Democratic Protection Initiative
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The Democratic Protection Initiative was a government program and political initiative in the Kingdom of Superior. Created by President Jennifer Granholm, the goal of the Democratic Protection Initiative was to "strengthen and protect Superian democracy" from "reactionary and anti-democratic actions". The program was created following the the protests and demonstrations against the results of the investigation into voting fraud in the 2021 Uppasala gubernatorial election and the subsequent legislative action by other states to impose greater voter restriction laws. Both the program and initiative were established in July of 2021.
The initiative used both legislative and executive means to push through new political reforms, laws, and legislation aimed at expanding and protecting voting rights with Granholm planning on proposing federal legislation through Parliament. The initiative had received the support of the rest of the Progressive Bloc along with both the Reform Party and the First Nation. The Conservative Coalition stated its opposition, however the initiative initially recieved positive reception amongst the general public.
The campaign has garnered international attention and support as well both in and beyond Anglo-America with many foreign leaders and ministers attending the 2021 Liberal Democratic Action Conference in Saint Anthony, Minneapolis from August 16–20 to show their support for the bill and reference how the Granholm government's fight to preserve and expand voting rights in a universal fight in the rest of Anglo-America and in other parts of the world as well.
In September, the campaign became the site of significant controversy after the emergence of Courtgate, a political scandal alleging that the campaign was a covert act to allow the Granholm government to seize control over the High Court and the judiciary to support progressive legislation and hinder any future conservative governments and laws. In the leaked phone call that started the scandal, Granholm referred to the DPI as "that voting rights bullsh*t" leading many to speculate that it had a more insidious purpose and was legally and constitutionally unethical and questionable.
Due to the controversy and political fallout, the program was announced to be "on pause" on October 2, however the government still declared its intention to pursue expanding and protecting voting rights. After the 2022 Superian federal election was schedueled for January 3 following the passage of the Early Federal Election Act of 2021 in Parliament, Granholm pushed forward one final legislative piece, the Legislative Districting Act of 2021, which cracked down on and effectively criminalized partisan gerrymandering. The initiative was formally ended on January 4, 2022 by Granholm one day after the United Conservative victory in the 2022 federal election.
Following his inauguration, Isaac Dillon would attempt to repeal the program, both fully and partially, throughout his presidency, however it has faced heavily opposition from both the LDP-led opposition and the High Court, whose ideological liberal majority has blocked efforts to overturn the program as seen in the landmark case, Department of State v. Minnesota.
History
Background
On April 8, Roger Ferguson, the Liberal Democratic Attorney General of Uppasala, had launched an investigation into claims of voter fraud and ballot harvesting during the 2021 Uppasala gubernatorial election per the request of Daniel Meijer, the United Conservative gubernatorial candidate for the election. Granholm opposed the investigation believing it to feed into right-wing efforts to undermine integrity and trust in Superior's elections. All throughout the Meijer legal campaign and effort to overturn the results of the election, Granholm opposed them and vocally criticized conservative state governors and legislatures that sought to pass new more restricting voting laws like in Arrowhead and Regina. By June, Granholm would hold meetings with her cabinet and other government officials seeking to formulate a response to the issue of voting rights with frequent meetings being held. During this time, Lord Attorney General Marcus Travis announced that the Justice Department would sue both states alleging that they violated the Civil Rights Act of 1995.
Announcement
On July 9, Granholm held a press conference with members of her cabinet announcing the start of the Democratic Protection Initiative which aims to protect and expand voting rights and resist efforts to restrict them by conservative state and federal politicians and officials. She announced that the program would involve using executive, legislative, and judicial means and powers to expand voting rights including an upcoming bill in the House of Delegates, lawsuits against states that impose tight voting restrictions, and seeking to prevent Meijer's controversial legal campaign from occuring again calling it a "blatant attack on our democracy, elections, and institutions".
From August 12 to 16, the 2021 Liberal Democratic Action Conference was held in Saint Anthony and would garner national and international support for Granholm's program who made the goal of protecting and expanding voting rights a wider issue that was not limited to just Superior. On August 18, the National Right to Vote Act of 2021 was proposed by Granholm to the House of Delegates and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on August 20 with a final floor vote set to take place on the 24th. The bill is most likely to pass by party lines with only the crossbench MPs predicted to support the bill outside of MPs affiliated with the Progressive Bloc. The bill calls to a nationwide automatic voter registration program, striking down of state laws that impose more restrictive voting rights, and to strengthen the National Voting Rights Act of 1966 by reinstituting certain elements that were previously struck down by the High Court.
Legislative actions
On August 20, the bill was sent to the House Judiciary Committee to be evaluated and debated before a final vote was to be held on the House floor. During the debate, House Delegate TBD from Arrowhead would garner controversy for calling the bill a power grab and accusing it of undermining the High Court. On August 22, a vote was scheduled for the 24 with the final vote ending with the bill passing the House of Delegates among partisan lines 153–109 with all 17 crossbench MPs voting in favor of the bill. On August 27, it was announced that the bill would move up to the High Council floor and would be referred to the High Council Judiciary Committee before a final vote was to be held.
On September 1, the Judiciary Committee had established September 8 as the date in which the final vote would be given with the one week gap being permitted to allow for debate between High Councilors on the bill itself. Francis Leer, High Councilor from Dakota and Council Minority Leader, opposed the bill calling it a power grab and accusing Granholm of both politicizing elections and voting integrity and for violating states' rights. April Wren, High Councilor from Minneapolis and the Majority Leader, pushed the bill forward calling it a "much needed step towards a truly healthy and functioning democracy. The bill passed on September 8 and was signed into law by Granholm two days later on the tenth and approved by King William II following its parliamentary assent.
Courtgate scandal
On September 14, a phonecall between President Jennifer Granholm and Governor Anna Cooper of Arrowhead was leaked by the newspaper Duluth Standard. In the call, Granholm is abrasive and confrontational with Cooper referring to her in vulgar terms, dismissing claims of abuse of power, and refers to the campaign being a selfish act claiming that the "voting rights bullshit" improved her standing in the polls and also alluded to pressuring Robert Ludinfinger into retiring as an Associate Justice of the High Court. The call would be leaked and it would spread across the internet with the campaing being called into question due to how Granholm refered to it in the call leading many to speculate that it was a personal quest for vengance rather then a genuine campaign to improve and protect voting rights in Superior.
These claims would be dismissed, but the official site for the campaign would be rendered inactive on October 2 for "maintenance and improvements" on the same day that the campaign was officially announced to be "put on hold" by the Executive Mansion.
Attempts to overturn
Goals
Reception
Support
Opposition
Public opinion
Public opinion has generally been in favor of the campaign on the onset of its beginning with support for voting rights being supported by most Superian voters and the campaign being backed with a 61% approval rating during the first poll conducted after it was announced. Other polls have the campaign support from 52% to 56% and others as high as 65%. Generally speaking, the campaign had popular support for the first months after it was announced.