Pollster: ‘Real Possibility’ GOP Takes Three Statewide Wins

Trafalgar Group chief strategist Robert Cahaly joined Liz Collin on her podcast to discuss the results of a new poll that found Dr. Scott Jensen narrowly leading Gov. Tim Walz in Minnesota.

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Minnesota Secretary of State Simon Calls Voter ID Laws ‘Draconian’ in First Debate

The top candidates for Minnesota secretary of state squared off in their first debate Sunday night on WCCO Radio and the gloves came off almost immediately.

“My mission as secretary of state has been to protect the freedom to vote for every eligible Minnesotan. I’ve been proud to do that work with fairness, impartiality, and integrity, leading to results that we can all be really proud of,” said Secretary Steve Simon, a Democrat seeking a third term as Minnesota’s chief elections official.

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Commentary: State Secretaries of State Play a Critical Role in Elections

Most state residents think of their secretary of state as someone who is in charge of their department of motor vehicles. Few realize that the decisions of secretaries of state could determine who becomes president. Dozens of states will hold elections this fall that will determine the officials who will run state elections in 2024 – and these officials could play crucial roles in the next presidential vote count.  

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Commentary: The 25th Amendment Won’t Fix Our Biden Problem

Joe Biden waving on a stage

Despite widespread concern about his cognitive health, President Biden won’t be removed from office pursuant to the 25th Amendment. It would require an unlikely display of integrity from his Vice President and Cabinet, plus an implausible level of bipartisanship in Congress. Moreover, the claims of politicians and pundits aside, the involuntary ouster of an unfit president isn’t the purpose of the amendment. Its principal function is to guarantee that the executive branch of the government is at all times led by an official who is conscious and able to communicate. Thus, the first 3 of its 4 sections focus on keeping the presidency continuously occupied.

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Colin Powell, First Black Secretary of State, Dead at 84 of COVID-19 Complications

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell died Monday morning due to complication from COVID-19, according to his family. He was 84.

Powell was the first black U.S. secretary of state, serving in the second Bush administration from 2001-2005. From 1989-1993, he served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.

He was fully vaccinated, the family said.

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11 Months After 2020 Election Georgia Secretary of State Missing Chain of Custody Documents for 6,995 Absentee Ballots Deposited in Fulton County Drop Boxes

A review of transfer forms provided to The Georgia Star News in response to an open records request reveals that the Secretary of State’s office in Georgia is missing chain of custody documents for 6,995 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes in Fulton County during the November 2020 election.

The number of absentee ballots for which the office has no evidence of the origination of the ballots represents 9 percent of the 79,460 total that Fulton County has recorded as being deposited into drop boxes during the more than month-long early voting and election day period.

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‘They Lied to Us’: Hundreds of American Citizens and Others with Green Cards Were Left in Afghanistan

Hundreds of American citizens and people with green cards were left in Afghanistan after U.S. forces withdrew from the country, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who were left in Afghanistan were reportedly told after the last American flight took off from the Kabul international airport to expect information about routes out of the country, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said, according to the AP.

“We will communicate directly to them personalized instructions on what they should do, when they should do it, and how the United States government feels we are best positioned to help them do that,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said, the AP reported.

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Georgia Public Broadcasting Reveals Secretary of State Raffensperger Delivered Some Fulton County Absentee Ballot Chain of Custody Documents to Them in April

An interview between The Georgia Star News and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News revealed that they had received Fulton County’s drop box absentee ballot transfer forms from the Secretary of State’s office in April.  GPB News, however, did not report on their findings until after The Star News report in June.

Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News requested an interview with John Fredericks, which also included Laura Baigert, of The Georgia Star News, as part of his fact-check for a story and to get comments from everyone involved.

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Georgia Secretary of State Says He Wants Fulton County Elections Taken Over by State

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Just the News on Wednesday that he wants Fulton County elections taken over by the state under a new law that addresses localities with habitual problems counting ballots, dramatically escalating his battle with the state’s largest urban center in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

“I think people are saying, enough is enough,” Raffensperger said in a podcast interview in which he discussed using the new election integrity law known as Senate Bill 202 to have the State Elections Board take over the Atlanta-area election counting in time for the 2022 elections.

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Conservative Sues Twitter, California Officials, and Biden Campaign Consultants For Colluding to Deplatform Him

Screen cap of Fox News interview

Conservative political commentator and attorney Rogan O’Handley is suing former California Secretary of State and now U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, current Calif. SoS Shirley Weber, Twitter, Team Biden campaign consultants SKDK, and others, for coordinating to deplatform him from Twitter after he tweeted his concerns about the 2020 election.

The Center for American Liberty in conjunction with the Dhillon Law Group, Inc. filed the federal civil rights lawsuit on Thursday in the United States District Court in Central California.

O’Handley spent years developing a verified Twitter account with 440,000 followers only to find his account permanently suspended at the direction of the Secretary of State’s office, according to a press release from Center for American Liberty.

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Fifteen Secretaries of State Endorse Keep Nine Amendment

A group of 15 secretaries of state this week issued their support for the “Keep Nine Amendment” recently introduced in Congress, marking the latest victory for the organization seeking to preserve the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Keep Nine Amendment said in a statement that the 15 sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader of the House Kevin McCarthy.

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Trump Pulls Out of Military Transparency Treaty with Russia, Europe

The Trump administration officially withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, a 2002 agreement to promote military transparency signed by more than 30 countries including Russia.

The Department of State said Sunday that the U.S. had officially withdrawn from the Open Skies Treaty, which went into effect nearly two decades ago. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both announced on May 21 that the U.S. intended to exit the agreement, according to The Associated Press.

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Advocates Sound Alarm Over Absentee Ballot Signature Verifications in Michigan

Election integrity advocates believe something fishy is going on in Wayne County with absentee ballots, and they say Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is undermining the security of the process there and across Michigan.

Glen Sitek of the Election Integrity Fund provided an exclusive statement to The Michigan Star.

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U.S. Guarantees Hormuz Shipping Passage

  The United States says it will “guarantee freedom of navigation” for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic talks or military intervention, contending again that it was “unmistakable” that Iran launched last week’s attacks on two tankers sailing through the narrow passage. “These were attacks by the Islamic…

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Minnesota Secretary of State Unveils Plan to Restore Voting Rights to 60,000 Felons

Secretary of State Steve Simon (D-MN) unveiled his “Investing in Democracy” 2019 agenda during a Thursday press conference where he announced plans to restore voting rights to felons after they are released from prison. Currently, Minnesota is one of 22 states that revokes voting rights for felons during incarceration and…

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Ohio’s Jon Husted Wants to Transfer $10 Million from Secretary of State Office to General Fund

Ohio Lt. Gov.-elect Jon Husted, who will serve as secretary of state until January, offered to transfer $10 million from the office he currently oversees to the state’s general fund in order to “improve the lives of all Ohioans.” In a November 5 letter, which was released this week, Husted…

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Republicans in State Senate Did Not Support Bill To Secure Tennessee Voting Machines With Paper Ballot Audit Trail

Yarbro

When Democrat Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) sponsored a bill earlier this year that would provide greater vote security by requiring that before January 1, 2020, electronic voting machines have the capability to create a voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) for each ballot cast and that the VVPATs be preserved…

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