PLI Bulletin

Stupid Laws, Fair Elections, Hispanic Voters and More

Posted on December 15, 2021

Safeguard Fair Elections Act: In 2020, right-wing extremists tried to destroy our democratic system by having election officials lie about election results. Those extremists are now actively preparing to reject truthful vote counts in 2022 and 2024. The Safeguard Fair Elections Act blocks efforts to subvert democracy by disqualifying any public official who refuses, without legitimate evidence, to certify the actual vote counts or results of an election.

Five more really stupid laws in 2021: In July, we presented “Five really stupid laws enacted in 2021” describing some of the right-wing legislation so extreme that it often sidetracks to self-satire. For five more examples, read the latest IdeaLog, our blog intended to raise eyebrows and engage minds.

How much have Hispanic voters shifted toward the GOP? According to a new poll, Hispanic voters are now split evenly between the parties, a dramatic drop for Democrats since 2020. The FiveThirtyEight Podcast discusses this problem.

Hispanic voters don’t consider themselves “LatinX”: A poll of U.S. voters of Hispanic/Latina(o) origin, presented in Politico, found that only two percent choose the term “LatinX” to describe their ethnic background and 40 percent say the term bothers or offends them.

Groundbreaking legislation to stop discrimination in algorithms: D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has introduced a bill to strengthen civil rights protections by prohibiting the use of algorithms that produce biased or discriminatory results and lock individuals, especially members of vulnerable communities, out of critical opportunities, like jobs and housing.

Please stop repeating right-wing language: Repeating their language, like “fake news” or “deep state” reinforces it. We’ve discussed this before: “Don’t say cancel culture or culture wars,” and “Don’t say Nationalist or Populist.”