RationalWiki:What is going on with the elections?/2020

December 2020
As Trump continues to unravel after his election loss, his latest Twitter attack is against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's brother. Update in article - there is a brother, nothing to do with China as Trump claims. Andrew Yang has put his hat in the ring to become the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Yang will be running to replace current mayor Bill de Blasio, who is term-limited. Two Wisconsin state lawmakers sue, among others the Electoral College to overturn the election result, presumably thinking it's an actual place, and not a process. Sidney Powell’s secret intelligence contractor witness is a pro-Trump podcaster The witness, Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman was convicted of fraud in North Dakota, has falsely claimed credentials: MD, PhD and MBA, and was never an intelligence contractor. Joining Fox News, Newsmax issues sweeping ‘clarification’ debunking its own coverage of election misinformation In a bizarre Oval Office meeting, Rudy Giuliani, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, and chief of staff Mark Meadows had to talk Trump out of appointing Sidney "Kraken" Powell as a special counsel to investigate his election loss, and implementing disgraced general and QAnon fanboy, Michael Flynn's plan to use the military to keep him power. When Rudy has to be the voice of reason...  In a possible breach of campaign finance laws, Jared Kushner, Lara Trump and John Pence have been tied to a consultancy firm which received $650 million for aiding the Trump re-election campaign. A bunch of Trump supporters in Arizona attempted to submit their own '' for Trump to the National Archive, ahead of the official AZ electors; genuinely thinking if a bunch of idiots just make their own and send it in first, that supersedes the official one. Given the fact that a notary associated with the group, was also dumb enough to notarize their document, they're likely going to be in deep trouble. Members of the electoral college vote, with Joe Biden surpassing the 270 votes required to win the presidency. A report concludes that DNC meddling lead to chaos in the Iowa Democratic Caucus back in February Pro-Trump attorneys tell Georgians not to vote until votes are "secure" (and by that, they mean, "rigged in favor of the GOP") A Qanon believer who tried to beat Mike Johnson in Louisiana has been arrested for possession of child pornography. Sidney Powell's secret "military intelligence expert" key to election lawsuit, never worked in military intellience and was actually a mechanic (paywall). Non-paywall article SCOTUS [https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/121120zr_p860.pdf denies Texas's complaint in the Texas v. Pennsylvania, et al. lawsuit. (PDF)] The non-existent states of New California and New Nevada file an amici curiae before SCOTUS, supporting Texas' bizarre suit of battleground states Biden won, because 2020 is a giant dumpster fire. The Trump team throws in the towel on proving voter fraud [https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22O155/163234/20201209155327055_No.%2022O155%20Original%20Motion%20to%20Intervene.pdf by actually admitting in their pleading to the US Supreme Court that they do not have evidence and it is undetectable. "The constitutional issue is  not  whether  voters  committed  fraud  but  whether state officials violated the law by systematically  loosening  the  measures  for  ballot  integrity  so  that fraud becomes undetectable."] Michigan lawmakers spend six hours on a evidence-free testimony of election fraud from Trump supporters. Here is a list of the ridiculous claims they made from BLM activists wearing fake diamonds to the poll room being too hot Crowd protests outside Michigan Secretary of State house oblivious to the irony of shouting "stop the steal" while trying to overthrow an election! Trump acccepts he may not be President after January, but gives strong hints at a 2024 run. Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz says the Blue and White party will back a preliminary bill to disband the Knesset and call for new elections over PM Netanyahu's refusal to pass the state budget. Attorney General Bill Barr says the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Irony meters explode at Trump attorney statement "his opinion (ie that of the AG) appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud"

November 2020
Trump requested Milwaukee County recount comes back, reveals that Trump gave them $3 million just to find 132 more votes for Biden. Good thing Wisconsin got paid up front.

, far right Dutch politician, has been kicked out of his own party. The Dutch far right party implodes after the entire party top resigns over antisemitic comments made by the party leader,. Baudet first resigned, causing a wave of other resignations in the party top, notably his second in command. He later withdrew his resignation, wanting to become party leader again, causing more resignations as Baudet was regarded as attempting a coup by leveraging his internal popularity against the other candidates. Baudet is now considering transforming FvD into a one-man party, and wants to keep the name. General Services Administration clears Biden to receive transition access and funding as "apparent winner" of the election. tfw you're too batshit for Rudy & Jenna Ellis: Sidney Powell is swiftly underbussed after Team Trump's disastrous loss in PA lawsuit. Trump ally Chris Christie breaks ranks and urges Trump to drop his efforts to overturn the election results. Hail to the Chief! Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) pulls the trigger on Trump: "... [he has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania. ... I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory."] Lindsey Graham faces formal ethics complaint, for seeming to try and interfere with the Georgia election result. Jair Bolsonaro loses big in municipal elections with candidates backed by him being knocked out of several races Alaska has voted by a tight margin to support Ballot Measure 2 which would replace party primaries and first-pass-the-post, with an open party ranked-choice voting, plus with more openness in political contributions. Chris Krebbs, Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, fired by Trump for speaking the truth. Georgia's Republican Secretary of State has audited the state's voting machines, found no problems. PA Supreme Court rules against Trump campaign, says Republican vote monitors were not denied access to vote count. North Carolina Republican operative charged in election fraud scheme Voter fraud in Pennsylvania! Registered Republican moron Ralph Thurman tried to vote twice, the second time pretending to be his registered Democrat son while "disguised" with a pair of sunglasses. Only one racial bloc showed solid support for Donald Trump's re-election bid Judges are handling out spankings to lawyers representing Trumpist attempts to show fraud - "I regret to inform you that your submission is defective," Georgia is doing a hand recount of the ballots for the 2020 presidential election. Voters approve Question 1, a ballot measure guaranteeing the right to repair, by a factor of 75% in favor verus 25% against. In the process it also closes a loophole from a 2012 law that would have exempted wireless diagnostics from the law Trump Appointee, head of the  refuses to sign the letter that grants the Biden Administration with government resources to start the transition process, such as government office space, funds for staff, and more. Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the USA. Trump concedes grace- ha! Who are we kidding? Voters in six states handed eight transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming candidates victories in state legislative elections (including in Kansas and Oklahoma). QAnon morons with AR-15s arrested near Philadelphia vote counting center, having apparently intended to break in and "straighten things out." News outlets are beginning to call the election for Joe Biden <!-- Entries need formatting fixes and a few need rewrites. Revert at own peril. Republicans hold on to crucial House seats in Texas.  Despite strong Republican efforts, progressive Democrat Peter DeFazio holds on to his House seat.  Malliotakis and Tenney lead by strong margins in New York.  New Mexico voters in the 2nd district oust Torres Small.  Kim and Malinowski defeat their Republican challengers, Van Drew narrowly leads in a race that's yet to be called.  Don Bacon narrowly defeats Democrat challenger in Nebraska.  Due to redistricting, North Carolina's 2nd and 6th districts flip blue.  Ann Wagner wins re-election in an increasingly liberal district.  Ashley Hinson defeats Democrat incumbent Abby Finkenauer in Iowa's 1st district, the race in the 2nd district is tied, Axne narrowly fends off David Young, and Feenstra wins the general election to succeed Steve King.  Schweikert facing a tough re-election fight. Don't get yourself caught in ethics violations, folks! The GOP seems to be in good shape to retain the Senate: Tillis and Perdue are narrowly leading in their races, and Alaska will likely go to Dan Sullivan, making it 51 seats for the Republicans.  Victoria Spartz wins the House race to succeed Susan Brooks.  Rob Woodall's House seat may be a flip towards the Democrats' favor, with Bourdeaux leading narrowly and 95% of the expected vote in.  Despite claims by many "experts" that Texas' 23rd district would supposedly flip Democrat, Gonzales win the race to succeed Hurd.  Joni "Make 'em Squeal!" Ernst wins re-election.  Mucarsel-Powell and Shalala lose respectively to Republican challengers Carlos A. Giménez and Maria Elvira Salazar. --> Conspiracy theorist and self-described "proud islamophobe" Laura Loomer lost her House of Representatives race to incumbent Democrat Mississipi voters approve a new flag to replace Confederate-themed state flag projected victorious for re-election.  Armed Trump supporters have gathered outside the Maricopa County Elections Department, chanting “count the votes,” after the state was called for Biden. [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/04/california-election-voters-prop-22-uber-lyft California has voted for the ridiculous Proposition 22, allowing Uber and Lyft to continue classifying drivers as contractors rather than employees, meaning they can now refuse to provide benefits and standard minimum wages to their workers even as they make billions. Another provision means that the proposition cannot be repealed unless with a 7/8 majority vote]. Donald Trump declares victory! (Even though he hasn't actually won yet.) As the results still come in, Kanye West concedes defeat. Oregon decriminalizes possession of hard drugs. Other states also legalize recreational use of cannabis in referendums [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uganda-politics/uganda-opposition-presidential-candidate-bobi-wine-arrested-police-disperse-supporters-idUSKBN27J133 Uganda's main opposition figure Bobi Wine arrested after filing his candidacy to unseat dictator Yoweri Museveni in upcoming presidential elections. Police then dispersed protesters with live rounds.] "Get me the manager Biden, now!" According to a Times poll, women who are actually called  are actually more likely to vote for Biden then Trump. While in the same poll, women are called Nancy are more likely to vote Trump then Biden. Ironically in the survey, the biggest supporters of Trump are those who share the same first name with the Donald. Queensland election: The Labor Party, under the Primiership of Annastacia Palaszczuck, wins a third term A convoy of about 100 Trump trucks laid in wait on  for a Biden campaign bus, surrounded it, and attempted to force it to a stop. Think that's bad? It gets worse. Trump tweeted "I LOVE TEXAS!" with a video of the convoy as they surrounded the bus.

October 2020
Facebook charged the Biden campaign higher prices than Trump for campaign ads. In one occasion, they charged Biden's campaign seven times more than Trump's. These 13 races will determine the new majority party in the Senate. Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the Labour Party after lambasting the Blairite wing for their hypocrisy during the antisemitism campaign

Poll claiming that Biden and Trump are tied in Georgia shows that Trump is leading among independent voters in the state by ten points.

In a new phenomenon dubbed "fundraging", Democrats have dramatically out-donated Republicans in most competitive Congressional races. Ballot box set ablaze by arsonist in Baldwin Park, California. The has announced that during the final debate on Thursday, the opposing canadate's microphone will be muted during each candidates' 2 minute opening at the start of each 15 minute topic section. After that point, microphones will be live for the remainder of the topic section. Bolivia's socialist MAS presidential candidate Luis Arce claims landslide victory with 52.4% of the vote USPS Special Agents raid the home of QAnon-aligned mail carrier who allegedly hoarded and threw away undelivered mail. With 80% of votes counted in New Zealand's general election, the incumbent Center-left Labour party looks to have gained an absolute majority in the unicameral Parliament and can rule without needing a coalition. Help, my candidate is dying: A Princeton Universe study of 100,000 emails of political groups found most campaign e-mails are manipulative and deceitful The 5th District Court of Appeals, all Trump appointees, has reinstated Texas' one-location-per-county ballot box rule. Comparing New Zealand General and US Presidential elections The California Republican Party has been accused of committing voter fraud after it set up a fake ballot drop-box, which could be used to harvest votes. Federal judge has blocked Texas' ridiculous plan to limit absentee ballot dropoff locations to one per county. Dr. Fauci criticizes the Trump campaign for editing clips from a months-old interview he did in order to make it appear as if the US' top infectious disease expert endorsed Donald Trump and commended the president's virus response. The 2nd presidential debate, scheduled for 15 October, has been canceled by the. This is due to Trump refusing to go along with the change to virtual debate format, since "...they cut you off whenever they want." Both candidates now plan to hold their own separate events on 15 October. Faux News axes regular contributor, and Trump campaign staffer, Harlan Hill, for calling Kamala Harris an "insufferable lying bitch." For the first time since its founding in 1812, The New England Journal of Medicine takes a stance on a US presidential election and in a scathing editorial, asks its readers to throw Trump out of office. The second Presidential debate, due to be take place on 15 October, will be held virtually. Update: Trump says he will refuse to participate in a virtual debate. Kyrgyzstani protesters storm parliament over vote-rigging claims A post-debate poll by NBC News/WSJ has Biden leading over Trump by 14 points, more specifically, 53% for Biden and 39% for Trump. The poll also shows that seniors and suburban women, two key Trump demographics, have the biggest declines, and that the candidates are practically tied amongst men 50 years and older The ruling Euroskeptic ANO party wins in the regional and Senate elections in the Czech Republic New Zealand starts voting for its general election. You can vote early - up to 2 weeks before the election date - up to 60% are expected to vote early. There will be 2500 polling places on election day - you can enroll on the day of the election, you can vote for any electorate in any other electorate, and generally the state actually tries to encourage voting and make it as easy as possible. Just sayin'....  Exit polls in New Caledonia's second referendum on independence from France points to a "No" vote Update: Poll results to a narrow vote for No at 53.26% against 46.74% for Yes. So what happens when a presidential candidate dies or is incapacitated when there's little over a month to the election? Conservative conspiracists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman charged in voter suppression probe GOP donors panicking after coming close to Trump at fundraiser. Donald Trump has fucking Coronavirus. UPDATE: Joe Biden tests negative Voter suppression is alive and well in Texas as the Governor cuts drop off locations for mail-in ballots to only 1 per county - in some cases this removes over 90% of available locations

September 2020
After the disaster of the first presidential debate, the CPD (the comission on presidential debates) is considering changes to the future debates. The first presidential debate is considered draining, an embarassment and a moment of national shame across the media, condemnation falling mostly on Trump's performance According to a Gallup poll, 61% of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College Tulsi Gabbard peddles a moral panic by accusing Ilhan Omar of ballot harvesting and claiming that the practise is a threat to democracy In Italian regional elections, the ruling coalition wins by a razor thin margin with several victories for the right-wing League Party Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected by 62% to 38% in a referendum, to a right-wing initiative of abolishing freedom of movement from EEA countries. Also, voters in the have said yes to establishing an hourly minimum wage of 23.00 CHF ($24.76, €21.29). Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election. The Guardian summarizes voter suppression and anti-democratic actions by Trump. Even conservative pundits are noticing. Michael Bloomberg and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition have raised $16 million to pay fines for 32,000 felons in Florida who would otherwise have been disenfranchised based on the debts. UPDATE: The Florida AG and are now calling for an investigation into Bloomberg for election law violations. But it's not a poll tax.. Democrats break fundraising records with $91 million raised in the 28 hours after the death of Ruth Ginsburg Federal judge orders reversal of USPS changes meant to sabotage the election Democrat who opposed marriage equality defeated in a landslide primary by a gay drag queen

Donald Trump announces a new list of twenty candidates he plans to place in the Supreme Court, including Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz. Yoshihide Suga wins the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election and replaces Shinzo Abe as party leader. He is likley to replace Abe as Japan's Prime Minister shortly. An anarcho-capitalist Satanist transmedicalist won the GOP nomination for county sheriff running on anti-police campaign Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal drops out of the race against Republican QAnon supporter, for "personal and family reasons" and is moving out of state. Georgia's Deputy Secretary of State has confirmed that it's too late to replace Van Ausdal on the ballot, which basically ensures Greene's victory in November. (To be clear, a dem win was a long shot: The likes Republicans. 76% of votes went to the Republican in 2018.) The conservative Labour Party wins a landslide victory in Jamaican general elections

The ACLU has published a damning report on how the Georgia state government has spent the better half of a decade quietly and illegally purging hundreds of thousands of registered voters To ensure the liberal commies don't rig the election with mail-in voting, Trump encouraged his supporters to vote twice The DHS withheld an intelligence bulletin in July that pointed out that Russia was likely to attack US presidential candidates based on their mental fortitude, which matches the Republican attacks done on Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Robert F Kennedy's grandson, Joseph Kennedy, has been defeated in the primary to be the Democratic Party's nominee for Massachusetts Senator. An appeals court has granted Trump's request to delay access to his financial records, while he appeals the ruling requiring the records be handed over to the Manhattan District Attorney. The matter is expected to be argued before the court in late September/early October.

August 2020
In Montenegro, the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists faces a tough challenge, winning only 35% of seats while the pro-Serbian opposition wins 32.5%, meaning they could feasibly form a government if it can reach consensus with Montenegro's other two opposition parties The NBA and the basketball players' union have agreed to work with election officials to turn its arenas into polling stations Donald Trump, while breaking the, has accepted his nomination to become the 2020 Republican Party candidate for the 2020 presidential election. A judge in Iowa has ruled in favor of the Trump Administration, and voided 50,000 returned and 90,000 mailed but not yet returned absentee ballot request forms in Linn County. This was due to the county prefilling personal information on the forms that were mailed to people, which violated instructions from the Iowa Secretary of State. Linn County is expected to be a competitive one in the November election, and suffered significant damage during the derecho in early August. Postal Service workers are reinstalling mail sorting machines in defiance of USPS orders Ed Davey has been elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He had been acting leader since December when Jo Swinson lost her seat in the 2019 general election. Trump supporter Mary Ann Mendoza, member of Trump's campaign advisory board and a so-called "Angel Mom," had her scheduled speech at the Republican National Convention cancelled after she urged people on Twitter to read an antisemetic, QAnon-linked conspiracy theory about how the Jews are plotting to control the world. Despite urging her followers to read the thread, she later said the hadn't read all the posts in it, which included claims that Hillary Clinton is a "Satanic High Priestess" and that Barack Obama's house smells like sulfur, because, as Alex Jones claims, he's connected to the devil and hell. Mendoza has also used Twitter to post other nonsense involving claims that George Soros, the Rothschilds and the United Nations are conspiring to implement a one world government in the United States. This has been a record year for primary challengers, with seven House of Representatives incumbents defeated and many primaries still to go in September. The last time the House saw so many incumbents defeated was during the Watergate scandal in 1974, with eight incumbents defeated. According to a study, the Tories used disinformation "with new levels of impunity" during the 2019 general election In spite of campaign promises, the Biden campaign is backing off the party platform's deficit spending and moving towards austerity for the poor According to an email leak, USPS managers has instructed its workers to not reconnect or reinstall any mail sorting machines that have been previously disconnected It's official: Joe Biden is the 2020 Democratic Party candidate for the 2020 presidential election. Right-wing nut job Laura Loomer wins Republican primary, in the Florida district that happens to include Mar-a-Lago. Michelle Obama says, "We have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it." New Zealand's general election is postponed from 19 September to 17 October due to a spike in coronavirus cases. USPS removes mailboxes in Portland and Eugene citing declining mail volume Democrat representative Ro Khanna will vote against the platform for not including provisions for Medicare for All and otherwise being inadequate to address healthcare issues.

Centrist Democrats engineer accusations of improper sexual relationship with students against openly gay primary challanger Ilhan Omar wins a controversial primary, defeating a well-funded challenger Racist QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene wins Republican run off election to represent the party in the November general election. She's basically assured to win the very conservative 14th Congressional District in Georgia. Joe Biden selects Kamala Harris as his running mate. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53717834 A TV exit poll said that Alexander Lukashenko, sometimes called Europe's last dictator, had probably been reelected as president of Belarus. Protests and clashes with riot police followed].UPDATE: [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53721410 Alexander Lukashenko has been officially reelected in a landslide victory, gaining 80% of the vote. His main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, refuses to concede defeat.] Further update: Tikhanovskaya flees the country "for the sake of her children" Thousands of Bolivians go on strike to protest election delay, with calls for the resignation of the coup-installed president Jeanine Áñez Kai Kahele wins primary for Hawaii seat formerly held by Tulsi Gabbard The Fascist in Chief's aides and advisors are exploring ways to use executive orders to interfere with vote by mail. Facebook employees concerned with the company's ability to deal with electoral misinformation, amidst growing evidence that the company gives preference for right-wing pages Kanye West won't deny that he's intending to act as a in the 2020 presidential election. Progressive candidate, Cori Bush, defeats a 20-year Democratic incumbent in a Missouri primary Trump campaign halts TV ads while it reviews electoral strategy CNN (video) and Washington Post fact check Trump's healthcare policies - something about a new healthcare plan in 2 weeks .....

July 2020
Trump wants the 2020 election to be delayed, citing mail-in voting fraud. Update: Republicans flat out reject the proposal to delay the election. The people of Suriname did not reelect a convicted murderer as their president. New poll shows that Joe Biden leads Trump in key states The Bolivian elections have been postponed by the interim president that rose to power by a unlawful coup, possibly due to the leftist candidate being ahead in the polls Trump cancels the Republican Convention events in Jacksonville, Florida after a significant spike in coronavirus cases in the state. Donald Trump orders Census to not count undocumented immigrants when awarding Congressional seats Donald Trump declines to say to say he will accept the election's results: "I have to see" Anti-abortion Republican John Kasich has been invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Joe Biden's behalf next month Trump replaces his campaign manager, Brad Parscale. Parscale had been held responsible for the Tulsa rally debacle last month. Kanye West reportedly has dropped out of the Presidential election. UPDATE? Maybe he's in again? The Guardian reports Kanye has paid the required fee and filed the paperwork to appear as an Independent on the 2020 ballot in Oklahoma. Polish President of the right-wing  party has been reelected in a tight race. Hip-hop artist Kanye West Ye has announced he is running for President, saying: "We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future". An edit war is going on in the Wikipedia page of Kamala Harris, the most likely contender for vice-president for Joe Biden, deleting unflattering portions. Vladimir Putin is projected to win a constitutional referendum that could allow him to remain in power until 2036. Inconsistencies have been noted though, with Putin declaring victory 5 hours before polls closed and opposition groups claiming their exit polls show a much tighter result.

June 2020
Independent councillor Melanie Baddeley who used to be a councillor for the BNP, has been chosen to take the largely ceremonial role of lord mayor of Stoke-on-Trent. Her term would last a year. Irish Traveller activist Eileen Flynn has been nominated by Taoiseach Micheál Martin to be one of the eleven senators that are directly chosen by the taoiseach. This is the first time that someone of Irish traveller background has been nominated or voted to the Oireachtas [Irish parliament]. Sanders-backed progressives have returned with vengeance in the democratic primaries on Tuesday. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cruises to primary victory, in a election in which the candidates spent millions of dollars When two candidates on the tiny Pacific island of Niue both get the exact same number of votes, a coin toss decides who gets to become a Member of Parliament. A campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first that Donald Trump has held since the coronavirus lockdown began, fails to draw the expected crowds. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens have agreed provisionally to form a coalition government for the next Dáil [parliament]. In the agreement, Leo Varadkar has agreed to step down as Taoiseach [prime minister] and pass the mantle to the leader of Fianna Fáil Micheál Martin, and for him to become Tánaiste [deputy prime minister] for two years. Updated: It has now been agreed, and so Micheál Martin will be the next taoiseach. Speaking to supporters ahead of the June 28th election, Polish President Andrzej Duda calls LGBT rights activism an ideology even more destructive than communism. In spite of massive primary problems, voter turnout soared in Georgia with nearly a million votes cast in the Senate primary, the triple of the 2016 numbers Trump says he will leave White House if Biden wins. Meanwhile the GOP recruits army of poll watchers to fight "voter fraud" Long lines that didn't move for hours, failed voting machines, a lack of backup ballots, and consolidated polling locations mar the June 2020 Georgia primary. The Secretary of State has announced intentions of launching an investigation in to the issues. Voting precinct hours have been extended at several locations due to the issues. Five states hold primaries today: Georgia, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and West Virginia All but assured: Joe Biden now has the needed 1,991 delegates to to be come the de facto nominee 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate nominee. (It still needs to be formally confirmed at the party convention in August, but it's pretty much assured.) Concerns about the democratic standards of the upcoming presidential elections in Poland has led the to employ election observers. Joe Biden's lead against Trump is growing wider, surpassing Hillary Clinton at this point back in 2016. Years of racist behavior finally caught up with Iowa white supremacist Steve King, who was defeated in the Congressional primary election by state senator Randy Feenstra. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper rejects Republican National Convention plan for 50,000 attendees, while not requiring face masks or social distancing.

May 2020
[http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52815552 Donald Trump tweets that sending out mail-in ballots in California will lead to widespread voter fraud, That becomes the first ever of Trump's tweets to be given a fact-check warning label by Twitter. Trump then accuses Twitter of interfering in the US presidential election. He even threatens to close it down.] The first openly transgender mayor is elected in France. Judge rules that Florida can't block felons from registering to vote because of unpaid fines A QAnon supporter, Jo Rea Perkins has won the Republican primary and will face Democratic incumbent Jeff Merkley for a federal Senate seat in November. This is the 7th QAnon supporter to make it onto the 3 November, ballot, nationwide. Justin Amash will not run for president in a third party ticket for the Libertarian Party. Republican wins the special election to fill  California US House seat for the remainder of her term. He'll face off against Democrat again in November for the seat's next full 2 year term.

April 2020
Joe Biden shows off his progressive cred by hiring infamous neoliberal Wall Street oligarch Larry Summers as his economic advisor

is running for president as a Libertarian, in 2020... Who is asking for this? Seriously, why? New York state officials effectively 'cancel' their 2020 Democratic presidential primary election, by removing all options from the ballot aside from Joe Biden, thus making it a moot point. Sanders isn't particularly happy. Note: The 23 June election is still on for various state and local elections in New York. New evidence emerges supporting Tara Reade's accusation against Biden Study: Elderly Trump voters dying of coronavirus could cost him in November: An academic journal projects that deaths of 65-and-over Republican voters in several swing states will far exceed those of Democrats. In new polls, Trump and Biden are deadlocked in six key states with voters split over both candidate preference and over which candidate could better handle the pandemic and the economic crisis with Trump having a small lead A Israeli coalition government deal between Likud and Blue and White seems imminent with the Labor Party's leadership seeking to join in the coalition. The coalition deal is controversial due to various clauses that protect Netanyahu from criminal indictment (which would trigger new elections) and undermine the Kessnet's Judicial Selection Committee and other parliamentary committees. The ruling wins a landslide victory for the National Assembly Elizabeth Warren has become the last major nominee to endorse Joe Biden. Asked on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show on whether Warren would happily take the offer of being his running mate, she said yes. Want some good news? Liberal Jill Karofsky beats conservative Justice Daniel Kelly in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, shifting the court's balance to a 4-3 conservative majority and opening the possibility to it turning liberal in the 2023 election. Bernie Sanders has endorsed Joe Biden for president. It's over. Bernie Sanders announces he will drop out of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary. The Dáil to sit in convention centre to elect new Taoiseach, while Fine Gael is ready to agree for a government formation with Fianna Fáil. Okay, there's a lot to unpack here... Governor issued an executive order to suspend the in-person voting, and move the 7 April election to 9 June. The Wisconsin GOP challenged this to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, who ruled that the primary must occur on 7 April, 2020. In a separate lawsuit, SCOTUS ruled against an extension to the deadline for absentee ballots; which lower federal courts had moved to 13 April. Due to the SCOTUS ruling, for a ballot to be counted, it must be turned in or postmarked by 7 April. (This is important, because it's been a struggle to get ballots out the door, due to record number of requests.) Republicans openly admit to supporting voter suppression by opposing the Democrats' efforts to restore voting rights Libertarian Party candidate for president, Former Rhode Island governor and senator, has dropped out. Texas Democrats launch a lawsuit against the state's extremely strict election laws, which could prevent millions from casting absentee ballots Keir Starmer has been elected leader of the Labour Party, replacing Jeremy Corbyn. Angela Rayner has also been elected as Labour's deputy leader.

March 2020
Republicans rage as Florida becomes a nightmare for Trump due that former Governor Rick Scott, who stole millions from Medicare, implemented reforms that made it hard for people to get unemployment benefits Against all reason, and a stay-at-home order, Wisconsin is moving forward with its 7 April primary, including in-person voting. A record number of voters requested absentee ballots, swamping the elections commission. UPDATE: A federal judge has extended the deadline for absentee voting through 13 April, also requires release of results to be delayed until at least 4pm on 13 April. UPDATE 2:SCOTUS overturned this entire thing. Please see April 2020. The Democratic National Convention has been pushed back to August 17. Further the DNC may make additional changes to the format and schedule depending on the situation in August. Havard study analyzes 6.8 million tweets and finds that the "Bernie Bros" are a myth and Sanders supporters act pretty much the same as everyone else Ohio's legislature has decided to solve the 17 March primary's postponement, by eliminating the in person voting day, and extending vote by mail to 28 April. Tara Reade, former Biden assistant, comes forward with accusations of sexual assault against him. (content warning, graphic description of sexual assault). The #metoo legal fund organization, Time's Up, apparently refused to fund her case because attacking a politician might endanger their non-profit status Tulsi Gabbard quits the race for the Democratic nomination, and endorses Joe Biden. '''March 17 Dem. primary results:''' Joe Biden wins all three contests, however there was active voter suppression by voting laws in Arizona and pressure by irresponsible Democratic Party officials to not postpone the primaries And the 2020 Republican Party presidential nomination comes to an end, with Donald Trump securing more than the needed 1,276 delegates to for the GOP nomination. Coming on the heels of Ohio's announcement about moving their primary, Kentucky's Secretary of State has recommended moving the 19 May primary to 23 June. The day before its 17 March primary, Ohio announces it will attempt to move the primary to 2 June. We say attempt, because technically the governor can't do it, only the legislator or courts can, so the state is asking the court to do so. UPDATE: Judge rejects state's request to move primary.UPDATE 2: Ohio's Director of Health has signed an Emergency health order closing polls on Tuesday, 17 March. The State of Georgia has postponed their primary due to the coronavirus. The primary that was scheduled for 24 March, will now take place on 19 May. Unsurprisingly, the Israeli elections wield no majority for any party. Blue and White leader, Benny Gantz, is trying to form a center-left coaltion with Yisrael Beiteinu and the Labor Party, although he's facing setbacks by trying to court the Arab-majority Joint List.UPDATE: Gantz succeeding in getting the Joint List to sign on, giving him the 61 seats needed to form a government Louisiana postpones primary due to health risk Due to coronavirus concerns, the DNC has moved the 15 March debate to Washington DC to reduce travel, additionally the debate will not have a live audience or the. Moderator Jorge Ramos will skip the debate; he was in contact with someone who had contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. In another round of primaries, Joe Biden wins the states of Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho. Bernie Sanders wins North Dakota. Washington is still being counted, with Biden currently leading. Meanwhile, former contender Andrew Yang endorses Biden, stating that he believes Biden is more likely to win the nomination. UPDATE: Biden wins Washington. How the 2020 race became the dementia campaign as supporters of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump mudsling the opposite candidate with accusations of being senile The DNC adopts rules for the 10th debate that accurately reflect the fact no-one gives a fuck what Tulsi Gabbard has to say. A new economic analysis shows that Bernie Sanders' Medicare For All would likely increase wages and create jobs Outcry after a man brings a Nazi flag to a Bernie Sanders' Arizona rally, the first Jewish presidential candidate raising concerns about safety (non paywalled report) Elizabeth Warren has dropped out. Some states have made it harder for college students to vote which will have a negative impact for the Democratic nominee in November. The experiment has failed. Michael Bloomberg has dropped out of the race, after spending $500 million, and only getting 44 delegates to show for it. Super Tuesday: Joe Biden wins 11 states and Bernie Sanders wins 6 states (including California), with 1 state still too close to call. Meanwhile, Warren and Bloomberg fail to finish above 3rd in any states, and Michael Bloomberg only manages to win American Samoa after spending $500 million of his own fortune on the race. You can see here the popular vote. In an internal memo, the campaign of Elizabeth Warren admits they are aiming for a brokered convention. Iowa Democrats vote to certify the caucus results without correcting all errors This will never end. The Nation endorses Bernie Sanders for president in 2020. Less than 24 hours from Super Tuesday, Amy Klobuchar announces she is ending her presidential run, and is expected to endorse Joe Biden at a Texas rally Monday evening. Following a poor showing at South Carolina, "Mayor Pete" Buttigieg has announced his withdrawal from the race. According to a new poll, as many as 400,000 Israelis might stay away from the polls at the next election over coronavirus fears Bernie Sanders raised a staggering $46 million in February

February 2020
Tom Steyer drops out of the 2020 race. Biden wins in South Carolina, taking 255 thousands votes, with Bernie Sanders in 2nd place, with 105 thousand votes. Biden and Sanders are the only candidates to win state delegates. (full report of results). and will be the Labour Party's new leader and deputy leader respectively, according to the third and final YouGov poll for the race. Starmer is expected to win in the first round with a massive +22% margin over any other candidate, and Rayner is expected to win the second round with a far larger definitive +33%. However, Starmer has promised jobs in the Shadow Cabinet for both Long-Bailey and Nandy, saying that the relatively friendly and passive leadership race "bodes well for the Labour party". Ballots will close at noon on April 2nd, and the result will be announced on April 4th. Oligarch Michael Bloomberg's paid "volunteers" are telling voters to support other candidates Bernie Sanders claims what looks to be a landslide victory in the Nevada caucuses. Going by exit polls, his support was driven by young people and Latinos. In the New Hampshire primary, poor towns voted heavily for Bernie Sanders while rich towns did the opposite "This unfair charge should be abolished – not increased by another £1,000 at the 11th hour" - Complaints are mounting from Labour candidates who are frustrated about the party charging fees to access membership data, data which will now be delayed, as well as more expensive than originally believed. It's official - only 2020 Labour leadership candidates Lisa Nandy, Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey will be moving on to the membership ballot, as it is physically impossible for Emily Thornberry to pass the second round of nominations. Keir Starmer led significantly in initial membership polls, but it is yet to be seen if this early success will continue as the three leadership candidates battle for votes. Meanwhile, all five candidates for Deputy leadership to pass the first round of nominations will make it onto the membership ballot: Dawn Butler, Angela Rayner, Ian Murray, Rosena Allin-Khan, and Richard Burgon. Angela Rayner led so significantly in early polls that she would have immediately won the first round with 60%+ of the votes, so the other candidates have a hard time winning hearts and minds even if her support has fallen since. [https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/politics/bernie-sanders-pete-buttigieg-2020-race/index.html Guess who's the new Democratic frontrunner? Guess!] After getting under 1% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has dropped out of 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination race. Bernie Sanders wins the New Hampshire primary by popular vote. He ties with Pete Buttigieg in delegate count with 9 each, while Amy Klobuchar came in third with 6 delegates. On the day of the New Hampshire Democratic primary, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Colorado Senator Michael Bennett both exit the race. A grassroots organisation in support of trans rights and actively condemning transphobic hate groups LGB Alliance and Women's Place UK has launched inside the Labour Party, and has already received 3,450+ signatories from verified trans / trans ally Labour councillors, members, and MPs, including 2020 Leadership candidates Rebecca Long Bailey and Lisa Nandy, and Deputy Leadership candidates Angela Rayner and Dawn Butler. As with any heartwarming story by and about trans people, TERFs immediately tried to force themselves into it by starting definitely-not-astroterfed Twitter hashtag '#ExpelMe' claiming to be members of the Labour Party asking to be expelled due to the party's takeover by the evil transes. The seat totals for the 2020 Ireland general election are here: Out of 160 seats in the Dáil, 38 seats for Fianna Fáil, 37 seats for Sinn Féin, and 35 seats for Fine Gael - in FP vote percentage, Sinn Féin beats all other parties by +2.3%. A shocking outcome for Sinn Féin, who weren't initially projected to make any significant gain from 2016, managing a colossal +11% swing. CORRECTION: It's actually 37 (+ 1) for Fianna Fáil, as their was not put up for election (and, of course, is not allowed to vote barring ties) - so it's more accurate to say it's a tie between SF/FF in seat totals. Shocking poll gains have translated to shocking election results in Ireland, as the top three parties - left-wing Sinn Féin and centrist Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil - are at a complete tie at 22% in the exit poll, meaning an incredible +9% swing for Sinn Féin and a humiliating loss for the sitting party, Fine Gael. It is yet to be seen how this will translate to seats, (or if the vote percentage will be exactly the same as indicated when results are released) but it is all but impossible for any of the three lead parties to get into power without forming a coalition with another. Republican primary candidate Joe Walsh drops out, calling the GOP "a cult" and promising to support whoever the Democrats nominate for the presidency. Hillary Clinton is still desperate for attention, just in case you were wondering if she would stop Michael Bloomberg is revealed to have plagiarized much of his campaign platform from research publications, media sources and policy groups. With 97% of precincts now reported in, the Iowa caucus is essentially a flat tie with a shared 26% between Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders, with Pete barely leading by a 0.14% margin with 3 delegates. However, Sanders has claimed victory, saying the popular vote is in his favour by 6000 votes. Warren remains third at 18%, and Biden remains fourth at 16%. In other news, after only getting 1% in the Iowa caucus, Andrew Yang is laying off staff... The first results from the Iowa caucuses are (finally) in: it's a knife fight between Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders, with the former narrowly leading in delegates won and the latter narrowly leading in number of votes. Elizabeth Warren took third, Joe Biden fourth, and Amy Klobuchar fifth. 'Chaos' as the first results in the Democratic Party's Iowa caucuses are delayed due to "inconsistencies". With less than a week to go, a new poll by the Business Post newspaper has raised eyebrows by putting Sinn Féin in tied first place with the Fianna Fáil at 24%, with Fine Gael at 21%. This is a first poll ever that has put neither the two main establishment parties in poll-place. A YouGov poll has found, for the first time since early 2015, more people in Scotland want to leave the UK than stay. UPDATE: This has been backed up by another poll from Panelbase, putting Yes at a slightly larger percentage. (52:48 vs. 51:49) In the first post-election YouGov Westminster poll, 51% of people would still vote for a party other than the Conservatives if an election was held tomorrow. However, they are still +20% ahead of the opposition party, Labour, who are at 29%, a -4% drop from the popular vote in the general election.

January 2020
As a result of Brexit, British MEPs no longer exist.(relevant link absent) Hey, you know how the debate stage was shrinking, and we were all kind of happy about that? Well it's growing again. DNC rule change will allow Michael Bloomberg to take the stage starting with the 19 February debate. John Delaney drops out. A recent Gallup poll shows that bipartisan polarization on Trump has reached an 82% approval ratings gap, the worst in the poll's history. Jess Phillips withdraws from the Labour Leadership race Polling by Sunday Times has raised eyebrows with the Fianna Fáil at a twelve point lead at 32% ahead of the governing Fine Gael at 20%, with Sinn Féin only a point behind at 19%. The poll has led to growing calls for the leader of SF, Mary Lou McDonald to be included in leadership debate with Varadkar and Martin on RTÉ. At a National Rally conference, Marine Le Pen has announced she is entering the 2022 French presidential elections for a third-time lucky. [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/15/momentum-back-rebecca-long-bailey-poll-labour-leadership As polls begin to put Labour party leadership hopeful Rebecca Long-Bailey in the lead, ahead of former clear frontrunner Keir Starmer, membership group Momentum looks set to formally back the candidate. The support from the group, well-versed in campaigning on and offline, would be essential for Long-Bailey, whose campaign has had a noted 'slow start'.] CNN completely botched the Democratic presidential debate by replacing substantive questions with inane centrist talking points. UPDATE: On another note, you can read the full transcript of the debate here Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has asked the 32nd Dáil to be dissolved, and declared the next general election for the 8th February. Notably, this will be the first general election to be held on a Saturday instead of the usual Fridays. Commentators have pointed out it is also the date of the Ireland v Wales Six Nations rugby tournament. The Center blows itself up: voter statistic in the latest election Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen wins reelection in a landslide as voters back her tough stance against the PRC. Vermin Supreme has, somehow, won the New Hampshire presidential primary for the Libertarian Party. Senator Cory Booker has officially suspended his presidential campaign. The nominations for the Labour Party leadership election have closed. Clive Lewis withdrew hours before the polls closed, as he had just 5 of the required 22 nominators. Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips and Emily Thornberry all received the required number of nominations to get their names onto the ballot paper. Likewise, Angela Rayner, Ian Murray, Dawn Butler, Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon all received enough nominations to get onto the ballot paper in the deputy leadership race. In a push to grab support from the members for the Labour leadership, Clive Lewis is proposing a referendum on the monarchy, while Rebecca Long-Bailey is advocating the abolishment of the House of Lords. The Labour Party reformist movement Momentum has backed left-winger  for the Labour leadership, and  for the deputy. The January 14 debate's line up has been finalized: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren. Due to paperwork SNAFU, Andrew Yang will not appear on the Ohio Democratic primary ballot and will attempt a write-in campaign. John Delaney also failed to make the ballot. Bill Weld also failed to get on the Republican primary ballot. Marianne Williamson officially drops out. The largest trade union in the United Kingdom UNISON, [https://www.unison.org.uk/news/press-release/2020/01/unison-backs-keir-starmer-next-leader-labour-party/ who is the main trade union of public sector and essential workers has endorsed Sir Keir Starmer as the next Labour leader. Together, they have also endorsed Angela Rayner as deputy leader.] has also launched a deputy leadership bid, and will likely be the last to do so. She was previously one of the MPs considered most likely to launch a leadership bid - it is rumoured she's running for Deputy Leader instead because of her friendship with Rebecca Long-Bailey. After much speculation, Corbynite frontrunner has put her hat in the ring for the Labour leadership,putting a leadership bid in the left-wing Tribune magazine. The favourite choice for the next Labour leader according to polls, has officially put his hat in the ring. Noted backbencher has ruled himself out of the Labour leadership race. He says he is “not the individual best placed for this role at this time”. Meanwhile the race to succeed Tom Watson as deputy leader is also underway, with, and  throwing their hats into the ring. And now there are four, as soft-left backbencher has put her hat in the Labour leadership ring. Outspoken backbench MP, has formally put her hat in the ring for leadership of the Labour Party. She is the third candidate to officially self-declare running for the leader, after shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow Treasury secretary, Clive Lewis. Democratic nominee candidate Marianne Williamson has [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/476574-williamson-lays-off-entire-campaign-staff? laid off] all of her campaign staff, but maintains that she will continue running. Julián Castro has dropped out of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential race.