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Matt Young

@opticist.bsky.social
96 followers 38 following 292 posts

opticist, sometime photographer, evolutionist (yes, that is a word), author of books and articles, retired physics professor, atheist (or at least strong agnostic), contributor to The Panda's Thumb, victim advocate, nudnik

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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We just ran a piece by Dan Phelps, Williamstown secret deal may get a free fire station for the Ark suggesting that the proprietors of the Ark Park in Kentucky may have discovered a new mechanism (I almost wrote scheme) for extracting funds from the government. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
A photograph of Ken Ham of Ark Park fame and 2 of his colleagues meeting with the mayor of Williamstown.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
2nd place in the Panda's Thumb Photography Contest, by Al Denelsbeck. I posted the winner on July 29. The artifact on the right picture, which is shown in more detail on the Thumb, may be due to aliasing. See "alt" for more. The insect is *not* a mantis. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Side by side pictures of 2 green mantisflies exposed with different focal lengths. The eyes in the right photo display some kind of artifact, possibly due to aliasing. The artifact is not the result of interference.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
John Harshman's picture of a common potoo, third place in the Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. Look closely; it is a bird. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Article in Panda's Thumb by Joe Felsenstein, commenting on a weird claim by Eric Hedin, in which he "imagine[s] that" evolution cannot occur, so life must be an Idea in the mind of God. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
pandasthumb.org
Is evolution defied because life is an
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Splendid pictures of ichneumonid wasps by Malcolm Schongalla. Honorable Mention in Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. Wasps are on the same log, laying eggs on horntail larvae, which the wasp larvae will eat. Darwin found it disturbing. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Latest post on The Panda's Thumb. Includes data showing that Ham's Ark Park has never lived up to its, um, expectations. Instead of addressing the fact, Ham notes that Enquirer's circulation is down. His, by contrast, was never up. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
pandasthumb.org
Ken Ham's attack on the press
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Can We Keep One Small Corner of America Technology-Free? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/o... Tl;dr. But I think the same of soccer. A bad call is no different from a bad bounce; they happen. OK, allow a couple of challenges a game or a half, but let the umps umpire and the officials officiate.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Can We Keep One Small Corner of America Technology-Free?
Baseball isn’t supposed to be perfect.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Joe Felsenstein shows how Lamarck, the first evolutionary biologist, is misrepresented and misunderstood by creationists, in this post in The Panda's Thumb on Lamarck's 282nd birthday. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
pandasthumb.org
An unhappy birthday: Lamarck is misrepresented
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
A piece by Daniel Phelps cross-posted from the blog Righting America, with a commentary by William Trollinger - shows how Kentucky taxpayers were taken for a ride, and not in an ark. The ark in the photo seems to be in drydock. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Noah's Ark, evidently in drydock. Photograph by Cimerondagert, Bow end of Ark Encounter. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ark_Encounter_005.jpg. CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Gert Korthof (biologist and proprietor of wasdarwinwrong.com) has won the XVI-th Panda's Thumb Photography Contest with this photo of a spider in its web, supplemented by 2 shots of a web illuminated by sunlight. The origin of the color is a mystery, at least to me. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Spider in the center of its web. Close-ups of the strands taken at the right angle show colors in short bands.Sticky capture thread.Radius thread.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Oy. I suspect that Braterman is right that Vought and Miller are likely behind it all. They are in some ways scarier than Trump, in that they have a clear agenda and will not chicken out. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...
3quarksdaily.com
Trump's Religious Liberty Commission and the dismantling of the Constitution - 3 Quarks Daily
by Paul Braterman
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Panda's Thumb. Urophora cardui. A tomato I saw growing in a thistle (read the post!). And please do not forget the Panda's Thumb Photo Contest. Entries close next Monday at noon, MDT. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
No, of course it is not a tomato; it is a gall created when a thistle stem gall fly laid its egg(s). But to me it looked just like a green tomato growing out of a thistle plant.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Latest article on Panda's Thumb: "David Coppege makes it clear a refresher course is needed," by Joe Felsenstein. Coppege thinks he debunks natural selection. Yes, really. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... CC BY-SA 3.0.
Like Coppege's post, this one shows an image of a Tuatara. It is by Michael Hamilton and is from Wikimedia, under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. I [Joe Felsenstein] think that this one is better.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The XVII-th Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. We accept photographs related to nature, science, engineering, and so on, from the smallest to the largest. Before you enter (and I hope you will) pls click the link and read the rules. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
pandasthumb.org
Photography Contest XVII
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Panda's Thumb: Glenn Branch of NCSE reviewed "Evolution Is Wrong: A Radical Approach to the Origin & Transformation of Life," by Erich von Däniken, under the title, "He's Saying It Was Aliens ... But It Wasn't Aliens." Mr. Branch was not impressed. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Book cover, Evolution Is Wrong: A Radical Approach to the Origin & Transformation of Life, by Erich von Däniken.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Today is National Panda Day! pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Photograph of a plump-looking gaint panda munching a leaf of bamboo.  Photograph by Yann.fauche (Wikimedia). CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
My post linking to some Darwin Day, as well as Religion and Science Weekend, festivities includes a nice picture of Darwin at age 6. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Darwin at age 6, by Ellen Sharples. I think it is thought to be the oldest known, surviving picture of Darwin.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I can't resist either. From a NYT newsletter: "Propose single payer health care and call it 'Trumpcare.' The ID card is gold with his face and signature on it. He won’t be able to resist."— A comment by Kenneth from Alabama
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Thom Hartmann interviews Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. White Christian nationalism - chaplains may not mention Alex Pretti but Charlie Kirk is lionized. www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2026/02/mrff...
militaryreligiousfreedom.org
MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein on The Thom Hartmann Program — VA Chaplains Can’t Mention Alex Pretti; Troops Pressured to See “Melania”
“We are at the point now where you actually have to do something. You can’t just sit back, circulate blood, reflect light, and breathe!” — MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein on The Thom Hartma...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Clever idea: Help Minneapolis Get a Nobel Peace Prize. Too late for this year, and doubt they have "standing," but professors may nominate for Peace Prize. actionnetwork.org/petitions/su...
actionnetwork.org
Help Minneapolis Get a Nobel Peace Prize
Students protest against ICE during a walkout at the University of Minnesota, on January 26, 2026 (Brandon Bell / Getty Images) The editors of The Nation are formally nominating the city of Minneapo...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Good article by Yale student Zachary Clifton notes that Trump endowment tax hurts universities that developed "the most important scientific breakthroughs, including mRNA vaccine technology, MRI machines, pacemakers, and insulin therapy for patients with diabetes." www.thenation.com/article/soci...
thenation.com
Trump’s New Endowment Tax Is Already Reshaping Higher Education
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” added additional taxes on a small set of universities. Now budget cuts have hit campuses across the Ivy League and elsewhere.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Thank God for small mercies. Original reporting by Cassis Tingley suggests that closing NCAR for telling the truth about climate change is only second degree murder, not first. coloradosun.com/2026/01/12/d...
coloradosun.com
Did Project 2025 call for closing Boulder's NCAR research center?
No. While Project 2025 called for targeting “climate alarmism,” it did not propose eliminating the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Just ran a short piece, Measles at the Ark, by Dan Phelps, on Panda's Thumb. An unvaccinated person with measles visited the Ark Park, and authorities are warning the public. Phelps is "sad" that "anti-science" is putting people in real danger. So I am I. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
No, but it shows the silliness of the concept cultural appropriation.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
I well remember when Uncle gave the green light to "supplement" manufacturers but was unaware that it had given the same consideration to "organic" food. Quotation marks used advisedly. Love seems to be a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer and well qualified. skepticalinquirer.org/2025/12/orga...
skepticalinquirer.org
Organic Is the Wellness Industry of Agriculture | Skeptical Inquirer
The organic farming and food industry is based on clean-food ideology, chemophobia, and the fantasy that “natural” is a scientific argument. It is born from ...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Bit rambling, but he asks, "So which do you think is worse — Trump dismantling NCAR because he can’t stand science or Trump’s dismantling one of the world’s premier climate research institutions simply to show [Colo Gov] Polis who’s boss?" Or that they do not think about or care about consequences?
coloradosun.com
Littwin: Trump takes revenge on Colorado in defense of election grifter Tina Peters, and the whole world suffers
Once Polis refused to pardon Peters, Trump’s budget honcho Russell Vought took down NCAR, Boulder’s crown jewel of climate research
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Reposted by Matt Young
Jerry Coyne @evolutionistrue.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
The hero is a Muslim with no firearms training. Kudos to him.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
I am sorry, but you have no religious (or any other) right to put other people's health in danger. For a medical school to agree to equate religious exemptions to medical exemptions is an outrage; religion should not be privileged over public health. coloradosun.com/2025/12/02/c...
coloradosun.com
CU-Anschutz agrees to pay $10 million in lawsuit over COVID vaccine mandate, group says
The University of Colorado Anschutz has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit over religious exemptions to its COVID vaccine mandate.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Splendid pic, but wondering why the secondary bow is white while the primary is sharp. Normally you see a white bow when the droplets are so small that diffraction exceeds dispersion. But why is the primary so sharp and the secondary white? Anyone know?
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
My biweekly photograph on Panda's Thumb -- a tiny (few millimeters) unidentified spider about to lunch on a box elder bug, Boisea trivittata. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... I include in the post a dorsal view of a box elder bug from several years ago.
Tiny spider has trapped a box elder bug in a web and is about to dine.
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Reposted by Matt Young
danphelpskentucky.bsky.social @danphelpskentucky.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
William Trollinger gets it exactly right: rightingamerica.net/whitewashing... The Pilgrims sailed to obtain religious freedom for themselves, not you and me; see e.g. www.thenation.com/article/soci... and ignore the slightly inflammatory (tho accurate) head.
rightingamerica.net
Whitewashing History: PragerU’s Thanksgiving
by William Trollinger “The First Thanksgiving- 1621” Painting by Karen Rinaldo. Image via Plymouth400Inc. PragerU is not a university. It is not an accredited educational institution. I…
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Yes, and repeal the ill-named Tabor Amendment (Taxpayers' Bill of Rights). But I wd suggest several brackets below $500K, not one at $500K. Typical rich guy, Gov Polis will probably not support a fair income tax but wd rather "borrow" from PERA. coloradosun.com/2025/11/25/o...
coloradosun.com
Opinion: Colorado’s continued billion-dollar struggle with state budget is reason we need to shift to graduated income tax
Voters deserve chance to rethink our state spending and change Colorado Constitution to change tax structure.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Post run on Panda's Thumb by Joe Felsenstein about what appears to be a completely unqualified academic who changed his mind (gasp!) and now rejects "Darwinism." pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Frontispiece to the article.  According to Felsanstein, "[this] cartoon, from Wikimedia, dates from 1855. It shows the concrete sculptures of dinosaurs which were created for Crystal Palace Park, after that exposition hall was moved there following the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition in London. They are not very accurate, but apparently still on display at Crystal Palace Park."
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
My discussion of this book on evolution of organisms adapted to living in cities & towns. Author argues that cities & towns worldwide will ultimately have nearly identical floras & faunas. If they have gained a foothold, may we then plant exotic species deliberately? pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Book cover to Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution.
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
When Bill Cassidy voted to confirm the world’s most extreme, dangerous anti-vaxx activist as HHS Secretary, he voted to dismantle the US vaccination system. Now Bill has got the sads cuz RFK Jr’s actions are hurting & killing American kids, including in Bill’s own state. Who could have predicted?
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Cannot agree more with Nicolais, but Boebert and especially MTG are unfortunately the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe. If the Gop abandons him, Trump may become more unhinged or resign and give us Vance when what we will need is a Ford. coloradosun.com/2025/11/16/b...
coloradosun.com
Nicolais: Boebert bucks Trump over Epstein files, and should be applauded
Despite extraordinary pressure — including a White House meeting — the Colorado congresswoman held firm on her decision to sign the discharge petition.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
A nice shot of the aurora the other night by Vivian Dullien, which I posted on Panda's Thumb yesterday. Taken with her cell phone. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Snapshot of the aurora the other day with evergreens in the foreground.
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Matt Shipman (he/him) @shiplives.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
It is readily apparent that most lawmakers in the United States have never been poor; do not know any poor people; have never actually had a conversation with a poor person; and have no clear understanding of how poverty actually affects people’s health and opportunities.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Interesting photograph by a Panda's Thumb regular, Al Denelsbeck. Not to mention 2 excellent puns in the comments section. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... Denelsbeck is a professional photographer who posts here: wading-in.net
An anole with a forked tail, which evidently grew back imperfectly after an injury.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
My book report on Mitch Cruzan's book "Looking down the Tree," about human origins, on Panda's Thumb here: pandasthumb.org/archives/202... You may also find Prof Cruzan's preview to his book here: pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Cover of Mitch Cruzan's book, "Looking down the Tree: The Evolutionary Biology of Human Origins."
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Glenn Branch @glennbranch.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Paul Braterman (@paulbraterman.bsky.social) illuminatingly discusses "Evolution and Creationism in the Age of Trump" for 3 Quarks Daily.
3quarksdaily.com
Evolution and Creationism in the age of Trump - 3 Quarks Daily
by Paul Braterman
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
From Bosley Crowther's 1964 review of Seven Days in May, which was shown on TCM tonight: "The idea [of a military coup] may seem a bit far‐fetched. Coups d’etat happen elsewhere, not here." What might he write today?
nytimes.com
GOD BLESS AMERICA; ‘Seven Days in May’ a Stirring Film (Published 1964)
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
I just ran an appreciation of Veritasium's video, Something Weird Happens When You Simulate Lifeless Molecules, on The Panda's Thumb, here: pandasthumb.org/archives/202... What's weird is that you get (simulated) life.
Cartoon of blind cave fish, 10 blue and 10 green, about to undergo genetic drift.
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National Center for Science Education @ncse.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
We're celebrating a birthday today! Happy 80th to NCSE's first executive director, Eugenie Scott! 🧁 ncse.ngo/happy-80th-birthday-genie
ncse.ngo
Happy 80th birthday, Genie! | National Center for Science Education
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Joe Felsenstein just posted this link pandasthumb.org/archives/202... to a YouTube video featuring Jason (The Failures of Mathematical Anti-Evolutionism) Rosenhouse, a math professor at James Madison University. Felsenstein calls it, "A demolition of creationist information theory."
youtu.be
Mathematician Debunks Creationist Information Theory
YouTube video by Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
From one of our Panda's Thumb Photography Contests a year or so ago, an Honorable Mention, "Aragonite Frostwork," by Alan Rice, posted the other day on PT. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Aragonite frostwork, taken in a cave in Nevada during field work. Mr. Rice writes, "Anthodites are speleothems (cave formations) composed of long needle-like crystals situated in clusters which radiate outward from a common base. Most anthodites are made of the mineral aragonite (a variety of calcium carbonate, CaCO3), although some are composed of gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O). The "needles" may be quill-like or feathery."
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Glenn Branch @glennbranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Lexicographic enshrinement for Eugenie C. Scott's coinage "Gish Gallop"! @eugeniescott.bsky.social
merriam-webster.com
Gish gallop
Gish gallop (sometimes gish gallop or Gish/gish galloping) refers to a rhetorical technique or strategy by which a debater puts forth too many false arguments for their opponent to be able to refute i...
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Just ran on Panda's Thumb: "Building Bridges [between Science and Religion] That Can Bear Scientific Scrutiny," by Jamie Jensen, a biology prof at BYU and self-described member of a "conservative Christian religion." Lots of good insight, good comments. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...
Some of Jensen's team at the Ark Park last summer.
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Matt Young @opticist.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
The Colorado Sun this morning. No further comment necessary: Former Republican election official buys Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems coloradosun.com/2025/10/09/d...
coloradosun.com
Former Republican election official buys Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems
The newly formed company, Liberty Vote, also vowed to follow the executive order Trump signed last spring seeking sweeping changes to election policies that multiple judges have put on hold for violat...
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