10/28/22 10/28/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> in this mterm electns, american democracy hangs in the balance. our vote is going to determine whether we have contro over our own bodies, whethere are able to vote and have our vot cou, whether we will have a clean environment, whether we will be able to live to our fullest.

amy: with the midterm elections 10 days away, we go to georgia to speak to emory professor carol anderson about what's at stake in this pivotal election that will decided who control congress. plus, we talk to ari berman about his new mother jones cover story "how wisconsin became the gop's laboratory for dismantling democracy." >> we're at a very scary time foremocracy, whe people that don't believe in fr and fair elections could take or our election system. and what happens in states ke wisconsin in 2022 will determine whether we have fair elections in 2024. america and florida voting rights activist desmond meade on how republican governor ron desantis is attempting to scare former felons away from voting by using his newly formed election police force to arrest

people on trumped up voter fraud charges. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. russian president vladimir putin said thursday the world faces the most dangerous and unpredictable decade since the end of world war ii, even as he insisted that the war in ukraine was going according to plan. over the course of a four-hour appearance at a foreign policy conference in moscow, putin said russia stands ready for a negotiated end to the conflict in ukraine, but insisted ukraine and its allies are not willing to engage in diplomacy. he also railed against western powers, comparing them to nazi

germany. >> the disintegration of the soviet unit destroyed the balance of geopolitical powers. the west felt it the victor. now this historic period of western dominance in world affairs end is coming to an end. amy: in kyiv, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy warned in a televised address on much of ukraine will face thursday extended blackouts after russia launched a series of attacks on energy infrastructure. he spoke from a darkened street next to the wreckage of what he said was an iranian made drone used in recent assault. he said ukraine had shot down 300 of the drones and that russia has launched more tn 8000 airstrikes and 4500 missile since it invaded in february. the biden administration has released its nuclear posture

review for 2022, with anti-nuclear groups warning the document will do little to prevent the threat of a catastrophic war. the document proposecutting some programs like a submarine-launched nuclear cruise missile program begun under former president trump. however, the white house is pressing ahead with a so-called modernization plan aimedt upgrading the u.s. arsenal, currently estimated at about 5400 nuclear warheads. last year, the congressional budget office estimated those programs will cost more than $630 billion this decade alone. the union concerned scientists said in a statement -- "president biden could have used the nuclear posture review to dramatically decrease the risk of nuclear war by declaring that the united states will never start a nuclear war and ending the president's sole authority to launch a nuclear strike. these changes would immediately reduce the risk of a misunderstanding, miscalculation or flat-out mistake leading to a world-changing nuclear war."

voters in azil head to the polls sunday for a runoff election that pits far-right president jair bolsonaro against former leader luiz inácio lula da silva. polls have shown lula with a slender but consistent lead. ahead of the vote, bolsonaro's son senator flávio bolsonaro claimed his father was the victim of "the greatest electoral fraud ever seen." attempts by the bolsonaro family and their allies to sow doubt over the election even before -- over the election have added to fears that bolsonaro will attempt to stage a coup d'état if he loses. those concerns grew this week after authorities in rio de janeiro charged a former congressmember and bolsonaro ally with attempted murder after he attacked federal police officers with a rifle and a grenade as they sought to arrest him on sunday. bolsonaro has since tried to distance himself from the former congressmember roberto

jefferson, even though several photographs show their laughing and smiling together. meanwhile, environmentalists fear what a bolsonaro victory could mean for the climate crisis. >> what azilians do now i the polls is much more than a change of the president. these are fundamental choices for our country, choices for the future. we will choose whether we stay with democracy or not. we will have to choose whether we keep the amazon alive or we keep also narrow. it is a choice between the two. it will not be possible have both at the same time. amy: canada has sent a delegation to haiti to assess security and humanitarian concerns as the country faces worsening political instability and gang activity. canada's foreign minister and prime minister justin trudeau met with u.s. secretary of state antony blinken in ottawa thursday as the two countries push for an international armed intervention in haiti. haitians have taken to the streets in recent weeks denouncing foreign aid and occupation, saying the u.s. and

other foign powers have contributed to the destabilization of haiti. protesters are also demanding the resignation of u.s.-backed haitian prime minister ariel henry. meanwhile, a group of democratic senators, led by massachusetts senator ed markey, are urging the biden administration to expand and extend temporary protected status, or tps, for haitians as thousands continue to flee. haiti's current tps designation expires in february. the biden administration has continued to mass deport haitian asylum seekers, including children, despite widespread shortages of food, water, and other vital resources. in related news, hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have temporary protected status, or tps, are at risk of deportation after negotiations with the biden administration to expand the relief collapsed earlier this week. talks had been ongoing for over

a year as part of litigation demanding the u.s. government re-designate tps for more than 260,000 people from el salvador, honduras, nicaragua, and nepal. in 2020, a federal appeals court reversed an injunction from 2018 that had blocked termination of their relief. that decision is not yet final as plaintiffs await another hearing, but people could lose their protections as early as the end of this year if the biden administration continues to defend the trump-era decision. in austin, texas, families of victims of the massacre in uvalde packed a public safety commission meeting thursday to demand the resignation of texa'' top police official over his agency's role in the delayed and neglectful police response the day of the mass shooting, and its handling of the investigation that followed. new body camera footage released shows texas law enforcement officers at robb elementary school on may 24 acknowledging they should confront the gunman but saying they were afraid of

getting shot. 19 students and two teachers were killed that day. over 70 minutes passed before police finally entered the fourth-grade classroom and killed the gunman. democratic texas state senator roland gutierrez, who represents uvalde, spoke at thursday's meeting. >> no help arrived. we will never know how many children could have been saved. 2, 3, 4? a few died on the way to the hospital. the actions by dps in the aftermath of the shooting are nearly as egregious as their inaction on may 24. amy: to see our interview with texas state senator gutierrez, go to democracynow.org. elon musk reportedly closed his $44 billion purchase of twitter and has fired the comfy's top executives, including its ceo and cfo. musk changed his twitter bio to read "chief twit" and tweeted "the bird is freed" late thursday.

twitter employees have expressed fears musk would slash its existing workforce. meanwhile, many are expecting elon musk to reinstate donald trump's account, which was permanently suspended after the january 6 insurrection. in new jersey, a federal prosecutor has issued dozens of subpoenas in a wide-ranging criminal investigation involving several people including u.s. senator robert menendez. that's according to nbc news, which reports the investigation also involves a company that's authorized by the government of egypt to certify exports of halal food worldwide. menendez is a democrat and chair of the senate foreign relations committee. in 2017, prosecutors dropped russian charges against him after a jury couldn't agree on a verdict. in that case, menendez was accused of peddling influence on behalf of a new jersey ophthalmologist in exchange for flights on a private jet, luxury hotel stays, and six-figure campaign contributions.

the u.s. centers for disease control is warning communities of color are far less likely to receive potentially life-saving treatments for covid-19. a cdc study released thursday found african american and latinx patients received the anti-viral drug paxlovid more than 30% less often than wte patients, even though people in -- people of color are about twice as likely to be hospitalized with covid. this comes as u.s. hospitalizations from covid have begun to increase for the first time since july. in uganda, more than a dozen people including six schoolchildren have tested positive for ebola virus in the capital kampala. it's part of a new outbreak of the disease, which has seen over 100 confirmed infections and 30 deaths in uganda since the first case emerged in september. it's the fifth outbreak of ebola in uganda since 2000. in pakistan, tens of thousands of people attended the funeral

of prominent journalist arshad sharif in islamabad thursday. sharif was killed by police in kenya sunday in what authorities claimed was a case of mistaken identity. sharif had fled pakistan just two months before his death to avoid arrest following a series of criminal charges over his criticism of the pakistani military and the government of prime minister shehbaz sharif, who rose to power after the ouster of imran khan. arshad sharif had been living in hiding in kenya. supporters are demanding justice for sharif and a thorough independent investigation into his killing. pakistan has a history of media suppression and violence against journalists, and critics often blame the military. in the philippines, landslides and flooding have killed at his 31 are missing as rains from tropical storm nalgae lashed the central and southern visayas and mindanao regions. authorities warn more flooding could be on its way as the storm makes landfall this weekend in northern philippines.

and in mexico, same-sex marriages is now legal across the whole country after the states of guerrero and tamaulipas legalized marriage equality this week. same-sex couples can now get married in all 32 states. this is lgbtq activist denisse mercado celebrating the news wednesday. >> said yes to marriage, yes to love and that we are a family and also that we have the same rights as other families. we are not "unnatural." the contrary, we have existed throughout history. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. former president barack obama is heading to georgia today in an effort to help democrats in the closely watched georgia senate and gubernatorial races. democratic senator raphael warnock is in a tight race with herschel walker, a trump-backed

anti-abortion republican who has been immersed in numerous scandals ranging from reports he paid girlfriends to have abortions to lying to his own staff about the number of children he has secretly had. on thursday, senate majority leader chuck schumer was heard on a hot mic telling president biden that the race is "going downhill" for the democrats. meanwhile, polls show democrat stacey abrams is trailing georgia's republican governor brian kemp in a rematch of their 2018 gubernatorial race. in the coming days, obama is also scheduled to campaign in michigan, wisconsin, nevada, and pennsylvania -- all key battleground states. meanwhile, president biden and vice president kamala harris are holding a rare joint campaign event in pennsylvania today to help boost democratic senator or senate candidate john fetterman. who is in a close

race with the trump-backed mehmet oz. democrats are hoping to capitalize on oz's comment at this week's debate that abortion should be decided between "women, doctors, local political leaders." meanwhile, questions continue to swirl about fetterman's health as he recovers from a stroke suffered just days before the primary. with the midterms less than two weeks away, today we spend the hour looking at what's at stake and what it could mean for the 2024 presidential race. "the washington post" recently reported 291 republicans on the ballot in congressional and statewide races have denied or questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. we begin in georgia, where we are joined by carol anderson, professor at emory university and the author of "the second: race and guns in a fatally unequal america." she's also the author of "one person, no vote: how voter suppression is destroying our democracy" and "white rage: the unspoken truth of our racial

divide." professor anderson, it is great to have you back on democracy now! can you talk about first the broad picture, what is at stake in these midterm elections? and then talk about where you are in the state of georgia that could determine so much. >> what is at stake is an american democracy because as you know, there are 291 election deniers on the ballot. these are the folks who are really fine with the big lie, that there resist massive rampant voter fraud that stole the election from donald trump and refused to acknowledge there is no evidence of widespread rampant voter fraud. inead, what they have done is conjured up these notionsf people of color stealing the election, stuffing ballot boxes

and drop boxes, forging absentee ballots. the whole nine yards. without evidence. the kind of not evidence that led to rudy giuliani having his while license suspended from new york and washington, d.c. so when you have these folks on the ballot, it means if they gain control and they're running for the governorship, running as the secretary of state, running for attorney general, what that means is use of the folks that have their hands of the levers of power that determine how an election is certified. so it like after 2020 that this was a dry run as they tried for collectors, as the trump folks try to putting enormous pressure on the state officials. you have some state officials said, no, we're not doing that because we are trying to erase millions of votes for joseph

biden. and if they win, it means then that the certification of elections for 2024, the presidential election, cannot be certified because they are going to put in power who ty want, not who the people have voted for. amy: let's talk about georgia. first let's go to camp versus stacey abrams. the national significance even in this gubernatorial race, rematch, and i think brian kemp has very much been portrayed nationally as the person -- the republican who stood up along with the secretary of state in georgia to president trump to -- around the issue of the 2020 election. but in georgia, can you talk about his history with voter suppression? >> right.

when brian kemp was the secretary of state, he went after a group of black women in georgia because they had learned hoto use absentee ballots and they were able then to gain access -- they were able to win elections to the school board. and so voter fraud, voter frd, voter fraud was plastered by brian kemp. you see the newspaper that has what is called the quitman templates to on their orange traveling jumpsuits, making it really clear black folks use absentee ballots, it must be fraudulent. he brought the georgia bureau of investigation's in there to investigate this voter fraud. there were no convictions. the charges were dropped. but these women went through four yearsf hell, and losing

their jobs and this was the intimidation that brian kemp brought on to these women. he also did the same thing with the new georgia project and with fair fight. again, charging voter fraud, voter fraud, voter fraud. and these are organizations that are about registering folks to vote. those who had not been in the system, the marginalized. so you see this pressure. we have got brian kemp on tape saying these groups are all out here registering all of these minorities to vote and if they show up in november, we will lose. so you get this is where the secretary of state has identified minorities as the way the republicans will lose. amy: let's turn to stacey abrams at a debate earlier this month. >> let's be clear about voter

access. brian kemp was the secretary of state and he has denied access to the right to vote. we know the right to vote is the only way that we can make the changes we need in the state, the only way we can make changes in this country that we need whether it is access to an abortion, the ability to take care our family. we need a governor who doesn't believe in voter suppression, which is the hallmark of brian kemp's leadership. amy: your response? >> she nailed it absolutely. one of the key pieces he di was the massive voter roll purges, over half a million in one fell swoop. then in october of 2018 on the last day of voter registration, using a racially discriminatory policy called exact match, removed 53,000 voters from the rolls. 10% of that -- fewer than 10% of those removed were white.

70% were african-american. and this is a month before the election date between him and stacey abrams in 2018. amy: i want to turn to the senatorial race. the new ad by senator referee -- reverend raphael warnock about his opponent herschel walker. >> for you come herschel walker wants to ban abortion. >> there is no exception in mind. there's not a national ban on abortion right now and i think that is a problem. close herschel walker pay for an abortion for his then girlfriend. she supported the claim with a $575 receipt from the abortion clinic. even his own son is saying walker is lying. is that your signature? and that is the ad. by, another woman has come

forward to say herschel walker pressured her into having an abortion as well. she is unidentified and said it happened in the while they were 1990's dating, and that walker drove her to a clinic to have the procedure. on wednesday, lawyer gloria allred spoke to press about her client's allegations and played audiotape of the woman. >> herschel walker is a hypocrite. he is not fit to be a u.s. senator. we don't need people in the senate who profess one thing and do another. herschel walker said he is against women having abortion, but he pressured me to have one. amy: the significance of this, professor anderson, is that he supports an almost total ban on abortion. so talk about this race overall, which does not justify abortion but this issue has come front and center. his son has come out against

him. he talked about being a police officernd showing a sheriff's badge. you can y it out for us. >> what we have to remember is that herschel walker was tapped by donald trump when he was living in texas to run for the u.s. senate here in georgia. it is so cynical because raphael warnock is african-american. so you can see in the kind of cynicism of donald trump, well, herschel walker is lack and he was a big football star at georgia. let's pick him against raphael warnock. they won't be able to tell the difference. there is a fundamental qualitative difference between the two. herschel walker lies. he lied about his graduation. he lied about his businesses. he lied about being a law enforcement officer, about being in the fbi. he lies, he lies, he lies.

remember, when issue about how many children he had started coming out, there was an incredible report about how his staff d asked him, are there any more children? he is like, no. then another one would pop up. are there any more children? no. then another one would pop up. his own staff did not trust him. yet they're asking us to vote for him, to trust him with our lives in the u.s. senate. what we're seeing here is herschel walker really played to the stereotype of who the republicans believe african-american men are. that they're sexually promiscuous, that they are violent -- he held a gun to his wife's head and threatened to blow her brains out. that they are liars, that they are not smart. they are all drawn and no brains. all of these stereotypes.

what they know about herschel walker is that he is pliable, that he will do what they say. so with those stereotypes, because all of the horble stereotypes and the actual serotype coming back on the slavery days of being compliant and that is who they are trying to voice -- foist upon us in this election. what this means for who controls the senate. and because what we know about the control of the senate, that is wre judiciary appointments come through. we know that that is where voting rights come through and were blocked this last time. we know that iwhere the rht to reproductive rights come through. and so who controls the senate has so much to do about the quality of the lives we will be able to lead and to foist herschel walker up there as a

viable candidate is unconscionable. america and it was georgia that determined the balance in the senate this time with both allsop and warnock winning to the surprise of many last time around. i also want to bring ari berman into this conversation, one of the leading journalists covering voter -- voting rights, reporter at mother jones, author of "give us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in america." you are just back from georgia. what did you find as you traveled there? >> thank you for having me. great to be on with carol. one of the things that happened was in the last year, georgia passed a law that severely restricted voting rights. this has led to a lot of

uncertainty in states. we saw vote by mail has gone down dramatically in georgia during this election. part of that is because some people are going to vote in person now that we're in a pandemic but also because vote by mail s become a lot more difficult now than it was before. we have seen tens of thousands of voters have their eligibility challenged b trump-backed election nests, which has led to a major level of uncertainty in terms of whether votes will be counted. a lot of people are voting early, which is a good thing posted record early voting turnout but then that record early voting turnout has been spun bribery -- by republicans to say there is no such thing as voter suppression. then there's the fact brian kemp has a long history of voter suppression. he is a very extreme record when

it comes to issues like abortion , guns, etc., but he is getting a tremendous amount of credit and basically a complete free pass from the media simply for certifying the 2020 election, like every other democratic and republican governor did in 2020. brian kemp has been lauded by the media as this defender of democracy even though he systematically has undermined voting rights my first secretary of state in 2018 where he was secretary of state and it candidate for governor -- which undermine all sorts of democratic norms, and then last year when he signed the voter suppression law that became a template for voter suppression all across the country. so i think that stacey abrams is struggling to deal with that perception of kemp because even though he is very extreme, he's being portrayed as a more moderate simply for doing his job, which every other governor

in america did. amy: carol anderson, you not only look at georgia but have been looking at races across the country. can you talk about arizona where kari lake who is running for governor there said she would only accept the election if she wins? >> that has been the mantra of these election deniers that are running for offic that the only viable elecon, the only valid election is one in which they win. that is not democracy. that is autocracy. she really is like donald trump in a kind of gussied up fashion, more polished, more photogenic, so it doesn't look as horrific but it is equally as horrific as donald trump. remember, donald trump's big lie that he lost election, that it was stolen from him, is what led

to the insurrection, the invasion of the capitol on january 6, the attempt to overthrow the u.s. government. that is where this leads. amy: let's remember the secretary of state hobbs who is running against her on the democratic line had just had her campaign offices broken into. the kind of violence that election deniers generate because it plays to a sense of grievance that something valule is being stolen from them is what creates this destabilization in the system. it creates an level of distrust. it is how ari talked about the voter registration challenges that are happening. gwinnett county here in georgia, the most diverse county in the state, had over 37,000 voters

challenged by these right-wingers who are offended by michael flynn and patrick earn. amy: michael flynn, the former trump national security advisor, michael ynn. >> yes, the former national security advisor. his organization is helping to fund the group that is challenging the voter registration across the state, particularly in the atlanta metro area and the other counties that have strong -- amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. carol anderson is professor at emory university and the author of books including "the second: race and guns in a fatally unequal america." and "one person, no vote: how voter suppression is destroying our democracy" and "white rage: the unspoken truth of our racial divide."

we also want to ask ari berman to stay with us so you can talk more about your new mother jones cover story "how wisconsin became the gop's laboratory for dismantling democracy." ♪♪ [music break] ♪♪ [music break] stay with us.

amy: "georgia on my mind" by ray charles. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue our conversation with ari berman, one of the leading reporters covering voting rights. his new cover story is headlined "how wisconsin became the gop's laboratory for dismantling democracy." can you lay out what you found? >> absolutely. thank you for having me on to discuss this. really wisconsin is a case study for how republicans are dismantling democracy in

real-time. right now, but also in a project that dates back over a decade where republicans have tried to create a situation where there majorities are voter-prove, that they control the states no matter what happened politically. so first it was the election of scott walker in 2011 and the unionbusting the voter suppression, this -- the dismantlinof the campaign-finance system, then the extreme rrymandering that has basically put replicans in control of state legislature for the past decade. they pass the most gerrymandered maps in 2011. in 2021, they pass even more gerrymandered maps. now the republicans in the state legislature are on the verge of a super majority in the state which would allow them to be ab to override the veto of democratic governor tony evers ife is reelected. what we have and it wisconsin is a paradox.

it is a 50/50 swing state but in the state legislature, they are on the verge of a two thirds republican super mority, meaning the legislature is completely out of step with the rest of the state and they have refused to pass popular policies like expanding medicaid, like background checks for guns. they refuse to repeal any abortion ban from 1849 that makes no exception for rape or incest. and in the dobbs decision, justice samuel alito said we need to return the abortion to the people. wisconsin shows how disconnected the representatives are from the people themselves. amy: talk more about this and how wisconsin is often a laboratory for the country from welfare to this kind of gerrymandering and then how this fits into another closely watched race, senator race that

could be flipped by mandela barnes as he challenges ron johnson. >> it is important to note wisconsin has had a long progressive history for many years. it was a state that had the blueprint for policies like social security, for bargaining rights, the direct election of u.s. senators back the early 1900s under scott walker, it became a laboratory for anti-democratic conservatism. tens of money from places like the bradley fodation to try to privatize schools, dismantle unions, finance laws -- campaign fince laws, accelerate with gerrymandering we are seeing. basically wh republicans can do in wisconsin is nullify the rule of the voters. they don't have to pass popular polici, they can do extreme things and they feel like there is no accountability.

and routinely, democrats get more votes than republicans but republicans have these huge majorities in the state legislature. in 2018, democrats won all five elections including governor, and got 53% of the vote for the state assembly but democrats only got 36% of seats. right now there's a competitive race for governor, for the u.s. senate, but republicans are on the verge of getting two thirds majority in the legislature. that is a scary siation for democracy because what that means is essentially the heavily remaindered legislature with no cut ability could be an charge of running elections in the state. that poses a grave danger to fair elections in 2024. amy: you have written about what the republican plan is for one-party rule this year. explain. >> basically, what republicans want to do is they want to take

control in 2022 in key swing states like wisconsin so that trump's coup will succeed in 2024. you will remember trump asked state legislatures and places like wisconsin to overturn the rule of the voters. they did not do that because in some cases they don't have the power to do that, in wisconsin the governor certifies the presidential election step what republicans want to do is get tutored super jority in wisconsin so the legislature willnstead be in charge of certifying elections. they potentially could overthrow the popular vote in these states. i think it is really important to note these state races in 2022, who was elected governor, secretary of state, attorney general come also who controls the legislatures, will have a huge impact on whether we will

have a fair election in 2024. a lot of people only pay attention to presidential elections but if you overlook these midterms, it is going to be too late. what happens in the states has a huge impact of what happens nationally as well. wisconsin has become the laboratory for defending democracy not just the state, but nationwide. voter suppression, unionbusting, campaign finance laws. these are things thahappen sconsin that were exported to other states not just become the state motto but a national model as well. what is happening wisconsin affects not just wisconsin, but the whole country as well. amy: talking about mandela barnes, the lieutenant governor could become wisconsin's first black u.s. senator if he defeats republican incumbent ron johnson in november. during the protests in kenosha, wisconsin, in 2020, democracy now! spoke to barnes and asked him what is being done at the state level around police reform. >> we introduced for the

governor introduced a legislative package. we know that a legislative package is not going to solve the deep problems, but it takes a coordinated effort. we need action at every level of government. reimagining what is keeping people safe looks like. it goes to making sure that there is funding on the front end to prevent violence from happening in the first place like violence interrupters, but also having support for community organizations, having support for job training progra, you know, whatever the case may be, to create communities, to create societies where people have an opportunity to thrive, where less or fewer police are actually needed to respond to anything in the first place. amy: that is mandela barnes, who could become the first black senator from wisconsin and the u.s. senate. if you could comment overall on this race, as you travel through wisconsin come and what else you are looking at in this pivotal election year.

>> first off, it is important to note criminal justice reform was very popular in wisconsin, was introduced for the legislature -- and that legislature took no action. republans are hammering mandela barnes on defund the police. there were ads over and over by ron johnson's campaign saying mandela barnes once to defund the police. that is not true. they twisted his words. i think the idea they're trying to make the election as the first black senator in wisconsin see like something is dangerous and scary and will lead to more crime. they are running very racist campaign against mandela barnes by ron johnson. i think it is hurting and della barnes and he is difficult time to become a u.s. senator try to counteract these attacks. but it is very close state. i am looking out whether tony

evers, democratic governor, will get reelected, whether republicans will get super majority to the legislature or not. there is a lot of races that are important. i think it is a microcosm of the country at large where these state races have the tremendous importance affecting not just a politics, but national politics as well. amy: ari berman, thank you for being with us, senior reporter mother jones. we will link to your piece "how wisconsin became the gop's laboratory for dismantling democracy." ari is author of "give us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in america." coming up, desmond meade on how ron desantis is attempting to scare formerly incarcerated people away from voting using his newly formed election police force to arrest people on trumped up voter fraud charges. back in 30 seconds.

♪♪ [music break] amy: "little lies" by fleetwood mac. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we look now at how republicans are still trying to scare former felons away from voting even as trumped up charges of voter fraud in past elections have been dismissed in the lead up to the november 8 midterm elections. it was march 2020, on super tuesday, when hervis rogers was

interviewed by cnn's ed lavandera as he stood in line with other voters in houston, texas. >> why did you with this long to vote? >> i wanted to give my vote in to voice my opinion. i wasn't going to let nothing stop me. so i waited it out. we waited for about six hours. about six hours. a little over six hours. america that interview went viral. a year later, he was charged with felony voter fraud for voting when he was ineligible while on felony parole. last week, a district court judge in texas set aside the indictment, which was brought by republican texas attorney general ken paxton. who is running for reelection and supports former trump's kinds of the 2020 election was stolen. days later, paxton launched a

2022 so-called election integrity team. this comes after a legal setback in florida for republican governor ron desantis come also running for reelection. last friday, miami man arrested under desantis' newly-formed florida office of election crimes and security had his charges dismissed. floridians voted in 2018 to allow formerly incarcerated people with past felony convictions to cast ballots, excluding those who were convicted of murder or felony sex offenses. robert lee wood was arrested along with others who said they were encouraged to vote by florida officials and were not made aware of this exclusion, which is not stated on voter registration forms. police bodycam footage showed how people seemed puzzled by their rest and did not intend to run afoul of the law out of -- of the law.

amy: from more we're joined in orlando, florida, by desmond meade, president of the florida rights restoration coalition and chairman of the floridians for a fair democracy. he spearheaded amendment four,

which re-enfranchised 1.4 million floridians. his latest book is titled "let my people vote: my battle to restore the civil rights of returning citizens." welcome back to democracy now! as we watch this video and this woman saying "oh, i god," can you talk about the 20 or so floridians who were just arrested by the so-called election integrity -- election police force that desantis has just created? >> good morning, an. thank you so much for having me on the show. i'm looking at the video and hearing this speak and it just infuriates me. almost like traumatizing me again. the thing about this 20 people, some of whom are arrested by swat teams, having helicopters over their homes as if they were

published good bar or something. each one of these individuals were terrified, something drug out of their homes in the middle of the night still in their pajamas would not even be allowed to get into regular clothes. and all because of the state's failure to have a system in place that could assure any american citizen that lives in the state of florida, whether or not they are eligible to vote. it is very infuriating. i know -- we talk about the impact this can have on especially returning citizen voters. sadly, amy, the damage has already been done. right now we are forced to try to mitigate those damages by responding to these arrests. america just clarify your terms. explain what you mean. you consider yourself a returning citizen. by this term,

returning citizen. >> i am glad you asked that. returning citizen is justice impacted people or people who have had previous felony convictions, impacted by the criminal justice system. we tend to shy away from using the word "felon" because that is a dehumanizing term. unfortunately, this country is accustomed to using that word. but when you do that, you kind of lose the humanity in some of these stories. when you showed a gentleman that was excited about enable to vote and was willing to stand in line for hours to do so, that is the human part of it. i appreciate you for showing that. it reminds me even of a young man who was investigated for voti fraud talks about how he has been hidden away from society for so long. and he was told by the supervisor of elections that he was eligible to vote, how he felt like he was finally part of

society. and these are the stories we have to uplift, more about the people and less about the politics. amy: talk about how you felt when you were able to vote and why this was so important to you. >> let me tell you, i know it is hard for people to wrap their head around, but i really do believe when we talk about voting actually transcends partisan politics. we talked about voting, it is in a conversation of republicans or democrats. luke when i went to vote for the first time in my very first presidential election in 2020, i did not feel as if i was voting as a democrat or republican or even as an african-american, what i felt i was doing was engaging in an act that validated my existence on this planet, that validated my existence within society, that my voice matters, right? it was such a sacred experience

that i felt. it really drove home why we were so adamant in fighting for everyone. ever returning citizen having the opportunity to participate in our democracy and how important everyone's participation is to our democracy in order for our democracy to be more vibrant. amy: it is not just returning citizens who are excited about voting, the state of florida -- you spearheaded amendment four. it overwhelmingly passed. but then can you talk about how the republican-led legislature tried to restrict what the people of florida, democrat, republican, independent, voted for? you had very little resistance and at this amendment that enabled something like 1.4 million more floridians to vote. >> you are right. your previous guest alluded to it. we are at a time now in this country where you have elected

officials that are blatantly enduring the will of the people. here in florida, the people clearly spoke. we had a beautiful moment when we passed amendment four because we have people from all political persuasions, democrats, republicans, independents -- over one million people who voted for governor desantis also voted for amendment four. however, i believe since the formation of this country, there's always been a select group of politicians who would much rather pick and choose who gets to vote for them as opposed to letting everyone have a say in how their country is governed. as a matter of fact, it is been -- it hasn't been too long since women were given the right to vote. it was a time in this country when there were politicians that strenuously believe that women should not be able to have a say in how this country is ran. they were willing to incarcerate

women to prevent them from having a say. this is the same thing we are seeing right now. amy: desmond meade, let's go back to this arrest of the 20 people, almost all african-american, who were arrested and what they were told. to be very clear here, this is more than arresting them. it sends a message to people who have been incarcerated or not in florida come you better watch out, if you vote, you may get arrested. the idea that -- in fact, number of them did not think they could vote but they were told, don't worry about it, sign up and if you can't, you won't be able to vote, you will be told. >> you are perfectly right. amy, i tell folks, there's a bigger story within the story. prior to the august arrest, there were some arrests in april i think. in this particular case, 10 men were arrested.

some were drug out of homeless shelters. there was a grandfather arrested in front of his grandkids. these jogmen were all told by the supervisor of elections that it was ok for them to register to vote. and they did. what we are seeing is -- we know there is hundreds evenhousands more individuals that are facing the possibility of being arrested or even prosecuted. at the end of the day, we have always stated the burden is on the state. when a person falls out of voter registration form -- even a third-party voter registratio organization, when they help someone to register to vote, it is not their responsibility to ensure that that person is totally a qualified voter. they do not have the resources that the state has, right? so those applications are then sent to the secretary of state

whose responsibility it is to run the applications through whatever various systems it has to ensure whether or not that person is a qualified voter. if that person is not qualified, then the secretary of state would not issue a voter identification card. however, if that person is qualified, the state was in that person a voter identification card. when that person receives that card, there's no other option but to believe they are legitimate voter. if you can't rely on the state to give you assurances about whether or not you can vote, then who else can you rely on? amy: i'm looking at a "new york times" piece named robert lee wood who received a voter card from florida six or seven weeks after filling out the application and then he gets arrested. can you talk, as we wrap up, desmond meade, about how many

people who were formally imprisoned do have the right to vote in this country who may not know this or what is the population we are talking about? >> let me tell you about florida because florida is such a pivotal state. there is over 600,000 returning citizens that are living in florida right now that are eligible to register to vote and participate in elections. but they face the challenge, number one, the chaos surrounding the payment of fines and fees that kind of discourages them from even trying to vote, and then now you have these arrests. one very important thing i want to note, i remember when there was a raid on mar-a-lago, how some people were questioning the timing of the fbi raid saying it is suspicious that they would raid two years before the presidential election. now, i statement to them is if

people are concerned about the timing two years off, here in florida, these arrests started on the eve of elections. whether it was the primary election we had in august and now of course the general election that we have here in november. these arrests are frighteningly close to elections and it can't be any other conclusion to make other than this is an intimidating tactic to scare people away from particiting in our democracy. folks need to be outraged at this. folks need to fight back. one of the ways they can do this is we have set up they'll funds for these individuals and we have set up a legal defense fund. the jomini talked about the case was dropped, we were able to provide an attorney for this young man so he is able to successfully challenge these charges in court. amy: five seconds.

looks providing attorneys for any individuals who are rested on these charges and making sure people are also able to bail out if they cannot afford to post bail. amy: desmond meade, thanks for being with us, president of the florida rights restoration coalition and chairman of the floridians for a fair democracy. tune in on november 8 for our three-hour election night