Page 28 - bon-dia-aruba-20220808

A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 8 augustus 2022

GOP seeking power over elections in Wisconsin, Minnesota

largely by the 2020 election, reported about $94,000 in
when voting systems and La Follette has said he decided contributions. The other two
processes came under attack to run again to stop Repub- Republicans are business-
by Trump and his support- licans from meddling with man Jay Schroeder and Jus-
ers. There is no evidence of elections, citing Trump’s call tin Schmidtka, who hosts a
widespread fraud or manipu- to Georgia’s secretary of state, political podcast. Also on the
lation of voting systems oc- Brad Raffensperger, after the ballot is Libertarian candidate
curring in the 2020 election. 2020 election asking him to Neil Harmon.
“find” enough votes to over-
There are also primaries turn Biden’s win in the state. In Minnesota, the leading
Tuesday in secretary of state La Follette’s primary oppo- Republican candidate for sec-
races in Minnesota, Connect- nent, Dane County Demo- retary of state, Kim Crockett,
icut and Vermont. In Min- cratic Party Executive Board has called the 2020 election
nesota, the leading Republi- Chair Alexia Sabor, has raised a “train wreck” and accused
can candidate has called the about $24,000. state election officials of us-
2020 election “rigged” and ing the pandemic as “cover to
has faced criticism for a video The Republican candidates change how we vote, but also
(AP) — Wisconsin’s secre- sent a reversal from just six attacking three prominent argue that dismantling the how the vote is counted.”
tary of state has no role in years ago when Republicans Jewish Democrats, including elections commission and
elections, but that could established the Wisconsin the current secretary of state, empowering the secretary While Crockett does not
change if Republicans are Elections Commission with Democrat Steve Simon, who of state to oversee elections typically claim in public that
able to flip the seat this bipartisan support. In 2020, is seeking reelection. would allow voters to hold the election was stolen from
year and pass a law that Democrat Joe Biden won someone accountable for im- Trump, she has associated
would empower the office Wisconsin by about 21,000 Although the stakes are high, portant election-related deci- with those who do and has
with far more responsi- votes in the presidential race. the Wisconsin primary for sions. They have all sharply campaigned at events with
bilities. secretary of state has been criticized decisions made them.
“This is not about policy,” mostly quiet. The incumbent, by the commission heading
All three GOP candidates said David Becker, a former Democrat Doug La Follette, into the 2020 election, when At the state party convention
competing for the nomina- U.S. Justice Department at- has barely been campaigning. the COVID-19 pandemic in May, in which Crockett
tion in Tuesday’s primary torney who heads the non- In June, the 81-year-old, who brought major challenges to was endorsed by convention
support the shift and echo partisan Center for Election was first elected to the posi- running elections. delegates, she showed a video
former President Donald Innovation and Research. tion in 1974, opted to take a depicting billionaire investor
Trump’s false claims that “It’s about election outcomes two-week trip to Africa. To accomplish their goal, Re- and philanthropist George
fraud cost him the 2020 elec- and only election outcomes.” publicans also would need to Soros as a puppet master,
tion. La Follette has raised about defeat Democratic Gov. Tony pulling the strings of Simon,
Once an under-the-radar $21,000, according to the Evers, who would block such the current secretary of state,
If successful, the move contest overshadowed by most recent campaign fi- a move, in November. and prominent election law-
would be a bold attempt to campaigns for governor and nance reports. That’s not yer Marc Elias, with a caption
shift power to an office Re- state attorney general, rac- unusual because the office’s The leading fundraiser that said, “Let’s wreck elec-
publicans hope to control go- es for secretary of state are only duties are to sit on a state among the GOP secretary of tions forever and ever and
ing into the 2024 presidential drawing tremendous interest timber board and to verify state candidates is state Rep. ever.”
election and would repre- and money this year, driven certain travel documents. Amy Loudenbeck, who has

Transit woes mount for Boston’s beleaguered subway riders

(AP) — For Boston sub- T,” said in a radio appearance Gov. Charlie Baker, whose commute to her job in Bos- “I can’t afford the monthly
way riders, it seems every on GBH News, referring to legacy is tied to the perfor- ton. Once, the bus was so late pass,” she said. “I just put
week brings a new tale of the Massachusetts Bay Trans- mance of the T, called the that she took an Uber cost- some money in my account
transit woe. portation Authority. Orange Line fire “a colossal ing more than $20. Another and hope it lasts.”
failure” and welcomed the time, a late bus forced her
Runaway trains. Subway cars Wu’s comments came less FTA investigation. to borrow a car, saddling her One of the more maddening
belching smoke and fire. Fa- than a month before a with a $90 parking ticket. failures came in June when
tal accidents. Malfunctioning 43-year-old Orange Line But Baker said things aren’t the MBTA temporarily side-
station escalators. Rush hour subway train caught fire all bad. The Republican said “There are a lot of neighbors lined all its new Orange and
trains running on weekend as it was crossing a bridge more than 85% of daily rapid who are upset and have start- Red Line cars, manufactured
schedules. Brand-new sub- north of Boston on July 21, transit trips are on time, with ed knocking on doors to see by the Chinese-owned com-
way cars pulled from service. prompting one passenger to a somewhat lower rate for how we can stop the service pany CRRC, after one car ex-
Derailed construction ve- jump into the Mystic River bus rides and slightly higher cuts,” she said, also lament- perienced a battery compart-
hicles. and others to scramble out of rate for commuter rail trains. ing high fares. ment failure.
windows.
The repeated chaos of the na- “That’s what the experi-
tion’s oldest subway system And Aug. 3, transit officials ence most riders every single
has stretched the nerves of announced what they called day have,” he said. “That’s
riders, prompted a probe by an “unprecedented” step of no excuse for the screws up
the Federal Transit Adminis- shuttering the Orange Line and the incidents that we’re
tration and worried political entirely for 30 days to allow talking about, there’s no ex-
leaders. for extensive track and signal cuse for that, but there are
work. 600,000 trips every day that,
“It’s enraging. Everything for the most part, work out
that we’re doing trying to Two days later, MBTA offi- like they’re supposed to.”
build more affordable hous- cials unveiled another four-
ing, or empower our schools, week shutdown — this time For beleaguered riders, how-
bring jobs to Boston — it all for a recently opened section ever, each new mishap seems
relies on people being able to of the Green Line to allow to add insult to injury.
get around,” Boston Mayor for additional construction
Michelle Wu, a Democrat work. Paulina Casasola, 24, relies
who promised to “Free the on buses and the Red Line to