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Kansas abortion vote: Why recount with such a large margin?

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Kansas abortion vote: Why recount with such a large margin?

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas on Tuesday started a partial hand recount of this month’s decisive statewide vote in favor of abortion rights, a transfer pressured by two Republican activists despite the fact that the margin was so massive that the recount received’t change the result.

9 of the state’s 105 counties are doing the recount on the request of Melissa Leavitt, of Colby, in far northwestern Kansas, who has pushed for tighter election legal guidelines. A longtime anti-abortion activist, Mark Gietzen, of Wichita, is overlaying a lot of the prices.

A bigger than anticipated turnout of voters on Aug. 2 rejected a poll measure that might have eliminated protections for abortion rights from the Kansas Structure and given to the Legislature the appropriate to additional prohibit abortion or ban it. It failed by 18 proportion factors, or 165,000 votes statewide.

It drew broad consideration as a result of it was the primary state referendum on abortion for the reason that U.S. Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

WHY DO A RECOUNT IF IT WON’T CHANGE THE OUTCOME?

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Gietzen and Leavitt have each advised there may need been issues with out pointing to any precise examples or proof. Gietzen acknowledged in an interview that he could be stunned if the Kansas recount modified the outcomes, however that he desires “the system fastened.” He pointed to potential issues that would have gone incorrect, corresponding to malicious software program, inaccurate voter rolls and voting regulation violations, despite the fact that there isn’t a proof that occurred.

Recounts more and more are instruments to encourage supporters of a candidate or trigger to consider an election was stolen fairly than misplaced. A wave of candidates who’ve echoed former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was rigged have known as for recounts after dropping their very own Republican primaries.

In Nevada, legal professional Joey Gilbert raised cash to pay for a $190,000 recount that also confirmed him dropping the GOP nomination for governor by 26,000 votes. In Colorado, county clerk Tina Peters raised $256,000 to pay for a recount that confirmed she gained 13 votes complete in her bid for the get together nomination for secretary of state, however nonetheless misplaced by greater than 88,000 votes. Each candidates continued to assert they’d truly received the election at the same time as recounts confirmed they got here nowhere shut.

The refusal of candidates or campaigns to consider they may ever be defeated in an election is a harmful improvement for American democracy, mentioned Tammy Patrick, a former Arizona voting official who’s now a senior adviser to Democracy Fund.

“What we see now could be folks simply don’t consider they misplaced as a result of they’re consistently being fed these lies in regards to the legitimacy of the method,” Patrick mentioned. The decision for recounts “retains their base engaged, ginned up and donating,” she added.

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Deb Otis of the nonprofit group Honest Vote wrote a report that discovered about two recounts occurred a yr in statewide elections between 2000 and 2019, and in solely three did the outcomes change after the recounts uncovered tiny however vital flaws within the preliminary depend.

“Voters will begin dropping observe of when these claims are legit and when a state ought to pay for a recount,” Otis mentioned.

Kansas regulation requires a recount if those that ask for it show they will cowl the counties’ prices. The counties pay provided that the result adjustments.

WHAT’S THE PROCESS?

Kansas regulation says counties have 5 days following a request to finish a recount. The clock for the recount on the abortion measure began Monday, when the Kansas secretary of state’s workplace concluded Gietzen and Leavitt may cowl the prices.

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All 9 counties anticipated to complete by Saturday. 4 began recounting by Tuesday, and a type of, Lyon County, deliberate to complete by day’s finish. The opposite 5 deliberate to start out Wednesday.

WHERE IS THE MONEY COMING FROM?

Leavitt and Gietzen offered bank cards to pay for the practically $120,000 value, in response to the secretary of state’s workplace. Leavitt has a web-based fundraising web page that had raised greater than $47,000 as of Tuesday afternoon. Gietzen additionally mentioned he’s getting donations from a community constructed over three many years within the anti-abortion motion, however he declined to be extra particular.

The 2 initially needed the vote recounted in all 105 Kansas counties, however they couldn’t elevate the required $229,000. Gietzen mentioned the 9 counties have been chosen based mostly partially on their inhabitants and value.

Votes are being recounted in Douglas County, residence to the College of Kansas’ primary campus; Johnson County, in suburban Kansas Metropolis; Sedgwick County, residence to Wichita, Shawnee County, residence to Topeka; and Crawford, Harvey, Jefferson, Lyon and Thomas counties. Abortion opponents misplaced all of these counties besides Thomas.

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WHO IS BEHIND THIS?

Gietzen has been lively within the anti-abortion motion and incessantly protests outdoors a clinic offering abortions in Wichita. He leads his personal group, the Kansas Coalition for Life, which is separate from the bigger and extra influential Kansans for Life that wields vital energy on the Statehouse. He has pushed laws to ban most abortions at in regards to the sixth week of being pregnant. Kansas regulation doesn’t do this till the twenty second week.

He additionally leads the Kansas Republican Meeting, which had some clout among the many GOP’s conservative activists greater than a decade in the past earlier than they solidified their maintain over the state get together group. He’s retired from plane producer Boeing.

He’s run repeatedly and unsuccessfully for the Legislature, and he has been an activist towards cities including fluoride to their consuming water, one thing Wichita rejected in 2012.

“He’s to this point, proper, he’s coming across the different facet,” mentioned former Republican state Rep. John Whitmer, host of a Wichita radio speak present. “There’s simply not a number of wiggle room with Mark.”

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Leavitt owns a interest and craft retailer in Colby. She has questioned how Thomas County is dealing with its elections. She served on an area election advisory group.

WHY IS THE RESULT NOT GOING TO CHANGE?

Voters within the 9 counties forged roughly 59% of the greater than 922,000 ballots on the Aug. 2 poll query. They rejected the abortion opponents’ measure by 31 proportion factors — considerably bigger than the statewide complete.

Recounts virtually by no means reverse the result of elections, even within the closest races. Because the Florida recount for the 2000 presidential race, greater than 30 statewide elections throughout the U.S. have been the topic of recounts. The three that have been overturned have been determined by a whole bunch of votes — not 1000’s.

The most important lead erased by a statewide recount was 261 votes in Washington state’s 2004 election for governor. There isn’t a precedent in U.S. historical past of a recount reversing the result of an election determined by greater than 165,000 votes.

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Even some sturdy abortion opponents see the recount as a waste of money and time. Whitmer mentioned the cash might be a lot better spent on GOP efforts to unseat Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly or on aggressive legislative seats.

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Hollingsworth reported from Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, and Riccardi, from Denver. Additionally contributing was Margaret Stafford in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri and Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington, D.C.

___

Comply with John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

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How Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani's Alleged Bribery Scheme Took off and Unraveled

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How Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani's Alleged Bribery Scheme Took off and Unraveled
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – In June of 2020, a renewable energy company owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani won what it called the single largest solar development bid ever awarded: an agreement to supply 8 gigawatts of electricity to a state-owned power company. But there was a problem.
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Brazil’s former President Bolsonaro and aides indicted for alleged 2022 coup attempt

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Brazil’s former President Bolsonaro and aides indicted for alleged 2022 coup attempt

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others were indicted by federal police Thursday on charges of attempting a coup to keep him in office after being defeated in the 2022 elections.

The Associated Press reported that the findings would be delivered to Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday, where they will be referred to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet to either throw out the investigation or agree with the charges and put Bolsonaro on trial.

Bolsonaro, who leans right politically, has denied claims that he tried to remain in office after his defeat in 2022 to left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

After losing the election, Bolsonaro launched an aggressive campaign against the Brazilian government that claimed the election was stolen.

BOLSONARO BANNED FROM RUNNING FOR OFFICE FOR 8 YEARS

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others were indicted by federal police Thursday. (Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)

One week after Lula took office, Bolsonaro’s supporters raided and trashed the buildings of the South American country’s Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace. Hundreds of them are expected to stand trial.

Since his defeat, Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats.

In June 2023, electoral judges voted to ban the former leader from public leadership for eight years after determining he attacked the public’s confidence in the country’s democratic institutions. The court also deemed Bolsonaro a threat to political tensions.

FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO INDICTED BY FEDERAL POLICE IN UNDECLARED DIAMONDS CASE: AP

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Jair Bolsonaro

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has ordered federal police to question ex-President Jair Bolsonaro over his supporters’ attacks on government buildings following socialist successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

The decision was made with four out of seven votes by the Superior Electoral Court.

In July, Bolsonaro was indicted by Brazil’s federal police for alleged money laundering and criminal association in connection with diamonds he allegedly received from Saudi Arabia while he was in office.

It was the second formal accusation of criminal wrongdoing against Bolsonaro, having also been charged in March with forging his and others’ COVID-19 vaccine records.

The former president denies any involvement in either allegation.

 

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On Tuesday, Brazilian police arrested four military and a federal police officer accused of plotting a coup that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 election, and allegedly kill Lula and other top officials.

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Kyle Schmidbauer, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

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German Defence Minister says he won't run for chancellor in 2025

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German Defence Minister says he won't run for chancellor in 2025

The announcement, which Boris Pistorius made in a video posted to SDP social media channels, clears the way for incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz to run for a second term.

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Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said he is “not available” to run as a candidate for chancellor in February’s snap election, saying he would instead support Olaf Scholz’s re-election bid.

The announcement, which Pistorius made in a video posted to social media channels belonging to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), ends days of speculation about him replacing Scholz.

“I have emphasized this over and over in recent weeks and I’m saying it again as clearly as possible; in Olaf Scholz, we have an excellent chancellor,” Pistorius, currently polling as Germany’s most popular politician, said.

“He led a coalition that would have been challenging in normal times through possibly the biggest crisis of recent decades.”

He added not running was his “sovereign and entirely personal” decision.

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Collapse of the coalition

Chancellor Olaf Scholz called a snap election after the collapse of the governing ‘Traffic Light Coalition’ at the start of November.

As per German election rules, the Bundestag will hold a government confidence vote on December 16th before voters head to the polls on February 23.  

Germany’s coalition government, made up of the SDP, the FDP and the Greens, collapsed on 7 November after Scholz fired the then Finance Minister and FDP party head, Christian Lindner.

“He (Lindner) has broken my trust too many times”, Scholz told the press at the time, adding that there is “no more basis of trust for further cooperation” as the FDP leader is “more concerned with his own clientele and the survival of his own party.”

The coalition had governed Germany since 2021 and its collapse meant Scholz’s government no longer had a majority in parliament.

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The SDP confirmed on Thursday that they would nominate Scholz as their lead candidate for chancellor next week.

But according to current opinion polls, the chances of Germany’s next chancellor belonging to the centre-left Social Democrats is highly unlikely.

Most pollsters put the centre-right Christian Democrats at more than double the level of support of the SDP.

A tally published on Thursday by political research group Infratest dimap shows the CDU/CSU polling at 33% with the SPD trailing behind at 14%, level with the Greens.

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