by Ken Hunt
Readers of this newsletter are no doubt aware of the many challenges and threats being erected against the 2026 midterm elections. Americans no longer believe that elections will be free and fair. And this loss of faith in the electoral process is due to obstacles thrown up by the MAGA/Republicans and their Leader.
States have long been gerrymandered to gain and maintain power in representative bodies, and courts have held that certain types of racial and political redistricting are justified and legal! But the mid-decade gerrymandering of Texas and possibly other states are something of a bridge too far. Elections are for the people to choose their representatives, not for the politicians to choose their voters.
The so-far unsuccessful requirement of proof of American citizenship as in the SAVE Act and the EO of March 25th (where the name on your birth certificate must match the name on your voter registration) are spit in your face attempts at the disenfranchisement of poor people, people of color, rural citizens and women. This has not been legislated yet but rumblings of means to attach provisions of the SAVE Act to legislation in the Senate that would not require 60 votes remain.
The requirements to eliminate mail in ballots and require only specific voting machines that would have to be “certified” in time for the 2026 elections, which by the way begin in October in many places, are just foolish babble meant to confuse and further reduce credibility in the American electoral system. And hopefully no one believed tRump when he parroted Putin in stating that the U.S. was the only country to use mail in ballots!
The lies, deceptions, and power grabs continue not only on the federal level but in states as well. Unfortunately, democratic states may get pulled down into the regime's rabbit hole – and it is deep and dark.
While New Mexico may not be as turbulently involved in the electoral maelstrom as other states, ISF will be standing up for Democracy as strongly as possible. Your newly formed Election Integrity Committee (EIC) aims to help flip the House and Senate by promoting procedures that provide for the security and integrity of elections. We believe that every American deserves undeterred access to voter registration, all applicable means to cast their vote and to have their vote counted as they intended.
The ISF-EIC will work out a schedule of actions for our chapter that will keep NM Blue and aid in flipping purple districts in other states by working with Indivisible chapters in jurisdictions outside NM . The vote by a federal representative from Alabama can have impact on us as much as the vote of our own member of congress.
During the EIC's initial meetings over the past month we have considered the most secure options for submitting your vote. While nothing is off the table, early voting and depositing your mail in ballot in a drop box at a voting convenience center are the current recommendations.
And speaking of recommendations, check out the Brennan Center for Justice website. They are planning a webinar on September 18th. And follow Democracy Docket with Marc Elias.
And by all means if you care about the midterms and American Democracy join the EIC.
