South Dakota Marijuana Activists 'Extremely Confident' They'll Turn In Enough Signatures To Put Legalization Initiative

South Dakota activists are “extremely confident” they’ve collected more than enough signatures to qualify a marijuana legalization initiative for the state’s November ballot.

South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) will deliver the signatures to the secretary of state’s office on the turn-in deadline on Tuesday, the campaign announced on Monday.

For months it’s been unclear if the grassroots efforts would be able reach the signature threshold for ballot placement, as national industry and philanthropic financial support has been negligible this cycle. But the campaign pushed forward and, its leaders are predicting, prevailed.

Matthew Schweich, executive director of SDBML, told Marijuana Moment on Monday that the campaign is “extremely confident that we have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.” That confidence is based on a “rigorous” internal validation system they’ve employed in the lead-up to the submission.




https://www.marijuanamoment.net/south-dakota-marijuana-activists-extremely-confident-theyll-turn-in-enough-signatures-to-put-legalization-initiative-on-ballot-this-week/

Ohio bill on voting law changes would require security reviews, allow hand-counting of ballots

More than a dozen of the most conservative Republicans in the Ohio House have signed onto a bill that would make changes in state laws regarding required voter ID, early voting and voting by mail - all to increase security in the system. The bill also includes a provision allowing an action that’s been pushed by some 2020 election deniers.

The joint sponsors of House Bill 472 spent much of the first hearing on it touting its cybersecurity protections, including required cybersecurity reviews and testing for voting systems. But they praised it as "the gold standard for this country."

"Our voting systems that are responsible for the casting and tallying of our votes still possess many of the same security weaknesses that computer scientists found in them 20 years ago; vulnerabilities that allow skilled actors to potentially alter votes without leaving any trace," Rep. Bernard Willis (R-Springfield) said. "If your bank was still using a voluntary cybersecurity standard from 20 years ago, would you feel that your accounts were secure?"

Ohio was one of 21 states targeted by hackers during the 2016 election, and a potential hacker attempted briefly to get into the system and failed. The Secretary of State's office reported an attempted hack into its office on election day in 2019, but a spokesperson called it "unsophisticated and unsuccessful".




https://www.statenews.org/government-politics/2024-05-06/ohio-bill-on-voting-law-changes-would-require-security-reviews-allow-hand-counting-of-ballots

Assaults on German Politicians Raise Election-Year Worries

A spate of attacks on German officials and politicians has brought fresh worries over political violence and a breakdown of civility ahead of several critical elections this year, including in three states where the far-right Alternative for Germany party could make significant gains.

In the latest attack, on Friday evening, four people assaulted a prominent Social Democratic politician who was hanging campaign posters in Dresden, leaving him with a broken cheekbone and eye socket that required emergency surgery.

The official, Matthias Ecke, is running for re-election to the European Parliament.

That evening a Green Party campaigner, whose name has not been released, was attacked in the same residential neighborhood, by what the police believe was the same group of people. A day earlier, on Thursday, Rolf Fliss, the deputy mayor of the city of Essen, 300 miles west, was punched in the face by a group of men with whom he had been having what he initially characterized as a “friendly exchange.”




https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/world/europe/germany-political-assaults.html

India votes in third phase of national elections as PM Modi escalates his rhetoric against Muslims

NEW DELHI -- Millions of Indian voters across 93 constituencies were casting ballots on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mounted an increasingly shrill election campaign, ramping up polarizing rhetoric in incendiary speeches that have targeted the Muslim minority.

In recent campaign rallies, Modi has called Muslims “infiltrators” and said they “have too many children,” referring to a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims produce more children with the aim of outnumbering Hindus in India. He has also accused the rival Indian National Congress party of scheming to “loot” wealth from the country’s Hindus and redistribute it among Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people.

Tuesday’s polling in the third round of multi-phase national elections has crucial seats up for grabs in states including Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Most polls predict a win for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, which is up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Congress and powerful regional parties. The staggered election will run until June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4.

Modi, who voted in western Ahmedabad city on Tuesday, had kicked off his campaign with a focus on economic progress, promising he would make India a developed nation by 2047. But in recent weeks, he and the ruling BJP have doubled down heavily on their Hindu nationalism platform, with Modi employing some of his most divisive rhetoric in his decade in power.




https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/india-votes-phase-national-elections-pm-modi-escalates-109982174

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A Georgia justice (R) could be the first to lose in over a century

If former Democratic Rep. John Barrow wins his bid for the Georgia Supreme Court later this month, he'll accomplish something no one in the state has managed in over 100 years: unseating an incumbent justice.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, such an event hasn't happened since Richard Russell Sr. beat Chief Justice William Fish back in 1922. (Russell was the father and namesake of the segregationist Sen. Richard Russell, who, as Robert Caro detailed in "Master of the Senate," was a key mentor to Lyndon Johnson.)

Not many justices, though, have ever even been in danger of losing, since it's rare for sitting Georgia judges to face any opponents at all. The AJC noted last month that conservative Justice Andrew Pinson was the only one of four Supreme Court justices and six Court of Appeals judges up this year who drew a challenger, while just five of 122 trial court judges across the state have any sort of opposition.

And most justices haven't even needed to win an election to earn a spot on the high court in the first place. Instead, the vast majority have been appointed to fill vacancies, making open-seat races as uncommon as contested elections.



https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/3/2238614/-Morning-Digest-A-Georgia-justice-could-be-the-first-to-lose-in-over-a-century

WI-SEN: Conservative group replaces ad targeting Baldwin

An ad declaring that Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin voted to "cut Medicare funding and use that money to subsidize electric vehicles" was pulled and replaced with a similar spot last week, according to emails shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The replacement states that Baldwin voted "to use Medicare money for electric vehicle subsidies, instead of seniors."

Attorneys with Elias Law Group, on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, contacted OnMedia TV Ad Sales on Thursday requesting the spot's removal. They argued the ad "blatantly lies" about Baldwin's record.

"As Restoration PAC well knows, Senator Baldwin has never voted to cut Medicare. This false and misleading advertisement should be pulled from your network immediately," the DSCC attorneys' letter read.

OnMedia's director of national sales, Doug Staudt, responded Friday afternoon: "That spot has been replaced and no longer airing, as the agency provided alternate creative." Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Arik Wolk told the Journal Sentinel another TV advertising company, Viamedia, also told Elias Group lawyers the original ad had been pulled.




https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/28/u-s-senate-race-updates-tammy-baldwin-ad-highlights-pensions/73119539007/

Arizona GOP lawmaker banned from Capitol video studio after interview with antisemitic talk show host

PHOENIX — Republican State Sen. Anthony Kern has been barred from using a video studio at the state Capitol after doing a remote interview with an antisemite.

"The Senate president does not approve of how the senator chose to use legislative broadcast resources last week," Kim Quintero, spokeswoman for Republican Senate President Warren Petersen, said in a statement Monday to 12News.

"As a result, his privileges to use those resources for future interviews have been revoked."

Petersen oversees Senate operations, including the first-floor broadcast room that members can use.

Kern appeared on May 1 on the online "Stew Peters Show."



https://www.12news.com/article/news/politics/arizona-gop-lawmaker-banned-capitol-video-studio-after-interview-anti-semitic-talk-show-host/75-b7bc6a6f-b234-49da-bcd4-af518e664f01

AK: Calling each other 'woke' and 'incompetent,' mayoral candidates debate with Alaska's News Source

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska’s News Source hosted a conversation Friday between incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson (R) and former Anchorage Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance (D).

The answers weren’t timed, but the candidates were redirected if one person dominated the talks.

The first fiery exchange began with the topic of homelessness.

Bronson was questioned about why he allowed the living conditions at the homeless camp near Cuddy Family Midtown Park to continue.




https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/05/04/calling-each-other-woke-incompetent-mayoral-candidates-debate-with-alaskas-news-source/

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