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Politics: 2024Talks - August 6, 2024

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Politics and views in the United States.

Audio file

Vice President Harris officially secures the Democratic nomination, Arizona's largest school district says it will no longer provide polling locations due to safety concerns and a new South Dakota law gives more power to poll watchers.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

As your future president, I know we are up to this fight.

And when we fight, everyone will say in unison, we win.

Vice President Kamala Harris thanks delegates to the DNC as she officially secures enough votes to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

The tally was made official Monday night after a five-day round of online balloting.

Meanwhile, Harris is expected to announce her running mate in Philadelphia today when they kick off a tour of battleground states.

Arizona's largest public school district will no longer host polling places on Election Day.

Mesa school officials say growing voter distrust has led to staff being harassed.

Watchdogs tie that to inflammatory rhetoric, as when Arizona's GOP Senate candidate Carrie Lake tells her supporters to arm themselves with what she calls the armor of God.

Then maybe strap on a Glock on the side of it, just in case.

You can put one here and one in the back or one in the front, whatever you guys decide.

Meanwhile, Maricopa County officials are scrambling to find replacement polling sites, including privately owned spaces and shopping malls.

Arizona's attorney general says former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis has agreed to cooperate with election subversion prosecutors.

Ellis was charged with multiple felonies for arranging fake electors who could claim 2020 was stolen and contest the Electoral College results.

After pleading guilty in a similar Georgia case, Ellis said she regretted taking part.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges.

I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.

A new South Dakota law gives partisan poll watchers more power on Election Day.

Polling places now have to make sure these volunteers can witness everything except for the actual marking of ballots.

Andrew Garber with the Brennan Center for Justice says it could lead to voter intimidation or workers threatened with misdemeanor arrest.

When poll workers can be subject to criminal penalties, it means poll watchers are going to feel empowered to push the boundaries.

And in some cases, people are no longer going to want to serve as poll workers.

Louisiana officials are asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit against a new law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every public classroom.

A group of parents and civil rights activists say forcing the religious text upon students is unconstitutional, but Governor Jeff Landry says if they don't like it, they don't have to look.

Many religions share and recognize the Ten Commandments as a whole.

So really and truly, I don't see what the whole big fuss is about.

And an initiative now approved for the ballot could bring ranked choice voting to the nation's capital.

Supporters say it would make politicians running in Washington, D.C., work harder to reach previously ignored voters.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.