Morning Report: August 16, 2017

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Author: Jeff Powers
Published: 15 Aug, 2017
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
2 min read

Alabama Election Results

It's going to be about another month before we know who will represent the GOP in the Alabama Senate race to go head-to-head with Democrat Doug Jones.

The race is for Attorney General Jeff Sessions' former US Senate seat.

Two Republicans advanced to a runoff on September 26. Roy Moore, a former state Supreme Court Justice and Senator Luther Strange, who is serving as Sessions' replacement, will square off.

Moore received 39.8% of the vote compared with Strange, who received 32.3% of the vote.

Strange was President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's choice. McConnell's Super PAC spent $2.5 million to catapult Strange into the top-two runoff.

On the Democrat side, Doug Jones won that primary easily. The former U.S. attorney grabbed 63.7% of the vote.

Jones will meet the winner of the GOP runoff December 12 to decide who will represent Alabama's Congressional District.

In a solid red state like Alabama, it seems a safe bet that whoever wins the GOP nomination will win the election, which means the outcome of the race will be decided in a low-turnout primary runoff.

CO Independents Shatter Registration Record

In a story on IVN.us, "voter registration in Colorado reportedly hit a record high, and it is independent voters who are driving the surge."

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"Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams reported Monday that over 25,000 new or returning voters have registered since June 28. The boost in voter registration was mostly provided by unaffiliated voters, who made up nearly 14,000 new or returning voters."

IVN Editor Shawn Griffiths further wrote, "According to the Colorado secretary of state, total voter registration is at 3.7 million. Registered unaffiliated voters currently make up the largest voting bloc in the state — outnumbering the Republican Party and the Democratic Party."

Unaffiliated voters can now participate in crucial statewide and presidential primaries after Propositions 107 and 108 were approved by voters in 2016.

Independents can choose between a Republican and Democratic primary ballot.

IVN Podcast

In the latest IVN Podcast, A Civil Assessment with TJ O'Hara, we meet the award-winning election journalist, Lulu Friesdat.

"T.J. and Lulu discuss her history reporting on elections, her documentary “Holler Back” about voters who did not vote in 2004, the annual tech conference DEF CON where hackers broke into election machines in under 2 hours, bipartisan election security, the Wisconsin, Georgia, and Florida recounts, and more.

"Lulu walks us through how hackers easily hacked a number of different election machines, much of which was made easier due to simple passwords (such as “ABCDEF”) and lack of encryption. She recommends voting via paper, in order to secure your vote!"

Listen to the podcast here.

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