More than 200 business owners are calling on others to support federal reforms to strengthen election laws.

Senate Democrats were unable to change the filibuster rules Wednesday night to pass legislation expanding voting access across the country.

Barry Cik, owner of Naturepedic, an organic mattress company in northeast Ohio and a member of the American Sustainable Business Network, said businesses understand a functioning economy relies on a functioning democracy, which, he emphasized, requires citizen involvement.

"If I may be a little bit harsh, we can't just trust government to do the right thing," Cik contended. "We need citizen participation. We want a society where everybody's treated equal, everybody has a chance to succeed. Voting rights is one part of that."

The bill defeated in the Senate would have established minimum federal voting standards. It was a response to dozens of bills passed in GOP-controlled states Democrats argued were designed to make it harder to vote.

Some Senate Republicans are now discussing launching a bipartisan effort to pass a smaller bill focused on safeguarding election results and protecting elected officials from harassment.

Thomas Oppel, executive vice president of the American Sustainable Business Network, said measures restricting access to the ballot can lead to an autocratic government favoring special interests and limiting entrepreneurship.

"If people don't have confidence in their government, you're going to end up with 'crony capitalism,'" Oppel asserted. "Where it's not about your ability to deliver a quality product or deliver a better price. It's about who you know, what connections you have, and how much corruption and graft you're willing to put up with."

Oppel believes creating more opportunities to vote is helpful for small businesses.

"Most businesses in this country are small businesses and in many cases, they operate with very few employees," Oppel pointed out. "If you're a small-business person, it can be really hard for you to get away from your enterprise to go vote yourself, let alone making sure your employees get there and vote."

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Gov. Spencer Cox is calling for unity as well as the condemnation of political violence in light of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump over the weekend.

Cox has chaired the National Governors Association and led its "Disagree Better" initiative, which examines the issues surrounding political polarization in the country, while also looking to cultivate solutions and a culture of respect and civility.

On Sunday, Cox took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his closing statements from the association's recent summer meeting. He said he found his sentiments to be more important and relevant following Saturday's shooting tragedy.

"We can make this a better place," Cox insisted. "We can love each other again. We can disagree without hating each other. We can have passionate debates, and we do."

Cox is among one of many political leaders now calling for unity and for the heated political rhetoric to subside. President Joe Biden described the violence that took place on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, as "sick" and said everyone must condemn the attack.

Political violence experts around the country say it is paramount for elected officials and leaders to continue to make calls for the de-escalation of the charged political rhetoric and climate the country currently finds itself in.

Recent studies show while Americans are less ideologically polarized than they perceive themselves to be, they are more "emotionally polarized," which means they hold a strong dislike for members of the other party.

Cox acknowledged while the U.S. is deeply divided, most Americans are tired and want to change but change will not be easy.

"I feel like in our country today, we have gotten really, really good at tearing things down and people down and institutions down and parties down," Cox stressed. "Building is hard."

In his remarks, Cox noted he is not optimistic about the future of the U.S., but hopeful. He added there is no guarantee the country will inevitably improve itself, even going as far as saying nothing keeps another civil war from happening. But he added he is thankful to many political leaders and organizations willing to build camaraderie and continue fighting against toxic political polarization.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

A 30-day residency requirement to register to vote in Washington state will not go into effect, after a federal judge struck it down.

Under the requirement, eligible voters would not have been able to register within 30 days, even if they moved from one locality to another within the state.

Jackie Boschok, president of the Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans, which brought the case to court, said older people move around a lot.

"We may decide to downsize, we want to live closer to our family members or we choose to move to an assisted living or nursing facility, and especially when a move is health related that timing can be unpredictable," Boschok outlined. "We may not even know if it's within 30 days of an election, uh oh, now we can't vote."

The case striking down the requirement was settled in November when the state agreed to a consent decree, but Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs recently made the decision official for the 2024 election. The Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans argued the rule violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which prohibits residency requirements.

The requirement also goes against a 2018 state law legislators passed allowing voters to register up to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Boschok stressed the change is especially important for older people, who vote at the highest rate of any age group.

"This was a fight on behalf of our 94,000 members of the Washington State Alliance that we were really proud to have taken on and won," Boschok added. "We think it was the right thing to do for all the voters in our state."

Washington's residency requirement is enshrined into the state's Constitution, which means it would need to be amended to take the provision out. A similar lawsuit over a 30-day residency requirement is ongoing in North Carolina.


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New polling shows that less than 10% of Latino voters in Arizona believe the Arizona Corporation Commission is taking the state in the right direction.

The poll, commissioned by the non-profit Chispa Arizona, had over 500 Latino voters from across the state participate.

It found 90% of them are concerned about increasing energy bills, and support a transition to clean energy.

Embold Research Analyst Trenton Marlar said in addition to rising costs, a large majority also are worried about the reliability of the state's energy system - especially during the hottest months of the year.

"Focusing both on cost and reliability," said Marlar, "we see that these are some of the top concerns for Latine voters - and we also have seen this in other Arizona polling, that these are the issues that Arizona voters overall are just really concerned about."

Marlar said Latino voters in the Grand Canyon State are also concerned about the pollution that comes from electricity generation, which is shown to impact communities of color at higher rates.

The five member ACC, currently with a strong Republican majority, regulates most utilities in the state. Three seats are up for grabs in the upcoming primary and general elections.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials projects that nearly a quarter of voters in Arizona this November will be Latinos.

Vianey Olivarria, executive director of Chispa Arizona said the poll results show a transition to clean, renewable energy is a top of mind issue for many Latinos throughout Arizona - and added that the decisions made by the ACC have direct impacts on the lives of Arizonans.

"The polling results make it very clear that it is time for a new ACC that embraces clean, affordable and renewable energy," said Olivarria. "Nearly three in four Latine voters agree that Arizona should produce as much clean energy as possible. We have over 360 days of solar, there is absolutely no reason that we should not be leading in this."

Olivarria argued that most Latino voters don't have many conflicting views on hot button issues this election cycle. Like for example, climate change and abortion.

While these are two issues that could drive voters to support one party candidate over another, Olivarria said she has confidence in the Latino community to support what is best for Arizona moving forward.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.




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