PROTECTING OUR ELECTIONS

&

PRESERVING OUR DEMOCRACY

Our Democracy, this great experiment as we have known it for the past nearly 250 years, is being tested unlike at any time in our history. Yes, we have faced other internal crisis, including a bloody civil war where over 600,000 of our citizens were killed. But as horrific as these events were, our country now faces a crisis for the very existence of our democratic values and principles, the essence of who we are and what we stand for. Our country is mired in a divisiveness and tribalism where we have lost our sense of national unity and adherence to the shared values that bind us together as Americans. Those values of civility, decency, equality, fairness, tolerance, honesty, respect for each other and the Rule of Law.

What makes this crisis and our country’s current state of affairs so inherently troubling is that we have no leadership to pull us back from the precipice, seeming only to further divide us. There are many factors that have brought us to this moment in our history, a fight for the very soul of our country. From the distrust of the citizenry in our government and its institutions, a sense of grievance and disenfranchisement amongst citizens, the advent and influence of social media upon our lives, and the increasing influence and perception management efforts of hostile foreign governments sowing distrust, misinformation and disinformation aimed specifically at the American people. These factors highlight the social environment in which we find ourselves in today.

Our Founding Father’s main fear was the deterioration of the constitutional principles of co-equal branches of government and the importance of checks and balances within that principle, along with the circumvention, obstruction and disobedience of the Rule of Law. No person is above the law and we are witnessing firsthand these principles being potentially irreparably damaged by the current administration. As a country and as fellow Americans we must take a stand against this affront upon our Democracy. Todd has had the tremendous privilege and honor of taking the solemn oath of “supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same”. As an American, it is not necessary to have ever taken this oath to take a stand against the intentional and willful disregard for the Rule of Law. Without the Rule of Law in our country, our Democracy will fail to exist and we will be governed, or rather ruled, under an authoritarian and autocratic regime. As Americans, we do not want to live as the Russian citizens have to endure under the Russian Federation regime.

Todd supports these ELECTIONS & DEMOCRACY policy initiatives that have national security implications:

  • Protecting voting rights; this fundamental civic duty of citizens must be encouraged and not impeded.

  • Promoting and supporting increased voter participation in elections through automatic voter registration, online voting and same-day registration, by mail and early voting; ensuring access for those citizens with disabilities; declaring a National Holiday for our elections.

  • Investing in the protection and enhancement of the security of our election systems through strong cybersecurity defenses, cyber forensic auditing and backup paper ballot requirements.

  • Preventing all types of voter suppression; protecting birthright citizenship; eliminating racial-based restrictive voter ID efforts; enforcing criminal penalties for interfering with a person’s right to vote.

  • Enforcing and prosecuting any forms of electoral fraud, including voter fraud, election manipulation and vote rigging schemes.

  • Common sense campaign finance reform, rules and regulations; requiring campaigns to report any/all contacts from foreign nationals and foreign governments to federal authorities; removing corporate and special interests unlimited funding streams - transparency to dark money funding and impact upon our democracy; constitutional amendment(s) to SCOTUS cases to restore public trust and confidence in our election system.

  • Supporting a national conversation regarding changing our election system to a national popular vote to replace the Electoral College.

  • Ending discriminatory racial and partisan gerrymandering through the establishment of independent, nonpartisan, statewide redistricting commissions.

  • Depoliticizing our judicial system, including SCOTUS to strengthen its independence and trust and confidence of the American people; implementing term limits for Justices.

  • U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI must be independent, nonpartisan, apolitical and never used by any branch of government for its own political purposes; reexamination of the standard and merits of DOJ/Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion prohibiting the indictment of a sitting president.

  • Strengthening the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) and its enforcement abilities.

  • Requiring social media companies to disclose the identity of the owner/authorized agent for any/all political advertisement or promotion.

  • Protecting and advocating for our farmers and ranchers across PA-13 and our country by ensuring that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is fully funded and staffed.

  • Term limits for members of U.S. Congress and banning previously elected representatives from employment with lobbyists.

  • Overhauling federal government ethics rules and regulations across all branches, with a focus upon the Executive branch addressing conflict of interest laws, clarification of the emoluments clause; Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and lobbying activities; nepotism; additional protections and strengthening investigative capabilities for all Special Counsels; no person, whatever the position held in our government is above the law – our Democracy depends upon this principle and the Rule of Law.

  • Protecting the First Amendment; restoring protections for journalists and media entities; a free press serves a critically important role in our democracy and must always be protected; the rhetoric that the press is the “enemy of the people” is ignorant and dangerous and must be called out on every occasion.