News from the Coconino County Democratic Party
December 1, 2020
- Arizona Election Results Officially Certified!
- The Importance of Sticking With Reality
- RTS Training
- What’s Been Happening and What’s Next?
- Calendar of Democratic Events in Coconino County
- Here’s How to Reach Your Ex Com Members
Arizona Election Results Officially Certified!
Arizona’s Secretary of State, Governor, and Chief Justice certified Arizona election results on Monday. Two of those three are Republicans.
Biden/Harris electors will represent Arizona at Electoral College on December 14. Mark Kelly will be sworn in as U.S. Senator today.
If you missed the official state canvass and certification, you can watch a recording here:
A longer presentation by our County Recorder, Patty Hansen, led to our County Board of Supervisor’s certification of County results on November 21. You can watch the video here. Patty’s presentation is a great way to understand how much work goes into creating a free and fair election.
A relatively small but significant piece of that work is the responsibility of the County Party, which provides poll observers, tabulation observers, observers of the logic and accuracy tests of the counting machines, and hand auditors. Thank you to everyone who participated in this work!
The Importance of Sticking With Reality
Meanwhile, in an alternative information universe, a huge number of our fellow Americans believe the election was stolen. Our LD-6 Senator-Elect Wendy Rogers and Representative Walt Blackman are among those promoting the “Stop the Steal” nonsense. The fact that they were elected from the same ballots they claim are fraudulent and that rank-and-file Republican poll observers stood beside Democrats throughout the election process matters not at all in their alternate reality.
It is incumbent upon each of us to speak out whenever crazy stuff comes up — whether it be in social media, the newspaper, or ordinary conversation. Our job is not just to reclaim the Presidency and (maybe) the Senate, but also the narrative of American history. Otherwise, we’ll be on a pendulum that returns power to Republicans. Except this pendulum doesn’t swing equally; each rightward swing for the last 4 decades has moved us further from facts, science, fairness, and equality.
As Paul Krugman wrote recently, “don’t ‘both sides’ this. The decay of U.S. democracy isn’t about ‘politics;’ it’s about one party’s turn away from democracy. Today’s G.O.P. is nothing like center-right parties in other advanced nations; it’s more like Fidesz, which has turned Hungary into a one-party state, than it is like, say, Britain’s Tories.” Read his full, disturbing column here.
Others have recently written similar alarming pieces. See Jochen Bittner, 1918 Germany Has A Warning for America or many of historian Heather Cox Richardson’s daily blog posts.
The takeaway message is that we can’t stop now. A Biden/Harris term — with or without control of the Senate — will not be enough to assure rational, progressive government. We need to continue the work starting immediately because the Republicans have.
RTS Training
One way to be involved is to participate in the Legislature’s Request to Speak program. Some really bad bills were stopped in the last Legislature because many people openly opposed them. Once you’re trained, the work is easy, just go online and give a thumbs up or down to bills scheduled for committee hearings. Our Legislative Committee will post alerts.
If you need a refresher or this is your first time, we’ll have three opportunities for Zoom training this month. Read more.
What’s Been Happening and What’s Next?
Every two years, state law requires the election of new county party officers and new state committee representatives. These elections will take place at the County Party Reorganization Meeting on December 12. Precinct Committee Persons will receive additional information in a separate communication and have already received notice by U.S. Mail along with their certificates of election as PCs for the 2020-2022 term.
Over the past month, the current Executive Committee has gone through a debriefing and visioning process. This included a debrief with our Regional Captains and with some of the campaign staff. In the next few days, a detailed questionnaire will be sent to PCs and Volunteers seeking their comments on the work of the last two years as well as their suggestions for going forward. The hope is that the next Executive Committee can learn and improve from this effort.
If you have not been involved with the party’s work in the past, please consider how you can contribute now and going forward. Although we are likely to revise this form at least slightly in the near future, for now, please use it to let us know your interest.
Calendar of Democratic Events in Coconino County
Here’s How to Reach Your Ex Com Members
