Auditing Salt Lake Votes
Juneteeth Gets a Holiday, Just Say 'No' to Election Reform
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Auditing Salt Lake Votes
Oh yes, let's now take legislative action in response to rumors, especially those tinged with conspiracy. If only we had the taxpayer dollars to conduct a free-for-all audit like they did in Arizona—you know, where they were looking for bamboo threads (one baseless accusation claimed 40K ballots had been smuggled to Arizona from Asia) or outright vote-switching by Leftist cyber-criminals. Rep. Steve Christiansen, R-West Jordan, just feels it in his toes that something's amiss. He felt it right after the 2020 election, even though the beloved Mr. Trump won Utah's paltry electoral votes. "There are rumors out there that there may be issues with that equipment, but I'm not sure that's been proven one way or the other," he told The Salt Lake Tribune. Maybe Christiansen can't believe that more U.S. citizens voted for Joe Biden than Trump, or that Salt Lake County went all-out for Biden. But by all means, let's audit the Utah ballots. Maybe we can get rid of Burgess Owens.
Juneteeth Gets a Holiday
Juneteenth is now a national holiday, but don't hold your breath waiting for Utah to make it a state holiday. The Deseret News reminds us that Utah was among the last states to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a legal holiday — from 1983 to 2000. Lawmakers made the familiar argument that "other people" made important contributions to human rights. There were only 14 congressmen (all Republican men, BTW) who voted no. USA Today interviewed some who said it another holiday would confuse the dim-witted electorate or that the country simply has enough holidays. But Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale gave us the pure partisan line: "This is an effort by the Left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make Critical Race Theory the reigning ideology of our country.Since I believe in treating everyone equally, regardless of race, and that we should be focused on what unites us rather than our differences, I will vote no." For the moment, let's be happy that Utah's congressmen voted for it.
Just Say 'No' to Election Reform
You can count on Sen. Mike Lee to have the answer. We're not sure what the question was, but for sure he knows that "the devil" wrote the For the People Act on voters' rights, and amnesty for DACA kids would just intensify the border crisis. Indeed, there's nothing good in the voting rights bill because it gives the federal government powers it shouldn't have, the Deseret News reported. In other words, states should be able to keep the poor, the Black and the elderly from voting if they want. Lee isn't the only one. Sen. Mitt Romney has been sending out form letter to constituents who have asked him to vote in favor. The feds, he argues, would turn voting into a partisan business—as if it isn't already.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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