , Walter and Margaret are registered Independents ; they declined to say whom they would support in November .
In the suit , Hutchins ’ lawyers argued that the state was violating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him with his ballot .
The case also sought broader changes to make voting easier in North Carolina .
Conservative legal groups intervened to oppose the lawsuit .
Committees for the Republican Senatorial and Congressional campaigns filed motions in the case , arguing that election rules , including the staff prohibition , should not be changed .
The Public Interest Legal Foundation , a right-wing think tank that has long pushed exaggerated claims of voter fraud , filed an amicus brief for the defense , asking the court to consider its research on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rolls .
The state and county boards contended that Hutchins had not yet been deprived of the right to vote .
His facility , for example , might not be locked down by the election .
They also argued that MATs could help Hutchins with his ballot , though the state had not yet released its guidance .
Emails submitted as evidence in the case , though , showed that Hutchins and other nursing home residents might not be able to rely on MAT , and that at least two counties did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difficult to find a team of bipartisan volunteers to serve , and the MAT program has no funding allocated to it by the legislature , ” Katelyn Love , the North Carolina Board of Elections ’ general counsel , had written to a disability rights group .
“ If a MAT team is unavailable , another person may assist a voter in a nursing home or other facility provided that the person is not disqualified .
Nursing home owners , managers , and employees , may not assist.
” Hilary Harris Klein , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coalition for Social Justice , told ProPublica that the law prohibiting employee assistance trampled Hutchins ’ rights .
“ He trusts these people and wants them to help , ” she said .
“ The government is denying his choice by enforcing this ban on staff assistance.
” In August , a federal judge in Greensboro , North Carolina , found that the state had violated Hutchins ’ rights , but only his .
Staff at Davis Community could help Hutchins with his ballot , but no one else there or in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from nursing home workers .
Which is to say , Walter Hutchins won a remarkable legal victory that was also remarkably limited .
The North Carolina Board of Elections declined to comment on the lawsuit .
But Patrick Gannon , a public information officer for the board , said that in March the board “ recommended that the prohibition on facility employees be temporarily lifted during the pandemic.
” North Carolina ’ s Republican-dominated legislature declined to lift the ban .
Gannon also said that this summer , for the first time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recruit and train MAT teams .
In a March letter to the governor and state legislators , Karen Brinson Bell , the board ’ s executive director , noted that MAT teams may not be able to reach some facilities .
Davis Community did not respond to multiple requests for comment , including how it will help Hutchins vote in his 18th consecutive presidential election .
Klein said she was disappointed by the narrow ruling .
“ The court acknowledges that a lot of people are in this situation .
So we would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to more people , but that doesn ’ t mean the state can ’ t do anything about this.
” Calling the judge ’ s decision “ clearly erroneous ” and arguing that it will lead to “ manifest injustice , ” Hutchins ’ lawyers filed a motion this month asking the court to let all North Carolina nursing home residents who need assistance with their ballots get help from facility staff .
For Walter , the decision was a welcome , if limited , victory .
“ I ’ m a very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an email .
“ I love this country .
And the right to vote is a very important thing to me .
I ’ m very , very pleased to have participated in this lawsuit .
But there are others who are in nursing homes in North Carolina who need help in voting too .
They should be able to have nursing staff help them as well .
”

Walter Hutchins cast his first vote for president for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and he has voted in every election since. The last thing he wants is for his “68-year streak,” as he proudly calls it, to end in November.
An industrial engineer, Hutchins helped design the M16, the weapon of choice for American soldiers during the Vietnam War, and he invented several tools that may be currently sitting in your garage. He and his wife, Margaret, a teacher and ordained Episcopal minister whom he married the year after he voted for Ike, followed his jobs from Connecticut to Florida, New York and Wisconsin, until they retired to North Carolina. Wherever they were, they always voted — in fire stations, churches, their retirement community. When Walter became blind and hard of hearing, Margaret helped him in the voting booth.
This year, what stumped Hutchins, despite all his resourcefulness, was how he was going to exercise his basic constitutional right to vote during a pandemic. The Davis Community nursing home in Wilmington, North Carolina, where Hutchins has lived for two years, has barred visitors since March. Margaret, still in the retirement community nearby, can’t help him, nor can their four kids and eight grandchildren.
Neither can the nursing home staff. A 2013 state law prohibits staff at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and rest homes from helping residents with their ballots. Some North Carolina counties, including New Hanover, where Wilmington is located, send teams into nursing homes to assist voters or bring them to polling places, but the threat of the coronavirus has limited that service as well.
As the pandemic worsened, he and Margaret began to consider a more drastic measure to keep his streak intact. “It makes me angry that something like this could happen and that we’d be denied the right to vote just because of our age and condition,” she said.
How to vote during a pandemic poses a dilemma for many Americans, who worry about the health risks of voting in person and whether the U.S. Postal Service will be able to deliver mail-in ballots on time. Such concerns are multiplied for nursing home residents.
Most, though not all, of the roughly 2.2 million Americans living in nursing homes or assisted living communities are elderly — and thus at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus. They’re also part of the most politically engaged demographic in the country. In 2018, 66% of Americans over 65 voted, compared with just 35% of those 18 to 29. In 2016, Donald Trump had an advantage over Hillary Clinton among voters 65 and older by 53% to 44%, according to the Pew Research Center.
At least 68,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic outbreak began, some 41% of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S., according to a New York Times analysis. This ongoing crisis at care facilities across the country has had a troubling hidden effect: the looming mass disenfranchisement of America’s elderly and disabled. Hutchins is one of hundreds of thousands of residents of nursing homes and assisted living communities who may not be not able to vote this year because of coronavirus related-lockdowns and the failure of state and county officials to help a forgotten population of voters.
Many nursing home residents have some degree of mental impairment — nearly half of long-term care patients suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s. But those afflictions do not mean residents automatically lose their right to vote — competency requirements vary from state to state — and advocates say that nursing home staff often make arbitrary judgments about who can vote. More egregiously, some residents are not informed of their voting rights.
Other residents are as mentally sharp as ever — yet still may not be able to vote this year. Jay Leavitt jokingly refers to himself as a “sort of a disaster case,” a phrase that wildly undersells his productivity. A former Fulbright scholar, with a doctorate in applied mathematics, Leavitt used to run the academic computing program at the University at Buffalo. He’s 84 and is a quadrapelgic, but he’s still publishing research; his current project examines how natural resource levels affected prehistoric migratory patterns.
“I’m sort of blessed. Even though I’m a quad, my mental activities haven’t decreased. As a matter of fact, they’re probably increasing,” Leavitt said.
He normally stays in a nursing home in Hendersonville, North Carolina. But this summer he was transferred to the River Falls Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Slater-Marietta, South Carolina, for treatment of a wound.
Over the years, he’s voted in person or by mail, and he has helped other nursing home residents fill out their ballots. He’s even grilled local candidates about conditions in North Carolina nursing homes. Because of his disability, he can’t mark a ballot himself. His wife used to help him. But she isn’t allowed to visit him, and she is in the early stages of dementia, he said.
He’s succeeded in getting a North Carolina absentee ballot form, but he’s not sure where to send it, or how to fulfill the requirement for a witness. The River Falls staff has not discussed voting with him or offered assistance to anyone he knows, he said.
“I’m certainly very concerned” about voting, Leavitt said. “I haven’t seen anything done in this nursing home.”
After ProPublica asked about Leavitt’s experience, a River Falls spokesperson said it would provide him with any voting help he needs. The facility held a cookout in early July to register residents to vote, the spokesperson said.
“We’ve made it a top priority to help our staff and residents get involved in the electoral process and exercise their right to vote,” River Falls administrator Tkeyah Brunson said. “Just as we have worked hard to help residents communicate remotely with friends and family, we want to help our residents enjoy their normal freedoms and quality of life during these difficult times, including the ability to participate in our democracy.”
Before the pandemic, recognizing the barriers that elderly and disabled voters in institutions already faced, almost half of states offered some form of assistance. Florida’s program was typical. A trained bipartisan team appointed by the election supervisor would travel to residential care facilities and help residents fill out absentee ballots. The service was provided to any facility that had at least five people interested in voting and submitted a request at least three weeks prior to an election.
This year, Florida’s program has been suspended, leaving thousands without help in a swing state with one of the largest elderly populations. A similar program in Wisconsin, where “special voting deputies” visited nursing homes, has also been curtailed.
Karen Lee Weidig, who served as a special voting deputy in Madison, Wisconsin, for more than a decade, said she was “stunned and disappointed” that the program is not being offered this year. “The people to whom we present ballots very much want to vote, it’s a big part of their civic life,” she said. “It might be the only part of their civic life.”
Some election officials in Wisconsin are trying to adjust the rules on the fly, according to internal emails obtained by ProPublica. “The assistant for the ballot cannot be an employee of the care facility,” stated part of a July presentation by Madison’s elections clerk. Soon after, an elections official indicated those rules had been relaxed following questions from a local nursing home: “Since the ballot is being mailed and SVDs are not present, the voter can designate ANYONE to help them mark their ballot (including facility staff and administrators).”
In North Carolina, individual counties decide whether to send what are known as multipartisan assistance teams (MATs). They have traditionally been funded by county resources and depend on volunteers. On Aug. 1, the state Department of Health and Human Services released guidance that “strongly encouraged” that those teams visit residents outdoors, no more than two residents at a time, and maintain 6 feet of social distance.
Officials in North Carolina counties that still plan to provide MATs told ProPublica that they will follow this guidance. But people familiar with the process said that the guidelines, though appropriate during the pandemic, will make it much harder. For one thing, not every voter is healthy enough to be outside. When North Carolina’s League of Women Voters ran an informal precursor to those teams, volunteers had to go room to room, sometimes waking residents from naps, said Vice President Marian Lewin.
Even in normal times, MATs leave voters out, Lewin said. “You’re doing this out of the good of your heart,” she said. “If the teams exist,” they may consist of five or 10 volunteers for an entire county. “By their very nature, they’re inadequate.”
Martha Roblee, 67, is a resident of the assisted living section of Scotia Village, a community care facility in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Through her work with the League of Women Voters, Roblee has been helping to educate voters at Scotia, but there are people she isn’t allowed to reach in the skilled nursing wing. “They’ve been voting for decades. Who’s going to help these people?” Roblee said.
One resident of an assisted living facility in southeastern North Carolina said she has helped other people there vote in prior elections. The woman, who suffers from a genetic condition, said some of her “dearest friends” in the facility have died from COVID-19. Almost every day, she has a socially distanced lunch with her boyfriend of 15 years in the facility’s lobby, where they’re separated by tempered glass. “I have a rocking chair. He has a rocking chair,” said the woman, who requested anonymity. “He brings Big Macs and he gets on his cellphone. I get on my cellphone on speaker, and we just eat and jabber.”
Helping the elderly and disabled to vote will be very challenging in the pandemic, especially if MATs aren’t available, she said. “How would you do it?” she said. “How would you walk a senior citizen or a person with a disability through marking their legal ballot so that you knew the vote they wanted to cast was theirs? It would be a difficult thing. You would have to get into their chair and think like they do, and look at that ballot through their eyes.”
Even if state law were to allow it, she said, the staff don’t have time to help with voting. “They’re juggling all kinds of things trying to keep us from going crazy,” she said. “To put something else on them? No.” So far, she said, the facility has not even discussed voting: “We’re hard put to get our Pepsi machine filled.”
In June, to help relieve the boredom of life under a lockdown, Phoenix Assisted Care in Cary, North Carolina, posted residents’ pictures on Facebook. Each resident held a sign describing their interests and asking for pen pals from across the country. (“I like women, wrestling, eating out,” one man’s sign read.) Donna Horton, an administrator there, said that the response was “hogwild”; the posts went viral and were picked up by national news organizations. Since then, residents have received more than 110,000 letters and hundreds of packages.
But Phoenix hasn’t come up with a similar innovation to enable residents to vote. In past years, about 40 have voted, usually in person, Horton said. This year she isn’t sure what her facility will do, or if MATs will be enough.
“My fear is taking them somewhere that is going to expose them,” Horton said. “This is a senior population. It’s not gonna take but one person, and it’s gonna spread. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. This is really tough. No one is seeing their family, you can’t vote. It’s beyond something I ever thought I’d witness.”
This spring, a friend of Margaret Hutchins at the local League of Women Voters chapter asked her if Walter would be interested in joining a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s vote by mail restrictions and ballot accessibility laws. “I thought that he’d be willing, and that I better call him and ask him,” Margaret said.
Hutchins agreed. He signed up as a plaintiff, along with the league; Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan nonprofit; and several voters who were either elderly, disabled or at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Hutchins was the only plaintiff confined to a nursing home.
Walter and Margaret’s son, Jim Hutchins, 54, a correctional officer in Idaho, said he wasn’t surprised that his dad got involved in the case. Walter was “always very active in exercising his rights,” Jim said. “Dad was a lifelong Republican. Mom was a Democrat, so they always canceled each other out.” Today, Walter and Margaret are registered Independents; they declined to say whom they would support in November.
In the suit, Hutchins’ lawyers argued that the state was violating his rights by barring staff from helping him with his ballot. The case also sought broader changes to make voting easier in North Carolina.
Conservative legal groups intervened to oppose the lawsuit. Committees for the Republican Senatorial and Congressional campaigns filed motions in the case, arguing that election rules, including the staff prohibition, should not be changed. The Public Interest Legal Foundation, a right-wing think tank that has long pushed exaggerated claims of voter fraud, filed an amicus brief for the defense, asking the court to consider its research on inaccuracies in the state’s voter rolls.
The state and county boards contended that Hutchins had not yet been deprived of the right to vote. His facility, for example, might not be locked down by the election. They also argued that MATs could help Hutchins with his ballot, though the state had not yet released its guidance.
Emails submitted as evidence in the case, though, showed that Hutchins and other nursing home residents might not be able to rely on MAT, and that at least two counties did not have teams. “It may be difficult to find a team of bipartisan volunteers to serve, and the MAT program has no funding allocated to it by the legislature,” Katelyn Love, the North Carolina Board of Elections’ general counsel, had written to a disability rights group. “If a MAT team is unavailable, another person may assist a voter in a nursing home or other facility provided that the person is not disqualified. Nursing home owners, managers, and employees, may not assist.”
Hilary Harris Klein, a lawyer for Hutchins at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, told ProPublica that the law prohibiting employee assistance trampled Hutchins’ rights. “He trusts these people and wants them to help,” she said. “The government is denying his choice by enforcing this ban on staff assistance.”
In August, a federal judge in Greensboro, North Carolina, found that the state had violated Hutchins’ rights, but only his. Staff at Davis Community could help Hutchins with his ballot, but no one else there or in the rest of the state could receive assistance from nursing home workers.
Which is to say, Walter Hutchins won a remarkable legal victory that was also remarkably limited.
The North Carolina Board of Elections declined to comment on the lawsuit. But Patrick Gannon, a public information officer for the board, said that in March the board “recommended that the prohibition on facility employees be temporarily lifted during the pandemic.” North Carolina’s Republican-dominated legislature declined to lift the ban.
Gannon also said that this summer, for the first time, state funding had been allocated to help recruit and train MAT teams. In a March letter to the governor and state legislators, Karen Brinson Bell, the board’s executive director, noted that MAT teams may not be able to reach some facilities.
Davis Community did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including how it will help Hutchins vote in his 18th consecutive presidential election.
Klein said she was disappointed by the narrow ruling. “The court acknowledges that a lot of people are in this situation. So we would have hoped that it would have applied to more people, but that doesn’t mean the state can’t do anything about this.” Calling the judge’s decision “clearly erroneous” and arguing that it will lead to “manifest injustice,” Hutchins’ lawyers filed a motion this month asking the court to let all North Carolina nursing home residents who need assistance with their ballots get help from facility staff.
For Walter, the decision was a welcome, if limited, victory. “I’m a very patriotic guy,” he said in an email. “I love this country. And the right to vote is a very important thing to me. I’m very, very pleased to have participated in this lawsuit. But there are others who are in nursing homes in North Carolina who need help in voting too. They should be able to have nursing staff help them as well.”
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truthout--2020-08-27--Top Democrat Demands DeJoy Turn Over All Secret Trump Campaign Communications

A top Democratic congressman is demanding that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy hand over any and all of his “ secret communications with the Trump campaign ” after he admitted in testimony before the House Oversight Committee earlier this week that he has been in contact with people associated with the president ’ s reelection bid since taking charge of the U.S .
Postal Service .
Rep. Gerry Connolly ( D-Va. ) , chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations , wrote in a letter ( pdf ) to DeJoy Wednesday that “ when confronted with additional facts and information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the postmaster general “ appeared to change ” testimony he gave under oath last week to the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee .
DeJoy , a Republican megadonor to President Donald Trump , told Sen. Gary Peters ( D-Mich. ) last Friday that he has not spoken to any Trump campaign officials about the Postal Service since assuming the postmaster general position on June 16 .
But when pressed by Connolly on Monday , DeJoy conceded that he has “ spoken to people that are friends of mine that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just not the campaign ’ s “ leadership.
” “ As a threshold matter , it is concerning that you , in your capacity as postmaster general , would be communicating secretly with anyone associated with the Trump campaign , ” Connolly wrote Wednesday .
“ You have testified repeatedly that , by statute , the Postal Service should be independent and removed from politics .
Engaging in undisclosed contacts with Trump campaign officials directly undermines these goals.
” In addition , you did not disclose to the Senate—or initially even to our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trump campaign .
As you know , you were under oath on both occasions .
This omission , combined with your efforts to conceal other documents our committee has requested , raises grave concerns about the veracity of your testimony .
Finally , it appears that you chose to communicate secretly with the Trump campaign because you did not want to publicly contradict President Trump , who has relentlessly attacked the Postal Service and voting by mail .
Connolly demanded that DeJoy turn over to Congress by next week all communications with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” with the Trump campaign as well as a complete list of all Trump campaign officials he has been in contact with .
The congressman ’ s demand comes as the House Oversight Committee is threatening to subpoena DeJoy after he refused to say he would comply with document requests , including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ’ s ( D-N.Y. ) demand that he hand over his daily calendar .
“ I don ’ t know , I will check with counsel , ” DeJoy told Ocasio-Cortez Monday in response to her request , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to set a precedent for my calendar to be submitted every two months.
” Rep. Carolyn Maloney ( D-N.Y. ) , chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee , told DeJoy he “ can expect a subpoena ” if he continues withholding information from Congress related to the impact his sweeping Postal Service changes have had on mail delivery across the country .
“ You ’ re withholding information from us , concealing documents , and downplaying the damage that you ’ re causing , ” Maloney said during Monday ’ s hearing .

DeJoy conceded that he has “spoken to people that are friends of mine that are associated with the campaign.”
A top Democratic congressman is demanding that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy hand over any and all of his “secret communications with the Trump campaign” after he admitted in testimony before the House Oversight Committee earlier this week that he has been in contact with people associated with the president’s reelection bid since taking charge of the U.S. Postal Service.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, wrote in a letter (pdf) to DeJoy Wednesday that “when confronted with additional facts and information” during the Oversight Committee hearing Monday, the postmaster general “appeared to change” testimony he gave under oath last week to the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
DeJoy, a Republican megadonor to President Donald Trump, told Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) last Friday that he has not spoken to any Trump campaign officials about the Postal Service since assuming the postmaster general position on June 16. But when pressed by Connolly on Monday, DeJoy conceded that he has “spoken to people that are friends of mine that are associated with the campaign,” just not the campaign’s “leadership.”
“As a threshold matter, it is concerning that you, in your capacity as postmaster general, would be communicating secretly with anyone associated with the Trump campaign,” Connolly wrote Wednesday. “You have testified repeatedly that, by statute, the Postal Service should be independent and removed from politics. Engaging in undisclosed contacts with Trump campaign officials directly undermines these goals.”
The Virginia Democrat continued:
In addition, you did not disclose to the Senate—or initially even to our committee—that you in fact did communicate with the Trump campaign. As you know, you were under oath on both occasions. This omission, combined with your efforts to conceal other documents our committee has requested, raises grave concerns about the veracity of your testimony. Finally, it appears that you chose to communicate secretly with the Trump campaign because you did not want to publicly contradict President Trump, who has relentlessly attacked the Postal Service and voting by mail.
Connolly demanded that DeJoy turn over to Congress by next week all communications with “any individuals associated in any way” with the Trump campaign as well as a complete list of all Trump campaign officials he has been in contact with.
On Monday, I pressed Mr. DeJoy on any contact he had with the Trump campaign. I finally got him to reveal the truth, but his testimony just raises more questions. We’ve got to keep pulling this thread, so I’m giving him a week to get me some answers.#SaveUSPS https://t.co/dH49cJ2c0i pic.twitter.com/K0US8pFEZX — Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) August 26, 2020
The congressman’s demand comes as the House Oversight Committee is threatening to subpoena DeJoy after he refused to say he would comply with document requests, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) demand that he hand over his daily calendar.
“I don’t know, I will check with counsel,” DeJoy told Ocasio-Cortez Monday in response to her request, saying he doesn’t “want to set a precedent for my calendar to be submitted every two months.”
.@AOC is pressuring Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to release his calendar to the Oversight Committee. If he refuses, she recommends a subpoena. pic.twitter.com/Xvc97KL7nz — Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) August 24, 2020
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, told DeJoy he “can expect a subpoena” if he continues withholding information from Congress related to the impact his sweeping Postal Service changes have had on mail delivery across the country.
“You’re withholding information from us, concealing documents, and downplaying the damage that you’re causing,” Maloney said during Monday’s hearing.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-08-27--Trump and Sen. Martha McSally Could Lose Arizona for GOP, Republicans Fear

Arizona has been on the verge of turning into a blue state for years .
Now even some Republicans believe that President Trump ’ s sagging popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic and the worst economic crisis in a lifetime could flip the state to the Democrats .
Arizona has long been to Democrats what “ Lucy ’ s football was to Charlie Brown , ” wrote FiveThirtyEight ’ s Nathaniel Rakich .
The party has spent millions trying to win the state and media outlets have argued that “ this year ” would be the year Democrats finally flip Arizona @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t happened .
Democratic nominee Joe Biden would become just the second Democrat to carry the state since 1948 if he can pull off a win , and Arizona would have two Democratic senators for the first time since 1953 if Sen. Martha McSally , a Republican appointed to her seat by Gov .
Doug Ducey , loses her race to retired astronaut Mark Kelly .
Unlike in past years , rising turnout , a changing electorate and Republicans ’ widely-criticized response to the pandemic have the GOP worried that Democrats won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ success , when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema became the first Democrat to win an Arizona Senate race since the 1980s , but could even flip both chambers in the state legislature .
That ’ s “ certainly within the realm of possibility , ” Paul Bentz , a longtime Republican strategist at the firm HighGround , told Salon .
Bentz was campaign manager for former Gov .
Jan Brewer in 2010 .
“ There are two [ State ] Senate seats that are vulnerable , ” Bentz said , and it ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” He said he could imagine “ a world in which both chambers ended up equally split … which would be unbelievable , but there ’ s a pathway towards that .
That might happen.
” Democrats are “ very confident ” of their chances to flip the state legislature , Felecia Rotellini , the chairwoman of the Arizona Democratic Party , told Salon .
“ Both chambers are on the precipice of turning blue for the first time in 50 years , ” she said .
“ We need three seats in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to gain control .
We are fighting for each and every seat and the path to achieving these majorities is clear.
” The fate of the state legislature is likely tied to the fortunes of Trump and McSally in the federal races .
Recent polls of Arizona have been fairly split between Biden and Trump but have consistently shown McSally trailing Kelly , often by significant margins .
“ I definitely think they are both in for an incredibly difficult race , ” Bentz said .
Republicans lost their longtime voter participation advantage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up with Republicans in the state , ” he said .
The pandemic has worsened the situation for the party .
“ Before the pandemic , Arizona had one of the best and fastest-growing economies , ” Bentz said .
“ I definitely think the pathway for success for the president was better than it is now , especially with everything slowing down and unemployment .
I think between the two … the president has a better chance of winning Arizona right now than McSally does .
His base is more supportive of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are fed up ” with Republicans ’ “ failure to control the spread of the virus.
” Along with Trump ’ s widely-criticized federal response , Republican Gov .
Doug Ducey has seen his approval rating plummet into the 30s after infections spiked following the state ’ s early reopening .
“ Arizonans know that until we get the pandemic under control , the economy can ’ t fully recover , ” Rotellini said .
“ Arizonans are tired of the wishful thinking with no plan of how to truly curtail the spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are ready to roll up their sleeves and do the work.
” Arizona has been trending toward Democrats for years .
Former President Barack Obama lost the state by 11 points in 2012 before Hillary Clinton narrowed the margin to three points in 2016 .
Two years ago , Sinema became the first Democrat to win statewide in a decade as turnout surged to the highest level in 36 years .
Turnout is expected to rise even more after more than 580,000 Democrats voted in the state ’ s presidential primary , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to data provided by the state ’ s Democratic Party .
Democrats saw registrations grow by 9 % between 2016 and 2018 and that number climbed to 16 % ahead of the primary .
Turnout this year was also bolstered by a surge in voting by mail .
While many Arizona voters have voted by mail in the past , Democratic turnout surged from 29 % in the 2018 primary to 40 % in this year ’ s primary .
Rotellini told Salon that “ 2018 proved that Arizona is a battleground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we organize , invest , and build an operation to elect leaders who will put people first.
” “ We elected the first Democratic U.S. senator from Arizona in 30 years , secured three additional statewide victories , flipped a U.S. Congress seat blue — giving us a 5-4 Democratic congressional delegation majority — and increased Democratic representation in the state legislature , ” she said .
“ Now , in 2020 , we ’ ve doubled-down on this strategy .
We began organizing earlier than ever before , are building the largest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s history and we have phenomenal leaders like astronaut Mark Kelly.
” Rotellini said the party ’ s investment in digital organizing has paid off amid the pandemic and organizers have seen that voters ’ “ enthusiasm is real.
” “ People of all walks of life are reaching out to get involved , ” she said .
“ The election in 2016 was close , Trump only won by 3.5 % , and has spent most of his administration trying to take away health care coverage from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .
It ’ s clear he ’ s not up for the job .
Arizonans recognize that , and they are motivated to elect new leadership.
” Numerous progressive groups have worked to register hundreds of thousands of new voters .
One Arizona , a group launched after the passage of SB1070 , the controversial immigration law that was later struck down by the Supreme Court , organized to register previously “ disenfranchised ” Latino voters .
The group reported registering more than 190,000 people to vote in 2018 .
The group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moving their operations online after the pandemic struck .
“ It has been a grind to say the least but we have kept pushing since March and our coalition member organizations have stayed optimistic and creative , ” Montserrat Arredondo , the group ’ s executive director , told Salon .
“ I think we will get close to that same number this year.
” Immigration has not been the top issue for voters that it has been in the past because of the pandemic but “ folks are not one-issue ” voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has definitely elevated the issues in many ways .
It reminds us of the connectivity discrepancies between neighborhoods as kids go back to school , the lack of monetary support for taxpaying immigrants , the cost of utilities as folks are at home more.
” Arredondo said that he is “ optimistic ” that there will be a “ huge turnout of young people and people of color ” as a result of the protests against systemic racism and concerns about public health .
“ I think that is going to bring a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looks like now , ” he said .
Both parties expect turnout to surpass the 2018 total .
“ Frankly , the sky ’ s the limit .
2018 wasn ’ t a miracle , ” Rotellini said .
“ It was the result of years of hard work which hasn ’ t stopped .
We are building an even bigger and better Get Out the Vote program .
We have more enthusiasm for our candidates up and down the ballot than I ’ ve ever seen .
I truly believe there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We have a strong voter protection program that is focused on making sure that Arizonans are able to vote safely this election and that every vote cast is counted.
” Bentz said his firm expects turnout to reach 3 million for the first time in Arizona history , which “ will create much tighter races.
” Which voters will swing the election is an issue of some debate .
Arredondo predicted that changing demographics would result in a more progressive electorate .
“ In Arizona , our younger and browner community is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge part of these election results … I definitely think the changes in elections right now are due to changing demographics and folks hearing and seeing more candidates that look like them , came from neighborhoods like theirs and grew up in ways similar to them , ” he said .
“ And more and more it ’ s not just representation folks are looking for but candidates [ and ] politicians that are genuine and are speaking honestly about the issues affecting us today , like the pandemic.
” Bentz predicted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters , perhaps even those who split their votes between Democrats and Republicans .
Of the more than 2.4 million people who voted in 2018 ] , Bentz said , “ 195,000 of them were crossover voters ” who voted for both Sinema and Ducey , he said .
“ So we ’ re talking somewhere between 8 % and 10 % of the electorate is the key swing audience that moves .
And what ’ s really interesting that we ’ ve seen so far is there ’ s actually some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bentz says that trend means the state is unlikely to back any left-wing Democrats anytime soon , “ especially when you look at how candidates have won Arizona .
Sinema called herself an independent and talked about issues that were important to the state , talked about veterans ’ issues , talked about public safety .
She did not cast herself as one of those types of progressive-leaning Democrats .
And you saw David Garcia , the candidate for governor against Ducey , go that more progressive route and get pretty soundly defeated.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ significant uptick ” in Trump advertising trying to cast Biden as a “ weak candidate and emphasizing illegal immigration issues.
” “ The Biden campaign has to be mindful of that , ” he said .
“ I know the Republicans are … trying to align him and now [ Kamala ] Harris with those portions of the party .
And that will create some challenges for them in Arizona .
… He needs to visit the state and needs to spend some time here .
I know that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the president is going to keep coming to Arizona .
If Biden doesn ’ t come here , I think that creates a vulnerability.
” Despite the trends in recent elections and new polls , Bentz warned that Democrats should not “ underestimate the president ” or they risk yet another Grand Canyon State disappointment .
The Trump campaign is spending heavily , he said , “ which tells me that they think Arizona is in play and they ’ re trying to destabilize Biden by doing that .
We ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspect both races will get much tighter before the end of this thing.
” Trump ’ s poll numbers are “ pretty well set at who ’ s going to support him , Bentz said .
“ I don ’ t see that growing right now .
Everything they seem to be doing strategically is to try to erode any Biden enthusiasm .
”

Arizona has been on the verge of turning into a blue state for years. Now even some Republicans believe that President Trump’s sagging popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic and the worst economic crisis in a lifetime could flip the state to the Democrats.
Arizona has long been to Democrats what “Lucy’s football was to Charlie Brown,” wrote FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich. The party has spent millions trying to win the state and media outlets have argued that “this year” would be the year Democrats finally flip Arizona since at least 2004. It hasn’t happened. Democratic nominee Joe Biden would become just the second Democrat to carry the state since 1948 if he can pull off a win, and Arizona would have two Democratic senators for the first time since 1953 if Sen. Martha McSally, a Republican appointed to her seat by Gov. Doug Ducey, loses her race to retired astronaut Mark Kelly.
Unlike in past years, rising turnout, a changing electorate and Republicans’ widely-criticized response to the pandemic have the GOP worried that Democrats won’t just build on their 2018 success, when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema became the first Democrat to win an Arizona Senate race since the 1980s, but could even flip both chambers in the state legislature.
That’s “certainly within the realm of possibility,” Paul Bentz, a longtime Republican strategist at the firm HighGround, told Salon. Bentz was campaign manager for former Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010.
“There are two [State] Senate seats that are vulnerable,” Bentz said, and it’s the “same thing on the House side.” He said he could imagine “a world in which both chambers ended up equally split … which would be unbelievable, but there’s a pathway towards that. That might happen.”
Democrats are “very confident” of their chances to flip the state legislature, Felecia Rotellini, the chairwoman of the Arizona Democratic Party, told Salon.
“Both chambers are on the precipice of turning blue for the first time in 50 years,” she said. “We need three seats in the Senate and two in the House to gain control. We are fighting for each and every seat and the path to achieving these majorities is clear.”
The fate of the state legislature is likely tied to the fortunes of Trump and McSally in the federal races. Recent polls of Arizona have been fairly split between Biden and Trump but have consistently shown McSally trailing Kelly, often by significant margins.
“I definitely think they are both in for an incredibly difficult race,” Bentz said. Republicans lost their longtime voter participation advantage in 2018 and Democrats have “caught up with Republicans in the state,” he said.
The pandemic has worsened the situation for the party.
“Before the pandemic, Arizona had one of the best and fastest-growing economies,” Bentz said. “I definitely think the pathway for success for the president was better than it is now, especially with everything slowing down and unemployment. I think between the two … the president has a better chance of winning Arizona right now than McSally does. His base is more supportive of him.”
Rotellini said that “Arizonans are fed up” with Republicans’ “failure to control the spread of the virus.” Along with Trump’s widely-criticized federal response, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has seen his approval rating plummet into the 30s after infections spiked following the state’s early reopening.
“Arizonans know that until we get the pandemic under control, the economy can’t fully recover,” Rotellini said. “Arizonans are tired of the wishful thinking with no plan of how to truly curtail the spread of this virus. They want leaders who are ready to roll up their sleeves and do the work.”
Arizona has been trending toward Democrats for years. Former President Barack Obama lost the state by 11 points in 2012 before Hillary Clinton narrowed the margin to three points in 2016. Two years ago, Sinema became the first Democrat to win statewide in a decade as turnout surged to the highest level in 36 years. Turnout is expected to rise even more after more than 580,000 Democrats voted in the state’s presidential primary, up more than 110,000 from 2016, according to data provided by the state’s Democratic Party. Democrats saw registrations grow by 9% between 2016 and 2018 and that number climbed to 16% ahead of the primary. Turnout this year was also bolstered by a surge in voting by mail. While many Arizona voters have voted by mail in the past, Democratic turnout surged from 29% in the 2018 primary to 40% in this year’s primary.
Rotellini told Salon that “2018 proved that Arizona is a battleground state and that Democrats can win when we organize, invest, and build an operation to elect leaders who will put people first.”
“We elected the first Democratic U.S. senator from Arizona in 30 years, secured three additional statewide victories, flipped a U.S. Congress seat blue — giving us a 5-4 Democratic congressional delegation majority — and increased Democratic representation in the state legislature,” she said. “Now, in 2020, we’ve doubled-down on this strategy. We began organizing earlier than ever before, are building the largest Democratic organizing effort in our party’s history and we have phenomenal leaders like astronaut Mark Kelly.”
Rotellini said the party’s investment in digital organizing has paid off amid the pandemic and organizers have seen that voters’ “enthusiasm is real.”
“People of all walks of life are reaching out to get involved,” she said. “The election in 2016 was close, Trump only won by 3.5%, and has spent most of his administration trying to take away health care coverage from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans while he’s failed to confront COVID-19. It’s clear he’s not up for the job. Arizonans recognize that, and they are motivated to elect new leadership.”
Numerous progressive groups have worked to register hundreds of thousands of new voters. One Arizona, a group launched after the passage of SB1070, the controversial immigration law that was later struck down by the Supreme Court, organized to register previously “disenfranchised” Latino voters. The group reported registering more than 190,000 people to vote in 2018. The group had already registered 35,000 new voters before moving their operations online after the pandemic struck.
“It has been a grind to say the least but we have kept pushing since March and our coalition member organizations have stayed optimistic and creative,” Montserrat Arredondo, the group’s executive director, told Salon. “I think we will get close to that same number this year.”
Immigration has not been the top issue for voters that it has been in the past because of the pandemic but “folks are not one-issue” voters, Arredondo said. “The pandemic has definitely elevated the issues in many ways. It reminds us of the connectivity discrepancies between neighborhoods as kids go back to school, the lack of monetary support for taxpaying immigrants, the cost of utilities as folks are at home more.”
Arredondo said that he is “optimistic” that there will be a “huge turnout of young people and people of color” as a result of the protests against systemic racism and concerns about public health.
“I think that is going to bring a huge shift in what our government makeup looks like now,” he said.
Both parties expect turnout to surpass the 2018 total.
“Frankly, the sky’s the limit. 2018 wasn’t a miracle,” Rotellini said. “It was the result of years of hard work which hasn’t stopped. We are building an even bigger and better Get Out the Vote program. We have more enthusiasm for our candidates up and down the ballot than I’ve ever seen. I truly believe there are no limits to what we can achieve. We have a strong voter protection program that is focused on making sure that Arizonans are able to vote safely this election and that every vote cast is counted.”
Bentz said his firm expects turnout to reach 3 million for the first time in Arizona history, which “will create much tighter races.”
Which voters will swing the election is an issue of some debate. Arredondo predicted that changing demographics would result in a more progressive electorate.
“In Arizona, our younger and browner community is coming of age and will be a huge part of these election results … I definitely think the changes in elections right now are due to changing demographics and folks hearing and seeing more candidates that look like them, came from neighborhoods like theirs and grew up in ways similar to them,” he said. “And more and more it’s not just representation folks are looking for but candidates [and] politicians that are genuine and are speaking honestly about the issues affecting us today, like the pandemic.”
Bentz predicted that the race would be decided by swing voters, perhaps even those who split their votes between Democrats and Republicans.
Of the more than 2.4 million people who voted in 2018], Bentz said, “195,000 of them were crossover voters” who voted for both Sinema and Ducey, he said. “So we’re talking somewhere between 8% and 10% of the electorate is the key swing audience that moves. And what’s really interesting that we’ve seen so far is there’s actually some of those folks that are Trump-Kelly voters.”
Bentz says that trend means the state is unlikely to back any left-wing Democrats anytime soon, “especially when you look at how candidates have won Arizona. Sinema called herself an independent and talked about issues that were important to the state, talked about veterans’ issues, talked about public safety. She did not cast herself as one of those types of progressive-leaning Democrats. And you saw David Garcia, the candidate for governor against Ducey, go that more progressive route and get pretty soundly defeated.”
Bentz noted that there has been a “significant uptick” in Trump advertising trying to cast Biden as a “weak candidate and emphasizing illegal immigration issues.”
“The Biden campaign has to be mindful of that,” he said. “I know the Republicans are … trying to align him and now [Kamala] Harris with those portions of the party. And that will create some challenges for them in Arizona. … He needs to visit the state and needs to spend some time here. I know that’s very big challenge in this environment, but the president is going to keep coming to Arizona. If Biden doesn’t come here, I think that creates a vulnerability.”
Despite the trends in recent elections and new polls, Bentz warned that Democrats should not “underestimate the president” or they risk yet another Grand Canyon State disappointment.
The Trump campaign is spending heavily, he said, “which tells me that they think Arizona is in play and they’re trying to destabilize Biden by doing that. We’ll see if it works, but I suspect both races will get much tighter before the end of this thing.” Trump’s poll numbers are “pretty well set at who’s going to support him, Bentz said. “I don’t see that growing right now. Everything they seem to be doing strategically is to try to erode any Biden enthusiasm.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-08-27--People Who Live in Red States Die Younger. Conservative Policies Are to Blame.

People in red states don ’ t live as long as people in blue states , often by a wide margin .
Now , a major new study demonstrates that differences in life expectancy correlate closely with many state policies : Most red states have adopted more policies that correlate strongly with lives cut short , while most blue states have adopted opposite policies .
The new study , conducted by well-known Syracuse University sociologist Jennifer Karas Montez and seven colleagues , notes : “ State policies affect nearly every aspect of people ’ s lives , including economic well-being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , lifestyles , and access to medical care.
” Life expectancy is like a social mirror that reflects the overall health of a population .
Longevity captures , in a single number , overall social , economic , physical and mental well-being .
In 2017 , life expectancy ( at birth ) in West Virginia was 74.6 years , but in Hawaii , it was 81.6 years — a full 7-year difference .
If West Virginia were a nation , it would rank # 93 in the world for life expectancy , below @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nations with many fewer resources than the United States .
If Hawaii were a nation , it would rank # 23 in the world , with life expectancy within 0.7 years of countries with the highest longevity such as Canada , Iceland and Sweden .
Health scientists have known for more than two decades that differences in medical care explain only 10 to 15 percent of the gap in overall health between two populations , and the other 85 to 90 percent can be explained by “ the social determinants of health , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , social insurance ( health , unemployment and retirement ) , the environment ( exposure to toxic chemicals , for example ) , civil rights ( fair employment and housing practices , for example ) , racism , sexism , and other social circumstances .
Individual behavior is important , too — how people cope with psychological distress , depression , loneliness and hopelessness sometimes created by social circumstances .
All these social determinants of health are made better or worse by state policies .
Extensive data indicate that elected officials in red @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circumstances and shorten the lives of their constituents , whereas blue-state officials have chosen the opposite .
The Montez study examined more than 120 state policies , clustered into 17 main groups or “ policy domains.
” The policy domains were labeled “ liberal ” or “ conservative.
” Liberal policies are those that expand state economic regulation ( e.g.
, minimum-wage laws ) or that protect marginalized groups ( e.g.
, prohibit racial bias in housing ) , or that restrict states from criminalizing nonviolent behavior ( e.g.
, legalizing marijuana ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The longevity gap between U.S. states has been growing steadily larger for several decades .
In 1959 , people in Connecticut and Oklahoma both had the same life expectancy : 71.1 years .
However , by 2017 , Connecticut ’ s life expectancy had grown to 80.1 years — putting it near the top in the U.S. — while Oklahoma had reached only 75.8 years , putting it near the bottom .
As time passed , Connecticut ’ s social policies became increasingly liberal , while Oklahoma ’ s became increasingly conservative .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Republican policies — a price measured in lives cut short by four years , unnecessarily .
The Montez study reveals that life expectancy in red and blue states began to diverge slowly in the 1970s but accelerated after 1980 when Ronald Reagan propelled the rise of the modern conservative movement .
The year 2010 was another “ watershed moment , ” the study says , when Republicans swept into power in 21 states and aggressively eliminated liberal policies , noticeably shortening the lives of red-state residents .
In 2009 , Democrats held @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , plus legislative dominance ) while Republicans controlled only nine .
In the 2010 elections , Republicans gained complete control in 21 , Democrats in only 11 .
In his 2019 book , State Capture , Alexander Hertel-Fernandez describes how the policy environment in red states immediately began to shift in 2010 : “ What made the 2010 state legislative transition so striking was the speed with which the states began introducing and enacting a near-identical set of very conservative policy priorities , ” he writes .
Three radical-right organizations worked hand-in-glove to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2010 : The American Legislative Exchange Council ( ALEC ) , the State Policy Network ( SPN ) and Americans for Prosperity ( AFP ) .
ALEC writes model state-level legislation ; SPN , a network of over 60 state-level think tanks , supports legislation with a steady stream of research and media commentary ; while AFP floods state legislatures and governors ’ offices with mail , phone calls and emails threatening electoral retribution if they reject ALEC ’ s proposals .
( Democrats and progressives are often simply outgunned , having never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To understand ALEC better , see ALEC Exposed . )
All three radical-right organizations have been heavily funded by the billionaires who make up the Koch brothers ’ “ dark money ” cadre , known as the Kochtopus .
Years ago , the founding members of the Kochtopus hatched a plan to eliminate majority rule from the U.S. political system , and arguably they have succeeded .
A Princeton University study of how our laws are enacted can be accurately summarized as , “ Nobody cares what you think unless you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state policies , the Republican billionaire network has also promoted changes in the basic relationships between federal , state and local governments .
In 1995 , Republican strategist Newt Gingrich , then Speaker of the House of Representatives , announced “ We are going to rethink the entire structure of American society and the entire structure of American government… .
This is a real revolution.
” He wasn ’ t kidding .
In 1996 , the federal government overturned 30 years of policy , giving states greater authority over programs like welfare and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grants ” that had far fewer strings attached .
After this “ devolution , ” states were free to impose more conservative welfare policies , including punitive restrictions on welfare recipients , such as cutting off cash benefits after a certain period of time .
Meanwhile red states began to preempt local control from cities and towns , greatly curtailing local authority .
Red states then outlawed local indoor-smoking bans , local minimum-wage statutes and local requirements for paid sick days , for example .
Today , 25 states preempt locales from passing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of devolution and preemption , states have engineered vastly different health outcomes for their residents .
In 1980 , life expectancy in blue New York and red Mississippi differed by only 1.6 years .
By 2014 , the difference had grown to 5.5 years .
In life expectancy , New York now resembles Denmark and Mississippi resembles Romania .
The state-level changes were reflected in national health statistics .
According to the National Academy of Sciences , in 1980 , the U.S. ranked # 13 for longevity among 22 rich democracies .
By @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bottom at # 22 .
The Montez study reveals that , if all states adopted the policies of the most liberal U.S. states , U.S. men would live an average of 2.1 years longer , women would live 2.8 years longer , and average U.S. life expectancy would rise to the level of other high-income countries .
It seems that the main thing standing in the way of better longevity from Maine to California and everywhere in between is the modern Republican Party .

People in red states don’t live as long as people in blue states, often by a wide margin.
Now, a major new study demonstrates that differences in life expectancy correlate closely with many state policies: Most red states have adopted more policies that correlate strongly with lives cut short, while most blue states have adopted opposite policies.
The new study, conducted by well-known Syracuse University sociologist Jennifer Karas Montez and seven colleagues, notes: “State policies affect nearly every aspect of people’s lives, including economic well-being, social relationships, education, housing, lifestyles, and access to medical care.” Life expectancy is like a social mirror that reflects the overall health of a population. Longevity captures, in a single number, overall social, economic, physical and mental well-being.
In 2017, life expectancy (at birth) in West Virginia was 74.6 years, but in Hawaii, it was 81.6 years — a full 7-year difference. If West Virginia were a nation, it would rank #93 in the world for life expectancy, below Morocco, Tunisia and Honduras — all nations with many fewer resources than the United States. If Hawaii were a nation, it would rank #23 in the world, with life expectancy within 0.7 years of countries with the highest longevity such as Canada, Iceland and Sweden.
Health scientists have known for more than two decades that differences in medical care explain only 10 to 15 percent of the gap in overall health between two populations, and the other 85 to 90 percent can be explained by “the social determinants of health,” including employment, income, education, social insurance (health, unemployment and retirement), the environment (exposure to toxic chemicals, for example), civil rights (fair employment and housing practices, for example), racism, sexism, and other social circumstances. Individual behavior is important, too — how people cope with psychological distress, depression, loneliness and hopelessness sometimes created by social circumstances. All these social determinants of health are made better or worse by state policies. Extensive data indicate that elected officials in red states have chosen policies that worsen the circumstances and shorten the lives of their constituents, whereas blue-state officials have chosen the opposite.
The Montez study examined more than 120 state policies, clustered into 17 main groups or “policy domains.” The policy domains were labeled “liberal” or “conservative.” Liberal policies are those that expand state economic regulation (e.g., minimum-wage laws) or that protect marginalized groups (e.g., prohibit racial bias in housing), or that restrict states from criminalizing nonviolent behavior (e.g., legalizing marijuana). Conservative policies do the opposite.
The longevity gap between U.S. states has been growing steadily larger for several decades. In 1959, people in Connecticut and Oklahoma both had the same life expectancy: 71.1 years. However, by 2017, Connecticut’s life expectancy had grown to 80.1 years — putting it near the top in the U.S. — while Oklahoma had reached only 75.8 years, putting it near the bottom. As time passed, Connecticut’s social policies became increasingly liberal, while Oklahoma’s became increasingly conservative. Oklahomans today are paying a cruel price for Republican policies — a price measured in lives cut short by four years, unnecessarily.
Oklahomans today are paying a cruel price for Republican policies — a price measured in lives cut short by four years, unnecessarily.
The Montez study reveals that life expectancy in red and blue states began to diverge slowly in the 1970s but accelerated after 1980 when Ronald Reagan propelled the rise of the modern conservative movement. The year 2010 was another “watershed moment,” the study says, when Republicans swept into power in 21 states and aggressively eliminated liberal policies, noticeably shortening the lives of red-state residents.
In 2009, Democrats held complete control of 16 states (governorship, plus legislative dominance) while Republicans controlled only nine. In the 2010 elections, Republicans gained complete control in 21, Democrats in only 11.
In his 2019 book, State Capture, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez describes how the policy environment in red states immediately began to shift in 2010: “What made the 2010 state legislative transition so striking was the speed with which the states began introducing and enacting a near-identical set of very conservative policy priorities,” he writes.
Three radical-right organizations worked hand-in-glove to impose the death-dealing state policy changes after 2010: The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the State Policy Network (SPN) and Americans for Prosperity (AFP). ALEC writes model state-level legislation; SPN, a network of over 60 state-level think tanks, supports legislation with a steady stream of research and media commentary; while AFP floods state legislatures and governors’ offices with mail, phone calls and emails threatening electoral retribution if they reject ALEC’s proposals. (Democrats and progressives are often simply outgunned, having never developed anything so comprehensive and coordinated. To understand ALEC better, see ALEC Exposed.)
All three radical-right organizations have been heavily funded by the billionaires who make up the Koch brothers’ “dark money” cadre, known as the Kochtopus. Years ago, the founding members of the Kochtopus hatched a plan to eliminate majority rule from the U.S. political system, and arguably they have succeeded. A Princeton University study of how our laws are enacted can be accurately summarized as, “Nobody cares what you think unless you’re rich.”
Today, 25 states preempt locales from passing minimum-wage laws.
In addition to changing specific state policies, the Republican billionaire network has also promoted changes in the basic relationships between federal, state and local governments. In 1995, Republican strategist Newt Gingrich, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, announced , “We are going to rethink the entire structure of American society and the entire structure of American government…. This is a real revolution.”
He wasn’t kidding. In 1996, the federal government overturned 30 years of policy, giving states greater authority over programs like welfare and Medicaid, replacing entitlements with “block grants” that had far fewer strings attached. After this “devolution,” states were free to impose more conservative welfare policies, including punitive restrictions on welfare recipients, such as cutting off cash benefits after a certain period of time.
Meanwhile red states began to preempt local control from cities and towns, greatly curtailing local authority. Red states then outlawed local indoor-smoking bans, local minimum-wage statutes and local requirements for paid sick days, for example. Today, 25 states preempt locales from passing minimum-wage laws.
Since the early days of devolution and preemption, states have engineered vastly different health outcomes for their residents. In 1980, life expectancy in blue New York and red Mississippi differed by only 1.6 years. By 2014, the difference had grown to 5.5 years. In life expectancy, New York now resembles Denmark and Mississippi resembles Romania.
The state-level changes were reflected in national health statistics. According to the National Academy of Sciences, in 1980, the U.S. ranked #13 for longevity among 22 rich democracies. By the early 2000s, we ranked at the bottom at #22.
The Montez study reveals that, if all states adopted the policies of the most liberal U.S. states, U.S. men would live an average of 2.1 years longer, women would live 2.8 years longer, and average U.S. life expectancy would rise to the level of other high-income countries. It seems that the main thing standing in the way of better longevity from Maine to California and everywhere in between is the modern Republican Party.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
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truthout--2020-08-26--Nearly 9,000 New COVID Cases Identified Among Florida Kids After Schools Reopen

Close to 9,000 new cases of coronavirus in children have been identified in Florida in the past 15 days , after schools reopened for in-person instruction earlier this month .
As of Monday , 48,730 kids under the age of 18 have tested positive for COVID-19 since the virus reached the state .
In spite of continued new cases reported daily , Florida Gov .
Ron DeSantis pressured schools to reopen or risk losing their funding .
It ’ s clear that coronavirus has not gone away as Florida schools open their doors to students this fall .
From August @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases of coronavirus in children under the age of 18 have been identified in the state .
That number is similar to numbers seen in the previous 15-day period , before schools reopened , when 8,585 cases were found in children .
While those two numbers being similar may seem innocuous at first glance , they in fact indicate that for children across the state , the rate of infection does not appear to be slowing down .
That ’ s a sharp contrast from how the virus appears to be spreading among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has seen its overall rate of new cases drop during that same time .
The rate of infection in school-aged children is slightly higher , too , according to the new report , with 80 percent of the cases identified being among kids ages 5 to 17 .
The previous report ’ s rate was 78.5 percent .
Looking at the population in general , more than 605,000 Floridians have tested positive for COVID-19 , with 10,580 deaths attributed to the disease .
While evidence shows children may be more resilient to coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week found that they may have played a bigger role in spreading the disease .
The study , which was published in the Journal of Pediatrics , found evidence that children had high levels of coronavirus in their airways within the first three days of being infected , even if they didn ’ t show symptoms of the virus themselves .
“ Some people thought that children might be protected .
This is incorrect , ” one of the study ’ s authors , Alessio Fasano , said .
“ They may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just not visible.
” Lael Yonker , a pediatric specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the study ’ s lead author , further surmised that children likely have been responsible for spreading the infection more than was initially believed .
“ Kids , mildly symptomatic and early in the infection , are walking around in the community , and we need to minimize the potential of these children to spread the virus , ” Yonker said .
That flies in the face of what many officials hoping to reopen schools across the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who wrongly asserted children couldn ’ t be harmed by the disease earlier this month .
“ If you look at children , children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease , ” Trump said in a Fox News interview .
“ They don ’ t have a problem.
” In fact , that statement is false — children are not immune from the disease .
Though they ’ re apparently less likely to be harmed from it than adults are , dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age of 15 , as well as hundreds between the ages of 15 and 24 , have died from COVID-19 complications .
According to Florida ’ s latest report , a total of eight children in the state have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic .

A new study finds that asymptomatic children have likely played a bigger role in the spread of infections.
Close to 9,000 new cases of coronavirus in children have been identified in Florida in the past 15 days, after schools reopened for in-person instruction earlier this month.
As of Monday, 48,730 kids under the age of 18 have tested positive for COVID-19 since the virus reached the state.
In spite of continued new cases reported daily, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pressured schools to reopen or risk losing their funding.
It’s clear that coronavirus has not gone away as Florida schools open their doors to students this fall. From August 9 to August 24, 8,995 new cases of coronavirus in children under the age of 18 have been identified in the state.
That number is similar to numbers seen in the previous 15-day period, before schools reopened, when 8,585 cases were found in children.
While those two numbers being similar may seem innocuous at first glance, they in fact indicate that for children across the state, the rate of infection does not appear to be slowing down. That’s a sharp contrast from how the virus appears to be spreading among the general population of Florida, which has seen its overall rate of new cases drop during that same time.
The rate of infection in school-aged children is slightly higher, too, according to the new report, with 80 percent of the cases identified being among kids ages 5 to 17. The previous report’s rate was 78.5 percent.
Looking at the population in general, more than 605,000 Floridians have tested positive for COVID-19, with 10,580 deaths attributed to the disease.
While evidence shows children may be more resilient to coronavirus than adults, a new study published last week found that they may have played a bigger role in spreading the disease.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found evidence that children had high levels of coronavirus in their airways within the first three days of being infected, even if they didn’t show symptoms of the virus themselves.
“Some people thought that children might be protected. This is incorrect,” one of the study’s authors, Alessio Fasano, said. “They may be as susceptible as adults — but just not visible.”
Lael Yonker, a pediatric specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the study’s lead author, further surmised that children likely have been responsible for spreading the infection more than was initially believed.
“Kids, mildly symptomatic and early in the infection, are walking around in the community, and we need to minimize the potential of these children to spread the virus,” Yonker said.
That flies in the face of what many officials hoping to reopen schools across the country have suggested, including President Donald Trump, who wrongly asserted children couldn’t be harmed by the disease earlier this month.
“If you look at children, children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease,” Trump said in a Fox News interview. “They don’t have a problem.”
In fact, that statement is false — children are not immune from the disease. Though they’re apparently less likely to be harmed from it than adults are, dozens of children in the U.S. under the age of 15, as well as hundreds between the ages of 15 and 24, have died from COVID-19 complications.
According to Florida’s latest report, a total of eight children in the state have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.