Amusing that the thread title has to clarify what form of government the US has, and that it actually mischaracterizes it by calling it a "democracy".
The first requirement for an audit firm is that they must disclose their methods. The contract for this Arizona effort actually states they must disclose their methods but the company is trying to keep everything secret. How can anyone have any confidence in their "audit results" if the company will not reveal how they came to those results. Firm seeks to to have methods for Arizona ballot audit kept secret https://tucson.com/news/state-and-r...cle_812aea22-a6b3-11eb-988a-cf2bed9e8bb7.html The attorney for the firm hired by the Arizona Senate to audit the 2020 election is trying to deny public access to the policies and procedures it is using to audit the returns. And Alexander Kolodin who represents Cyber Ninjas, also contends the firm is not required to ensure that the 2.1 million ballots they have are being reviewed by bipartisan teams. In new legal filings, Kolodin said he is providing the information demanded last week by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury after the Arizona Democratic Party filed suit. That ranges from how the company ensures the chain of custody for the 2.1 million ballots it now has as well as the election equipment turned over by Maricopa County to issues of signature verification. Kolodin contends it is not in the public interest to let Arizonans see them. “It is no secret that this audit is an emotional issue,” Kolodin wrote. “There exists a subset of individuals that might utilize such documents as a roadmap to breach the audit’s security and thereby cause the very harms (the Democratic Party) ostensibly seek to prevent.” Anyway, he argued, the documents about the firm’s practices contain “trade secrets.” The move is drawing opposition from the First Amendment Coalition which represents various media organizations. In his own legal filing, attorney Dan Barr said there is a presumption that all records, including those produced in litigation, are public. He acknowledged there are some exceptions. But Barr said the claim by Cyber Ninjas that all of its policies constitute trade secrets holds no water. If there are valid concerns, he said, the company could file a redacted version, with all the secrets blacked out, with a full version filed with that court. That, Barr said, would let a judge determine if any of this really needs to be withheld from the public. “It is difficult to conceive of a case that warrants transparency more than this one,” he wrote, noting that Cyber Ninjas is a private firm which has “unfettered access” to the ballots and to information about Maricopa County voters. “The public, especially 2.1 million Maricopa County voters, has a personal stake in knowing how Cyber Ninjas handles their personal information, including names, addresses, and signatures and whether their fundamental right to have their vote remain secret shall be preserved,” Barr wrote. “The public also maintains an exceedingly important interest in knowing that the integrity of the election and their votes will not be compromised.” And Barr said this is especially critical given that Cyber Ninjas has never conducted an election audit and that Doug Logan, its CEO, has “a history of overt partisanship in favor of the presidential candidate who lost the election.” All this comes amid questions about how the audit is being conducted. The Democratic Party lawsuit contends that the processes being used by Cyber Ninjas to review the ballots and the election equipment violates various election laws. It’s attorney, Roopali Desai, wants a judge to halt the process unless and until the company — and the Senate which hired it — can show there are safeguards in place to protect the security of the ballots and the equipment. That question of how the audit is being conducted and whether it is fair also figure into Kolodin’s claim that Cyber Ninjas is not required to have bipartisan panels review the ballots they are counting. Kolodin acknowledged that state law requires the election boards that review ballots to have “as equal as practicable representation of the members of the two largest parties” on these review panels. But Kolodin said that, as far as his client is concerned, that doesn’t apply. “Cyber Ninjas, however, is not an election board and has not been hired to conduct an election for the purpose of declaring candidates elected or not elected,” he wrote. Instead, Kolodin said, the firm was hired to develop a report for the Senate about the conduct of the 2020 election, information he said the Senate can use to decide whether to enact changes to the law. And Kolodin said, his client can’t make such decisions. “Unlike a board of elections, Cyber Ninjas, as a government contractor, and like a government in other contexts, does not believe it is required, or even permitted, to make hiring decisions on the basis of political affiliation,” he said. Anyway, Kolodin said, finding Democrats has proven difficult after Raquel Teran, who chairs the party, announced that it would not participate in what it sees as “sham audits.” “The Arizona Democratic Party certainly has a First Amendment right to instruct its members not to participate in the audit,” he said. Yet at the same time, Kolodin noted, the party filed suit seeking to halt the audit because it was not being conducted in a lawful manner. “Seeking to have this court compel equal representation of Democrats on the counting floor while working to make that impossible is not good faith litigation conduct,” he said. And it can’t be used to stop the audit until it meets certain standards. A hearing had been scheduled Monday to address the issues. But that was before Coury, the judge, realized that one of the attorneys working with Kolodin had done some work with his office. Coury disqualified himself. And the case was reassigned to Judge Daniel Martin who is expected to hold a hearing at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-government-and-politics-c5f58025b7744389905b1527cbab7d4a Missouri latest state to thwart voter-approved policies COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers recently shut down attempts to pay for Medicaid expansion, in what is the latest example of a statehouse fighting to undo voter-enacted polices. Critics argued during a contentious debate in the state Senate on Thursday that voters didn’t understand the potential cost of the federal health insurance program. Supporters, including Democrats and some Republicans, said lawmakers were going against the will of voters who amended the Missouri Constitution last year to make thousands more low-income adults eligible for government health insurance. “The people voted for this. We put it in the Missouri Constitution. That’s what they voted to do,” Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp said. “Now we have people who took an oath to uphold the constitutions of the United States and the state of Missouri, and here we are with people turning their backs.” It’s unclear how the decision will impact access to Medicaid once new eligibility rules take effect in July. Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday tweeted that his administration will assess its options once the budget is finalized. Lawmakers expect a court battle. Missouri is among 16 states that allow voters to enact policies by putting them on the ballot, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. South Dakota, Utah, Montana, Arizona and Florida are all states where lawmakers recently sought to undermine voter-approved measures. In voting against funding Missouri’s Medicaid expansion, the Senate’s top budgeter, Republican Dan Hegeman, said: “If the voters had all the information we do, I think they would have made a different decision.” Craig Burnett, a political scientist and direct democracy expert at Hofstra University, said gaps between lawmaker and voter priorities can occur when there’s an oversaturation of Democrats in urban areas or due to gerrymandering — when legislative districts are drawn to give one party an oversized advantage in elections. He said the conflict is particularly acute when it comes to social issues. “You only get this kind of mismatch when the legislature is pretty significantly out of step with the average voter,” Burnett said. South Dakota was the first state to adopt direct democracy in 1898. There’s been pushback from lawmakers since then. Recently, voters there legalized medical marijuana, raised the minimum wage and expanded casino gambling. The GOP-led Legislature responded by trying to make it harder to put initiative petitions on the ballot. In Montana, voters last year approved a recreational marijuana program that sends a significant portion of tax revenues to conservation purposes. But a Republican-backed legislative plan seeks instead to put up to $6 million toward an addiction treatment program before directing a third of what’s left to wildlife habitat, parks and recreational facilities. After Utah voters passed Medicaid expansion in 2018, conservative lawmakers delayed its full implementation before adding work requirements. In Arizona, Republicans are looking to eliminate about a third of the revenue from a voter-approved tax increase on the wealthy to fund education. While Florida voters in 2018 overwhelmingly approved a measure allowing most felons to vote once they complete their sentences, the Republican-led Legislature undercut that by requiring them to pay off fines and court costs first. Missouri’s fight over Medicaid expansion isn’t the first time the Legislature and voters have bumped heads over ballot measures in recent years. Voters in 2018 repealed a law that ended mandatory union dues for non-union members, a longtime goal for Republicans. That same year — as Republican Josh Hawley defeated Democratic former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and the GOP kept overwhelming control of the Legislature — voters legalized medical marijuana, raised the minimum wage and adopted a redistricting measure opposed by top Republicans. After the success of primarily Democratic-backed policies at the polls, Republicans have sought to undo them and make it harder for voters to put issues on the ballot. Several pending bills would increase the cost to file initiative petitions, require petitioners to go to greater lengths to gather signatures, and raise the vote threshold needed to amend the Missouri Constitution. Burnett said that while recent tensions have primarily involved Republican statehouses and more liberal voters, it’s also happened with Democratic-led legislatures. He cited California voters’ 2008 decision to ban same-sex marriage, which was later overturned in court. “It’s very frustrating for all of those voters who voted for this,” he said. “The whole point of the initiative petition is actually supposed to be to get around the legislature and enact policies that they’re unwilling to do, or maybe they’re too politically toxic.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/06/des...hile-shutting-out-all-media-but-fox-news.html GOP Gov. DeSantis signs Florida election law while shutting out all media but Fox News Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill, SB 90, in a closed-door event that blocked out all reporters and media coverage — except for Fox News. The NAACP promptly filed a federal lawsuit alleging the law violates the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Florida is only the latest GOP-led state to push for new voting restrictions.