Tag: elections

250,000 Texans Voted to Decriminalize Marijuana, So Why Are Politicians Trying To Override Them?

As the executive director of Ground Game Texas, I lead a team organizing working-class Texans to pass movement-driven local policies at the ballot box. In a state where our elected officials are openly hostile to justice, and voter suppression is rampant, we take the fight directly to the people. And the people are showing up.

Through our local campaigns, we’ve gathered hundreds of thousands of petition signatures and earned a quarter of a million votes to decriminalize marijuana across Texas—from Austin to Killeen, Lockhart to Dallas. In a state with low voter turnout, marijuana decriminalization has earned a supermajority of the vote in every city, and over-performed compared to the rest of the ballot. But instead of respecting the will of the voters, politicians in this state are doing everything they can to overturn these democratically elected policies.

We are fighting locally, fighting statewide, and fighting crony courts. Last year in Lockhart, the city attorney tried to split our single policy into 13 separate ballot items to bury it in bureaucracy. We stopped them. A state appeals court just upheld a lawsuit designed to stop our cities from implementing our marijuana decriminalization. And at the legislature, five separate bills were introduced this session to gut local control and block citizens from changing the law through ballot initiatives.

This is about more than plants with healing properties. It’s about power. It’s about democracy. And it’s all connected.

The war on drugs isn’t a failed policy—it’s a successful tool of oppression. A tool used to criminalize poverty. A tool used to lock Black and Brown Texans into cycles of incarceration. A tool used to destabilize families, punish veterans and disabled people and make survival a crime.

And when we rise up to change those laws, the people in power rewrite the rules to keep control. That’s not new. It’s a familiar playbook.

From Jim Crow poll taxes to modern-day gerrymandering and felony disenfranchisement, this country has always created new systems to block the people most impacted by oppression from changing it. What’s happening in Texas right now is just the latest chapter.

Let’s be clear: The issue isn’t that Texans don’t care. The issue is that the system was designed to keep most Texans out.

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Conservative Colombian Presidential Candidate Uribe Shot In The Head In Bogota Event

Conservative Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in the head on Saturday in an apparent assassination attempt. There was no immediate confirmation from the authorities on the status of his condition.

The 39-year-old senator is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party, founded by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The two men are not related.

According to a party statement condemning the attack, the senator was hosting a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighborhood in the capital on Saturday when “armed subjects shot him in the back.”

The party described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on his health.

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Justice Department Backs Judicial Watch in Oregon Elections Case Over Alleged Violations of National Voter Registration Act — Files Statement of Interest

In a major win for election integrity advocates, the Department of Justice has sided with Judicial Watch in a lawsuit against the Oregon Secretary of State over the state’s failure to follow federal law requiring transparency in how it maintains its voter rolls.

The DOJ filed a Statement of Interest on Friday, in the case Judicial Watch v. Read, confirming that Oregon cannot hide behind its counties or bureaucratic red tape to avoid its clear legal responsibilities under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

The case centers on Oregon’s refusal to hand over public records detailing efforts to clean up its voter rolls — including lists of people sent confirmation notices and whether they responded — as mandated by Section 8 of the NVRA.

Judicial Watch and other plaintiffs allege that Oregon’s Secretary of State, Tobias Read, failed to make a reasonable effort to remove ineligible voters from the rolls and unlawfully withheld critical records from public inspection — a violation that could conceal voter fraud and election mismanagement.

In a stunning rebuke of Oregon’s handling, the DOJ’s legal filing emphasized that states, not counties, are directly responsible for maintaining and disclosing these records.

Oregon’s own response to Judicial Watch’s 2023 records request admitted that fulfilling it would take 5,000 hours due to lack of central coordination.

The DOJ made clear: this is no excuse.

“To the extent that the state does not have in place and must fashion ad hoc methods to access and retrieve the records from the counties and ensure the records are preserved for at least two years, the state’s laws and practices would not be consistent with the state’s obligations under the NVRA,” the DOJ wrote.

The DOJ warned that any state law attempting to delegate those responsibilities to local officials must yield to federal law under the Constitution’s Elections Clause.

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Michigan House Sues Secretary of State Over Subpoenaed Election-Worker Training Materials

The Office of Legal Counsel for the Michigan House of Representatives filed a lawsuit on June 4 against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, over her refusal to turn over subpoenaed election materials to the House Oversight Committee.

The lawsuit, filed in the Michigan Court of Claims, requests a declaratory judgment from the court that the Michigan House has issued a valid subpoena and that Benson must comply with it. The lawsuit also requests an injunction prohibiting Benson or the Michigan Department of State from modifying any relevant records.

The House Legal Counsel filed the verified complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief under the authority of House Resolution 117, which states that the “House Office of Legal Counsel is directed to take steps necessary and proper to ensuring compliance with the House’s subpoenas, including the initiation of legal action.”

The filing also requests immediate and expedited consideration by the Court of Claims, the judicial body that resolves all disputes where the state or its agencies are the defendant.

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The Left Is Alienating Its Minority Base

Not long ago Susan Rice, the former top official in the Obama administration, was removed from the Defense Policy Board. That’s a group of grandees that advise the Defense Department. They’re political appointments. And traditionally, when a new president comes in, they get rid of most of the prior Defense Policy Board because they feel they’re partisans.

And in the case of Susan Rice, she was appointed in a late appointment by then-President Joe Biden, who pretty much wiped out all of the Trump appointments. So, her dismissal by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was not unusual.

And yet, she fired back at him and said he was dumb as a rock and ultra-MAGA. But what was interesting, she said, “white male, cisgender.” In other words, she attacked his race. And she said her administration would’ve fired him for the Signal chat scandal. But of course, she was the one that came out on Sunday talk shows and lied five times about the disaster in Benghazi, among other things later in her career. But why inject race into it?

At almost the same period, we had a number of Afrikaners—I should say a very small number, about 60 people—asked for refugee status, felt they had been endangered by black-on-white violence, which is demonstrable and beyond controversy in South Africa. And President Donald Trump allowed them to come in as refugees. And of course, during the prior administration, thousands of people came in as refugees. But because, apparently, they were white, this caused a storm of criticism.

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Federal Judge Smacks Down DNC’s Election Lawsuit Against Trump Admin

President Donald Trump and his administration were handed a critical win from a federal judge this week.

And, surprisingly, it came from a judge put on the bench by former President Joe Biden.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali dismissed a lawsuit from the Democratic National Committee targeting a number of Trump’s many executive orders Tuesday, according to Fox News.

Specifically, this DNC lawsuit claimed that some of Trump’s executive orders would erode the Federal Election Commission’s independence.

One of the key orders in question involved a Feb. 18 executive order entitled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies.”

“The Constitution vests all executive power in the President and charges him with faithfully executing the laws,” Trump stated in the order. “Since it would be impossible for the President to single-handedly perform all the executive business of the Federal Government, the Constitution also provides for subordinate officers to assist the President in his executive duties.

“In the exercise of their often-considerable authority, these executive branch officials remain subject to the President’s ongoing supervision and control.”

“However, previous administrations have allowed so-called ‘independent regulatory agencies’ to operate with minimal Presidential supervision,” Trump continued. “These regulatory agencies currently exercise substantial executive authority without sufficient accountability to the President, and through him, to the American people.

“Moreover, these regulatory agencies have been permitted to promulgate significant regulations without review by the President. ”

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Iowa Bans Ranked-Choice Voting, Authorizes Requests for Proof of Citizenship at Polls

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two election-related bills into law on June 2—one to prohibit the use of ranked-choice voting in any election across the state and allow poll workers to request proof of voter citizenship, and another that overhauls and standardizes the state’s election recount procedures.

Reynolds’s office announced the signing of both bills—House File 954 and House File 928—in a June 2 press release, with Secretary of State Paul Pate sharing photographs from the signing ceremony on social media and saying the move was a win for election integrity in Iowa.

The more sweeping of the two measures, HF 954 bars any use of ranked-choice voting—also known as instant-runoff voting—at the state, local, or federal level in Iowa. Though not currently in use in the state, the method has gained support in some U.S. jurisdictions. Supporters of ranked choice voting say it is more democratic as it ensures majority winners, while critics say it complicates vote tabulation and undermines transparency.

The bill also authorizes election workers, beginning July 1, to request proof of citizenship status, expanding current law that already permits challenges over age and residency. Additionally, it empowers the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office to enter into agreements with state and federal agencies and private vendors to verify voter eligibility using a broader range of data.

The law also mandates that the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) provide the Secretary of State’s Office with a list of individuals aged 17 and older who have submitted documentation indicating that they are not U.S. citizens. Voters flagged through this process must provide documentation affirming their legal eligibility to vote in order to remain on the active voter rolls.

“I commend the Iowa Legislature and Governor Reynolds for recognizing the importance of these bills in strengthening and maintaining Iowa’s election integrity,” Pate said in a statement. “These new laws add additional layers of integrity to our robust election procedures, supporting our efforts to balance election integrity and voter participation.”

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Ohio Investigation Finds Evidence Of Noncitizen Voter Registrations And Double-Voting

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Tuesday revealed his office found evidence of 30 noncitizens registered to vote in the state. The election chief also discovered that individuals from seven different states and Washington, D.C., may have illegally voted in multiple jurisdictions.

“We must send a clear message that election fraud won’t be tolerated,” said Secretary LaRose in a Tuesday press release. “The only way to maintain Ohio’s high standard of election integrity is to enforce the law whenever it’s broken. Through the investigations of our Public Integrity Division’s Election Integrity Unit, we are rooting out lawbreakers so we can bring accountability and justice.”

According to Fox News, “Ohio’s Election Integrity Unit conducted the investigation by reviewing Ohio’s voter registry and comparing it with federal and state data.” The state is now pursuing legal action as LaRose “sent letters to the attorneys general of all states involved in the investigation and referred the individuals for prosecution.”

In a letter to Ohio Attorney General Yost, LaRose noted how “Even one illegal vote can spoil the outcome of an election for the citizenry at large, whether it be a school levy, majority control of a legislative chamber, or even a statewide election contest,” according to the Tuesday press release.

The Ohio General Assembly is “currently considering legislation to make the division’s Election Integrity Unit a permanent function of the office,” the release adds.

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American Democracy Is A Hoax — The Rulers of America Are Not the People

In Ed Curtin’s collection of essays that I recently reviewed ( https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2025/04/27/are-americans-still-americans/ ), he explains in an essay, “Opening the CIA’s Can of Worms,” who created and maintains the fictionalized narrative-controlled world in which Americans live in ignorance of the real operating agendas. 

Curtin says it is the CIA, not the media or the Internet companies or the politicians, who controls the narratives.  The CIA’s own overlords are the powerful financial and corporate interests on which American success depends. Curtin’s account parallels US Marine Commander General Smedley Butler’s confession that he and his US Marines were the enforcers in Latin America for the United Fruit Company and the New York Banks.

There is endless documented evidence for Curtin’s conclusion.  Much has been written about the CIA’s “Operation Mockingbird,” now described by CIA media assets, such as Wikipedia, as “alleged operation.”  Beginning in 1950 the CIA began using bribes, such as “leaks” to American media that were designed to influence American and foreign opinion with controlled narratives that advanced secret agendas.  The CIA’s “leaks” made the careers of reporters who could attest to their editors “CIA source” and make the front page if not the headlines. Most journalists regarded as influential are CIA assets.

More recently, Udo Ulfkotte’s book, Bought Journalism, revealed that he, an editor at Germany’s largest newspaper, and most significant journalists in Europe are CIA assets.  This was confirmed by Otto Schulmeister, editor-in-chief and publisher of Austria’s Die Presse ( https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/10/22/udo-ulfkottes-book-exposing-cia-control-of-western-journalism-now-available-in-english/ ). His own CIA connections were revealed.

We know it also from Stephen Kinzer’s book, The Brothers, which gives us the story of how US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and CIA Director Allen Dulles used the State Department, CIA, and American and foreign journalist to serve the corporate clients of their powerful law firm.

Today, of course, the many proven facts are dismissed by the whore media and Wikipedia as conspiracy theory.  The CIA’s assets continue to do their assigned job of controlling the narratives.

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Democrats made themselves toxic — now they’re addicted to their own poison

A few Democratic officeholders, activists and pundits are finally coming to their senses that their brand is toxic to a majority of the American people.

The Biden administration killed what was left of it in a number of ways.

First, it serially lied to Americans about the cognitive decline and cancerous condition of President Joe Biden, both while in and after office.

Only when caught did the complicit media ‘fess up that the Biden inner circle serially misled the American people about Biden’s inability to fulfill the duties of the presidency.

Second, left-wing politicos used Biden as a waxen effigy.

His job was to pose as a “moderate” cover to push through the most radical and unpopular agenda in the last half-century.

Only that way could “Old Joe Biden from Scranton” and his backroom handlers ram down the throat of the American people unpopular policies that nearly wrecked the country.

Third, without either a functional president or viable initiatives, the new hard-left Democrats sought to brand Donald Trump as “Hitler” and half the country who supported him as “fascists.”

For nearly nine years, the Democrats launched one failed hoax after another on the American people: “Russian collusion,” “laptop disinformation,” and the lying so-called “51 intelligence authorities.”

They proved quite willing to undermine the rule of law by manipulating the court system in efforts to destroy their bogeyman, Trump.

The people are finally tired of all the potty-mouthed Democrat videos, the congressional stunts and meltdowns, the pampered rich kids rioting on elite campuses, the knee-jerk obsessions with racial slurs, the firebombing of Tesla dealerships, the romanticization of left-wing political murderers — and always the adolescent tantrums over Trump.

The Democrats had mostly given up on democracy some 13 years ago. That was the last time they transparently and democratically nominated Barack Obama a second time as their presidential candidate.

Ever since, their nominations have been rigged.

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