The Justice Department said it plans to “monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states for the Nov. 5 general election.” “The Justice Department enforces federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all eligible citizens to access the ballot. The department regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities all across the country,” the Justice Department said in a release on Friday. “For the general election, the department will monitor for compliance with federal voting rights laws on Election Day in 86 jurisdictions,” it added. Justice Department to monitor polling sites in 27 states on Election Day https://t.co/wkRcGLuE1t pic.twitter.com/WrJKYaf5DJ — New York Post (@nypost) November 2, 2024 The jurisdictions are located in the following states: Alaska Arizona California Florida Georgia Kentucky Massachusetts Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana North Carolina New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Texas Utah Virginia Wisconsin From the New York Post: Nearly a third of the 86 jurisdictions where the department will keep tabs on polling sites are in the nation’s seven most closely watched swing-states. Monitors are set to visit six counties in Michigan, five in Georgia, four each in Wisconsin and Arizona, three apiece in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and one in Nevada on Nov. 5. Republican leaders in other states, including Texas, Missouri and Florida, said they would reject the DOJ request for access to polling sites, according to reports. “Federal monitors are not allowed to enter polling places in Texas,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. Federal monitors are not allowed to enter polling places in Texas. https://t.co/I0Pk9Y9hEi — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 2, 2024 Republican leaders in Florida and Missouri took the same stance, prohibiting federal monitors from polling locations. Florida Blocks DOJ Thugs From Entering Florida Poll Stations, Warns of Risk to Election Integrity https://t.co/Ik03uHXUMP pic.twitter.com/NQOsIqOHA5 — The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) November 2, 2024 The Washington Post reports: Republican leaders in Missouri and Florida, which flatly banned federal monitors in the 2022 midterm elections, said in recent interviews that their positions have not changed and that Justice officials likely would be rebuffed again if they request access to voting locations for Tuesday’s presidential election. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) accused the Justice Department of using monitors to punish conservative states that have tightened voter identification laws and adopted policies the Biden administration opposes. Drawing from a state law that does not specifically list federal monitors as permitted to enter polling sites, he accused the Justice Department of overstepping its authority. “This certainly has become politicized,” said Ashcroft, whose father John Ashcroft led the Justice Department as attorney general during the administration of President George W. Bush. “The Department of Justice lied when they came in and used pretenses to try to bully their way in when they knew what they were doing was not legal.” In 2022, federal authorities sought access to polling sites in Cole County, Missouri, home of the state capital of Jefferson City, citing complaints that the county lacked adequate voting machines for disabled people. Ashcroft, who rejected those complaints as untrue, said federal monitors who showed up on Election Day were forced to remain outside in public spaces. In Florida, Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) said Justice officials in 2022 failed to provide a valid reason for trying to enter polling sites in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, prompting him and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to rebuff their requests. A spokesman for Byrd’s office said this month that state law does not explicitly permit federal monitors to enter voting locations.

Former Republican Representative Liz Cheney has urged former President George W. Bush to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the November 5th election. 

Hung Cao is running against Tim Kaine for the United States Senate. He retired as a Navy Captain. Hung Cao was a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. The communists murdered his grandparents. Hung Cao knows communism well and now sees the Biden-Harris administration taking the United States in that terrible direction. “We are losing our […] The post Hung Cao Is Within One Point of Sen. Tim Kaine appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Internet sensation Peanut, a little grey squirrel, was very active on Instagram and TikTok with hundreds of thousands of followers loving his videos before New York officials seized him from his home and euthanized him this week. On the account for the seven-year-old Peanut are thousands of posts of the squirrel with his guardian Mark Longo ranging from the two munching on waffles to Peanut decked out wearing a Santa hat while drawing attention to Longo’s non-profit animal sanctuary and rescue operation, “P’Nut’s Freedom Farm.”  Some of the best videos that stood out showed the very docile, trained squirrel clearly having the time of his life before he was seized by six officials from New York state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to be “tested for rabies,” according to WTEM. The first video is dated April 17, 2017, when the squirrel was rescued by Longo after he saw the squirrel’s mom hit by a car, the New York Post noted. From there, the videos show the little guy becoming instantly close with his guardian as the two enjoy going on walks together, playing games, and even getting kisses and love from Longo. In one crazy video from February 2020, Longo calls Peanut to come to him while he’s standing pretty far away. The squirrel understands the instruction and launches far into the air, flying and landing on his arm perfectly. He captioned the post, “Alright hooman, I think it’s time the both of us stop being chunky and get back to that summer body long jumps for cardio.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Peanut The Squirrel (@peanut_the_squirrel12) In another video dated September 2021, we see Peanut showing off just how trained he was as Longo leads him around the house with a ball on a string. The caption next to the post read, “my hooman decided it’s time for me to start running more. There better be a snack at the end of this run!” MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+ In so many of the posts, Peanut is just hitching a ride on Longo’s shoulder as the two pal around or he sits in his guardian’s hand while eating a snack. There’s even videos of him hitching rides while sitting on top of his guardian’s hat checking out the world.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Peanut The Squirrel (@peanut_the_squirrel12) One post made in November 2023 shows a staged set-up of Peanut throwing a waffle party with waffles, oats, and peanut butter without Longo. The caption next to the post — with more than 44 thousand likes — read, “I never get invited.” In a video made five days ago, the two are just hanging out at his animal sanctuary with Peanut eating a waffle while he sits on Longo’s hat.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Peanut The Squirrel (@peanut_the_squirrel12) The next post is after DEC officials seized him and Longo’s raccoon named Fred after the agency said it had received numerous calls about the animals living in the house. The heartbreaking post from Longo talked about how he’s lost his best friend, calling it a “tragedy.” “Well internet, you WON. You took one of the most amazing animals away from me because of your selfishness,” Longo wrote. “To the group of people who called DEC, there’s a special place in hell for you.”

Peanut the Squirrel was more than just a social media sensation. He was also the namesake of an animal rescue run by the New York couple that adopted him. Last year, Mark and Daniele Longo opened P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, “a haven where neglected and homeless animals receive a second chance at life” named after their pet squirrel, who they rescued seven years ago. The sanctuary, which they say has helped 350 animals, was made possible in a large part by donations gathered through Peanut’s viral social media accounts. Now that Peanut has been euthanized by New York State, Mark Longo worries the sanctuary may be in trouble. “We’ve relied heavily on PNUT and his internet family to gather donations to help more animals,” Longo wrote on Instagram. “I don’t even know how [we] will continue to fundraise for this nonprofit.” Longo says he is uncertain why the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) chose to seize and euthanize Peanut after seven years, during which time there had been no complaints about Peanut. But according to Center For Consumer Freedom Managing Director Will Coggin, the DEC’s actions are inline with the misguided approach of the animal welfare movement. “The death of Peanut appears to track with a broader trend in the animal rights movement of killing animals,” Coggin told The Daily Wire. “Sadly, many of these people have a ‘better dead than fed’ mentality.” Coggin pointed to one “shocking” case of Maya the Chihuahua, who PETA employees allegedly took from a Virginia family’s front porch and euthanized. Maya’s owner, Wilbur Cerate, told WAVY at the time that security footage from his home shows two women exiting a PETA van that pulls up to his property, putting Maya in the van, and driving away. Cerate told WAVY that the women returned three days later with “a fruit basket and terrible news — Maya had been euthanized.” MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+ Accomack County Sheriff Todd Godwin charged the workers with larceny, but the local commonwealth’s attorney dropped the charge. According to Coggin, Peanut and Maya are just two of many animals who have suffered such fates. “PETA euthanized 79% of the dogs and cats it took in last year at its ‘shelter,’ which state inspectors likened to a ‘euthanasia clinic,’” Coggin said. Though PETA has national recognition, Center For Consumer Freedom data suggests that it’s smaller animal rescues like P’Nuts Freedom Farm that do the majority of actual rescuing. The group found that PETA only adopted 58 animals in 2022, a 2.1% adoption rate. The nearby Norfolk Animal Care & Adoption Center, it said, took in 4,337 animals that year, and had a euthanasia rate of just 10%.