Wendy Weiser Profile picture
Vice President for Democracy @BrennanCenter
Nov 9, 2022 18 tweets 5 min read
A few takeaways from yesterday’s election: (Thread) The election ran smoothly. There were far fewer glitches than in most elections we've monitored. And the glitches we saw—like tabulator malfunctions in AZ & ballot numbering problems in MI—were quickly remedied with backup measures in place to ensure everyone can vote securely.
Jun 14, 2022 13 tweets 4 min read
In advance of tomorrow’s #January6thHearings, this thread walks through some resources on the ongoing threats to our democracy from Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. As I outlined in my testimony, the same lies that drove the insurrection continue to drive attacks on our electoral system, from new laws restricting voting and enabling partisan interference in elections to harassment of election officials and more. brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
Jun 13, 2022 34 tweets 15 min read
Today's #January6thHearings are about the Big Lie, including how the Trump campaign knew the election was valid, and the ways in which lies about the 2020 election and voter fraud were exploited to try to overturn the will of the voters. Thread here. Here is testimony I was asked to submit to the #January6thCommittee on the lies that drove the insurrection and attempt to overturn the 2020 election, their ongoing damage to our electoral system, and why legislation is needed to prevent future attacks: brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
May 17, 2022 7 tweets 5 min read
NEW! You may have heard of a radical and anti-democratic new legal theory being pushed by conservative legal activists that could insulate state legislatures from virtually any checks against abuses in their regulation of federal elections. #electionsubversion🧵 The innocuously-named "independent state legislature" theory is deeply dangerous: If adopted by #SCOTUS, it would upend voting rights, redistricting reforms, & election administration. In its extreme form, it could even enable state legislatures to overturn federal elections.
Jan 13, 2022 27 tweets 9 min read
Some worry that making changes to the filibuster (there are more than 160 already) will make the Senate more polarized—more like the House—undermining the stability of federal policy. /1 This concern is driven by how polarized our politics has grown. To prove the point, Mitch McConnell (using comic-villain language) threatened to burn down the Senate if Democrats alter the filibuster to pass critical voting & democracy reforms. /2
Jan 13, 2022 16 tweets 8 min read
As the #FreedomToVote #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct makes it way to the floor today, expect a lot of disinformation and misunderstandings about what this critical democracy-saving legislation does. This thread will set the record straight. /1 2/ (1) Despite the record number of new laws this year making it harder to vote, and the persistent racial turnout gap, some claim that new voting restrictions don’t matter. @smoralesdoyle of @brennancenter buries that argument here:
Jan 12, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Breaking news! Ohio Supreme Court invalidated the state's gerrymandered legislative maps under a new state constitutional provision banning partisan gerrymandering. supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0… Ohio is one of a handful of states that passed reforms last decade minimizing the risk of redistricting abuse. For a full rundown, see brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
Jan 11, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
Biden reminds us that in 2006 the Senate vote 98-0 to reauthorize the #VotingRightsAct, incl 16 senators who still serve. We used to have bipartisan consensus in favor of voting rights. Just because congressional Rs don't support it now doesn't mean voting rights are partisan. On this point, the provisions in the #FreedomToVoteAct are built off of reforms that were put in place by or with the support of Republicans in states across the country.
May 20, 2020 10 tweets 5 min read
1/ This morning, President Trump threatened to withhold funds from Michigan and Nevada because he doesn’t like that they are allowing citizens to vote by mail during the pandemic. This is so wrong on so many fronts.
2/ First, like most states, MI and NV are rightfully preparing for an expansion of mail ballots this November. This is absolutely necessary to protect public health and to ensure a safe and fair election. (Safe polling places will be needed too!)
brennancenter.org/our-work/polic…
Jun 27, 2019 14 tweets 8 min read
1/ One of the principal legacies of the Roberts Court will be its systematic undermining of American democracy, greenlighting efforts to rig elections, ignoring gerrymandering, slashing voting rights, and shifting power from the many to the few. #Rucho #SCOTUS 2/ #Rucho is only the latest in a long string of recent #SCOTUS decisions undermining American democracy. Below are some of the biggies: