FL: Amalie Arena will serve as early voting site for November election

Amalie Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning, will also be home beginning next month to voters wishing to cast their ballots early.

The arena will become the 25th early voting site offered in Hillsborough County, the supervisor of elections office announced Friday afternoon.

Any registered voter in the county will be allowed to cast a ballot there or at any of the county’s other early voting sites from Oct. 19 through Nov. 1.

The Lightning reached out to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office several weeks ago, offering the arena up as a polling place.




https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/elections/2020/09/04/amalie-arena-will-serve-as-early-voting-site-for-november-election/%3foutputType=amp

LGBTQ candidates in Pa. and Del. hope to win seats in November

According to LGBTQ Victory Institute’s Out for America 2020 digital report, there are 843 openly LGBTQ elected officials in the U.S.

However, in order to achieve representation equal to the population, over 22-thousand more LGBTQ officials must be elected to public office nation-wide, Victory Institute President Annise Parker said in a statement.

“The hateful legislation targeting our community in city councils, state legislatures and at the federal level is a byproduct of this gap in representation,” Parker said. “But when LGBTQ elected officials are in the halls of power, they change the hearts and minds of their lawmaker colleagues, defeat anti-LGBTQ bills and inspire more inclusive legislation.”

In this fall’s upcoming general election, several LGBTQ candidates are running for office in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic candidate Daniel Smith hopes to unseat Republican state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe in the 12th District, which includes Cranberry Township in Butler County. In the Delaware Democratic primary, Eric Morrison is running for a seat in the state House of Representatives in the 27th District. Finally, Sarah McBride faces two challengers for a seat in Delaware’s First Senate District, which spans Wilmington and surrounding areas.

If elected, Morrison will be the first openly gay candidate to be elected to the Delaware Legislature, and McBride would be the first openly transgender state senator in the country.



https://www.penncapital-star.com/government-politics/lgbtq-candidates-in-pa-and-del-hope-to-win-seats-in-november/?utm

Thirty-two votes have already been cast in the 2020 general election.

GA-11: Facebook removes QAnon-supporting candidate's 'squad' post for inciting violence

Facebook said Friday it removed a Republican congressional candidate’s post that depicted her holding a gun next to the images of three progressive congresswomen for violating its policies against incitement of violence.

Key context: Marjorie Taylor Greene, a House candidate who has history of racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic remarks and who has embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory, on Thursday posted a picture of herself holding a rifle next to images of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — three of four members of the so-called liberal freshmen “squad.”

The photo was labeled: “SQUAD’S WORST NIGHTMARE." In the accompanying post, Greene railed against “leftists” who “want to take this country down,” adding, “American need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart.”

Omar on Friday called on Facebook to remove the post, which she called a “violent provocation.” The Minnesota lawmaker said the post had already prompted new death threats towards the congresswomen online.



https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/04/facebook-removes-candidates-squad-post-409175

First 2020 ballots issued in North Carolina

The first ballots of the 2020 presidential election are headed to voters Friday as North Carolina elections officials begin processing what they expect to be a record number of absentee requests.

More than a half-million absentee ballots have already left elections offices en route to voters who have requested them, a spokesman for the North Carolina Board of Elections said.

More than 643,000 North Carolinians have requested ballots so far this year, and hundreds of thousands more are likely to do so in the 60 days remaining before November’s elections.
That figure far exceeds the previous presidential contest: At this point in 2016, just 38,871 voters had asked for their absentee ballots.

State data shows Democratic voters are requesting ballots at more than three times the rate of Republican voters. Just over 337,000 registered Democrats have requested a ballot, compared with about 103,000 Republicans. Another 200,000 voters who are unaffiliated with either party have asked for mail-in ballots.


https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/515157-first-2020-ballots-issued-in-north-carolina

Howard Dean cites brother's execution by North Vietnamese in tweet saying 'F--- you, Donald Trump'

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) on Friday slammed President Trump for reportedly disparaging fallen service members, invoking his brother's capture and execution in the 1970s.

"My brother was captured in Laos in September of 1974 and executed by the North Vietnamese on December 14, 1974. F--- you, Donald Trump," Dean, a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, said in a tweet.

Dean's brother, Charles Dean, and Australian Neil Sharman were captured by Laotian communist militants during a backpacking trip to the country in 1974 and executed later that year.

Both men were civilians at the time, but Charles Dean was classified by the U.S. government as a prisoner of war. His remains were repatriated in 2003.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/515168-howard-dean-cites-brothers-execution-north-vietnamese-f-you-donald-trump

Trump campaign seeks to intervene in Arizona mail-in ballot legal fight

The Trump campaign is asking a federal judge to allow it to intervene in a lawsuit brought by a group of Navajo Nation residents seeking to ease Arizona's mail-in ballot deadline.

The campaign filed a motion Thursday arguing that the lawsuit would unfairly give reservation residents an exception to state law requiring that ballots be received by Election Day, which could affect the campaign's chance of success in the state.

Arizona is one of a half-dozen swing states likely to decide the presidential election between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The campaign also argued that the election would be thrown into chaos if Arizona were forced to accept certain ballots as long as they were postmarked on or before Nov. 3.

"Counting these ballots would affect [the campaign] and other candidates seeking office at the local, state, and federal level because it would change the share of votes those candidates receive and give preference to one specific type of voter over all others," the campaign wrote in its motion.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/515197-trump-campaign-seeks-to-intervene-in-arizona-mail-in-ballot-legal-fight

Is Trump losing Wall Street?

The market is dropping. Tech stocks are taking. Trump and Kudlow are getting trashed on Bloomberg and CNBC. Is this the end for the white House?

The Best Way to Vote in Every State (PLEASE SHARE THIS ARTICLE)

Recommendations for some key states:

Arizona

Slate’s recommendation: Fill out your absentee ballot at home and drop it off at any early voting site in your county, a county recorder’s office, or a drop box, if available. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online to ensure it’s received.


Florida

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at your supervisor of elections’ office or a drop box, which is available outside early voting sites. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may have someone else do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online to ensure it is received.


Georgia

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at your county registrar’s office, or a drop box if your county offers it. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself due to a disability, you may ask a family member to do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online to ensure it is received. All that information is available here.


Iowa

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at their county auditor’s office or drop box, if available. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask another individual to do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online using the system set up by individual counties.


Maine

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot online or by phone, fill it out at home, and drop it off at your municipal clerk’s office. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask another individual to do it for you. Individuals who prefer to cast a ballot in person should vote early at their municipal clerk’s office. If you choose this route, you will not have to fill out an absentee ballot request form.


Michigan

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at their local clerk’s office or a drop box, if available. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask a family member to do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online. You can also vote early in person at your local clerk’s office.


Minnesota

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at your county election office or a drop box, if available. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask another individual to do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online.


North Carolina

Slate’s recommendation: Vote early in-person due to the state’s stringent signature mismatch rule. Those who vote absentee should request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at the county board of elections or your early voting site. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask a family member to do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online using the system set up by individual counties.


Ohio

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at the county board of elections or a drop box, if available. If you are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask a family member to do it for you. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online using the system set up by individual counties.


Pennsylvania

Slate’s recommendation: Request a mail-in ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at a county election office. (The state distinguishes between “mail-in” ballots for those who prefer to vote by mail and “absentee” ballots for those who must vote by mail, but there is no functional difference.) If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online using the system set up by individual counties.


Texas

Slate’s recommendation: Vote early in person. Voters who qualify should request an absentee ballot and return it by mail. If you request an absentee ballot and are unable to return the ballot yourself, you may ask another individual to do it for you.


Wisconsin

Slate’s recommendation: Request an absentee ballot, fill it out at home, and drop it off at your municipal clerk’s office or a drop box, if your county provides one. If you choose to mail your ballot, you should track its progress online using the system set up by individual municipalities. The Wisconsin Elections Commission will urge clerks to use Intelligent Mail barcodes, allowing voters to track their ballots online. If your clerk does not use IMbs, you should call their office to check on the status of your ballot.




https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/2020-voting-guide.html

More than 250,000 Pennsylvanians have already requested a ballot for the general election