Vote as though our democracy depends on it (Akron Beacon Journal)

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Holly Christensen

Last weekend, I waited 2½ hours to vote at the Summit County Board of Elections (BOE). I have, with few exceptions, voted early and in person since it has been an option in Ohio. Waiting until Election Day stresses me out. What if something comes up and I can’t make it to the polls?

Sure, I could have requested an absentee ballot, as two of my children did. But if my signature is questioned, and I am not there to fix it in real time, my ballot becomes provisional and in all likelihood will not get counted. No, thanks, I’ll wait in line.

In prior elections, I’ve voted early with no wait. This year, the BOE set up a 50-foot long canopy tent in their parking lot for voters to stand under while waiting to enter the building.

And wait they do. Three times earlier in the week, the line for in-person voting was too long for me to stay. Meanwhile, cars by the dozens stretched down Grant Street in both directions as voters waited to turn in their absentee ballots at the only drop box in the county ...

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/lifestyle/2020/10/31/holly-christensen-voting-lifeblood-democracy/3756395001/

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1. Voter suppression (Pierce College CA)

Arielle Zolezzi

Although the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was supposed to secure every American’s right to vote, voter suppression is still as prominent today as it was in the 1940’s and 1950’s ...

Today, voter suppression isn’t as in your face, and that is what makes it so dangerous.

One way that suppression at the polls has been able to continue is moving and closing polling sites.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights reported that states across the American South have closed nearly 1,200 polling places since the Supreme Court weakened a landmark voting-discrimination law in 2013 ...

https://theroundupnews.com/2020/10/30/column-voter-suppression/

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2. Remember the 1920 Ocoee racial massacre when you vote (FL)

By David Canton

Exactly 100 years ago, a racial massacre sparked by the right to vote began in Ocoee, a small town 100 miles from Gainesville. In 1920, the Black community in Ocoee was segregated. There was a black church, an African Methodist Episcopal Church, a Masonic lodge, schools and a plethora of small farmers.

By 1920, Ocoee had 1,000 Black residents, and the three most successful Black families were the Perrys, Normans and Hightowers. Moses and Elise Norman did not hide their wealth. To whites, they were “uppity Negroes.” But African Americans in Ocoee were optimistic because of a growing post-war economy and, for the first time, Black women could vote.

Nov. 2, 1920, was Election Day, and white poll workers tried to bar Moses Norman and other African Americans from voting. He had a shotgun in his car and was eventually attacked by a white mob.

Norman went to July Perry’s house to explain what happened. Right after he left, a white mob led by Orlando Police Chief Sam Salisbury attacked Perry’s home. During the confrontation, Perry’s family killed two white men, but eventually Perry was arrested and lynched. The mob used Perry’s body to send a message to deter African Americans from voting ...

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/10/30/remember-the-1920-ocoee-racial-massacre-when-you-vote-column/

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3. Dallasite Leads Young Black Lawyers' Organizing Coalition GOTV Voter Protection (Dallas Weekly)

Today, the Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC) announced that approximately 180,300 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been shipped to and received by hundreds of Black faith-based, community and humanitarian organizations in Texas and South Carolina, to be distributed to Black voters and community members ahead of Election Day.

“In this election, as Black voters are facing the combined threats of COVID-19 and voter suppression, it is critically important that Black voters are empowered to safely and confidently vote,” said Abdul Dosunmu, founder of the Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition.

“Black voters have the power to make the difference in this and every election, which is exactly why Black voters are the most likely to be targeted by voter suppression tactics. We’re committed as young Black lawyers and law students to doing everything we can to protect Black voters and Black ballots.”

Black communities have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, and Black voters are the most likely to be deliberately targeted by voter suppression tactics that seek to undermine, undercount, and block Black votes. As part of an effort to protect and empower Black voters, YBLOC is distributing PPE to local organizations in Texas and South Carolina for voters and community members, as well as hosting voter education sessions led by young Black lawyers and law students in partnership with grassroots partners to make sure that Black voters have the information they need to safely, fully and freely cast their votes ...

https://www.dallasweekly.com/articles/dallasite-leads-young-black-lawyers-organizing-coalition-gotv-voter-protection-effort-to-provide-180k-pieces-of-ppe-to-ensure-safe-voting-for-black-communities-in-texas-south-carolina/

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4. VPR To Join ProPublica Election Integrity Initiative (Vermont Public Radio)

By MARK DAVIS

... We will closely monitor any problems that prevent people from voting — such as mail ballot delivery problems, changed voting locations, long lines, registration problems, purged voter rolls, broken machines and voter intimidation.

VPR will receive real-time notifications whenever a voter reports a problem, allowing us to quickly disperse reporters to cover issues ...

https://www.vpr.org/post/vpr-join-propublica-election-integrity-initiative

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5. Faith leaders help prevent Black voter suppression (AL)

By Sheila Tyson | Jefferson County commissioner

The dark shadow of Jim Crow continues to haunt Alabama...and everybody knows it. It’s not like a hidden family secret that we’ve buried in shame. It’s just a fact. Alabama is one of the toughest places in the nation for an eligible voter to register and successfully cast a ballot.

Fifty-five years ago the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into legislation, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. It was a response to “Bloody Sunday,” when peaceful protestors were brutally attacked as they fought for their right to vote. And our fight didn’t end there. After the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, many states began a series of efforts to intentionally and disproportionately strip people of color and young people of their ability to shape their own government.

What began as a fear has now become a reality in our backyards. We are witnessing alarming acts of voter suppression efforts across the country, with direct and strategic plans under way to place barriers in front of voters of color and, at worst, steal the vote during this election.

The uphill climb is steep, as many factors already stand in the way of communities of color voting:

Not being registered to vote
Not feeling energized to vote
Misinformation and voter disinformation - intended to make it harder to find truth
Purging of votes - losing 17 million U.S. voters between 2016 and 2018
Unreliable polling stations - creating an ever-changing moving target ...

https://www.al.com/opinion/2020/10/we-are-watching-faith-leaders-help-prevent-black-voter-suppression.html

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6. Voter Suppression, the Only Trump Hope ( The Montgomery County Sentinel MD)

By Paul K. Schwartz

... Trump and his republican sycophants are not alone in their attempts to suppress the vote in our elections. The conservative Supreme Court is a voter suppressor ally. The Shelby County v. Holder case of 2013 involved the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, specifically, Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain “federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices,” and Section 4(b), which provides the formula for determining which jurisdictions are subjected to that preclearance as a result of their past actions of voting discrimination.

In its ruling the Court held that Section 4(b) is unconstitutional because the data used to determine past actions is in some cases over 40 years old, thus making it “no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states.” Although the Court did not strike down Section 5, without Section 4(b), there is no formula to determine coverage of the law ...

Alabama, as we know, was one of the states covered by the Voting Rights Act of 1967 and required federal approval of any actions taken regarding voting. Well, that changed with the Shelby ruling and its dismantling of the Voting Rights Act. Alabama is the epitome of an attempt at voter suppression. In 2011, even before Shelby, Alabama made it illegal to vote without a valid I.D. More recently, it attempted to close 31 county motor vehicle offices across the state. That would have left 28 counties without anywhere in the county for residents to obtain a valid driver's license. By some strange coincidence, every county in which African Americans represent 75 percent or more of the population would not have had a motor vehicle office. Voter suppression at its ugliest. Granted, public outrage resulted in keeping most of these offices open on a monthly basis to lessen the inconvenience, but the fact that there was an attempt in the first place is highly disturbing in a democratic society.

Jumping to today's voter suppression attempts is Texas Governor Greg Abbott's attempt to limit one, yes one, voter drop box for every Texas county some of which stretch hundreds of miles and with Harris County, the county of Houston, with millions of voters ...

https://www.thesentinel.com/communities/montgomery/opinion/voter-suppression-the-only-trump-hope/article_9c445ae0-1ab9-11eb-9787-bb000b8138f4.html

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7. Democracy on the ballot (Sojourners)

ADAM RUSSELL TAYLOR

Racism is on the ballot next week. Democracy is on the ballot next week. These things are inextricably linked because racism has disfigured American democracy from the founding of our nation. The road to a more perfect union has been long and uneven. And this road requires that we continually become a more perfect democracy and more just nation. While our democracy will never be perfect, we must continually defend the rights, institutions, and laws that help safeguard our freedoms and advance the common good. Increasingly, this election represents a test of whether we embrace and will work to realize a truly inclusive, multiracial democracy with liberty and justice for all ...

.... "Whatever happens on Nov. 3 and in the days afterward, the biggest lesson of the past four years is that our collective commitment to democratic values needs, to put it mildly, some shoring up” ...

... extreme polarization and some of our nation's longstanding institutions have combined to make it harder than ever for the will of the people to be enacted. For example, gerrymandered districts in many states reward polarization and harm democracy. Ever since the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, corporate money has poured into political campaigns at an unprecedented pace. This past weekend, our country surpassed a new record of 80,000 new coronavirus infections in one day, which points to severe failures of leadership at every level. And this week’s confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett through a purely partisan vote in the midst of such a consequential election undermines the credibility of our judicial branch ...

Free, fair, and safe elections represent the lifeblood of a healthy and vibrant democracy. Sadly, the right to vote has been hotly contested since our nation’s founding, when that right was only granted to land-owning white males. And it must be continually and relentlessly protected and defended. Voter suppression is like a mutated gene that has disfigured our democracy and propped up white supremacy from the beginning. Now the Republican Party seems addicted to a strategy of depressing turnout and making it more difficult for certain communities, particularly voters of color, to vote as a last-ditch way to hold onto power and win elections. This is not simply my opinion or conjecture. Their own strategists have admitted this is their deliberate strategy. The president has tweeted publicly that voting by mail will hurt Republicans. As a result, he continues to sow doubt and fear into the election, including with his bogus claim of voter fraud ...

https://sojo.net/articles/democracy-ballot

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8. The Raw Desperation of the Republican Party (The Atlantic)

David Frum

... Amy Coney Barrett is the first justice since 1869 to receive not a single vote from the minority party in the Senate ...

It was a move of raw power. But it was also motivated by raw desperation.

Polls suggest Republicans are facing defeat in the 2020 races, and probably by big margins. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are neck and neck in Georgia and Texas, nobody’s previous idea of swing states. Republican senators are at risk not only in Maine and Colorado, but also in Iowa and even Kansas.

Republicans are in danger of losing something more than seats and chambers in 2020. They are in danger of losing an entire system of political control ...

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/raw-desperation-republican-party/616904/

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9. Fighting the Voting Battles One Community at a Time (Union of Concerned Scientists)

ANDREW ROSENBERG

... The suppression of Black voters, Indigenous voters, and other communities of color has long been a feature of the system.

The tactics aren’t subtle. Shorter voting hours, fewer voting places, poorer mail service, fewer drop boxes, long lines because of a slow process at the polls with few voting stations, identification rules, unfair signature verification, purged voter rolls. Political actors launch bad-faith lawsuits to make voting difficult and make fewer votes count. These communities are often the targets of misinformation or intimidation meant to deter their participation. Get the picture? Each of these steps is part of a system of suppression that disproportionately impacts low income voters, voters of color, those in the Black or Latino or Indigenous communities—by design. Despite the rights laid out in the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution. And despite our self-image as the land of the free, the world’s greatest democracy ...

... turnout isn’t higher in wealthier whiter communities because people are more engaged or attentive to the election and “doing their civic duty”—it’s because the barriers are lower, the information is easier to come by and voting takes minutes not hours ...

https://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/fighting-the-voting-battles-one-community-at-a-time

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10. Voter intimidation an unprecedented threat in 2020 (Ms)

10/29/2020 by SOPHIE DORF-KAMIENNY

... Voter intimidation, classified by federal law as “attempts to intimidate, threaten or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as [s]he may choose,” is illegal in all instances—but has a particularly complicated history within the Republican party.

In the 1981 New Jersey state elections, hundreds of local armed, off-duty police officers and sheriffs descended upon largely Black and Hispanic polling locations in Trenton. The vigilantes, dressed in official-looking armbands, called themselves the “National Ballot Security Task Force” and spent Election Day intimidating voters—demanding voter registration cards from voters waiting in line, turning others away and intimidating some into not voting at all.

A court complaint later lodged by the Democratic Party described the members of the task force “harassing poll workers, stopping and questioning prospective voters … and forcibly restraining poll workers from assisting, as permitted by state law, voters to cast their ballots.”

While this sounds like a nightmare for democracy, the group was not some rogue citizen militia. Who sent them? None other than the Republican National Committee ...

https://msmagazine.com/2020/10/29/voter-intimidation-voter-suppression-2020-election/

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11. Elections will decide whether America witnesses a third Reconstruction (WaPo)

By David A. Love

The United States has experienced two periods of Reconstruction — in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War and during the 1950s and 1960s. During these two eras, the nation attempted to confront a history of racial injustice and exploitation, correct past wrongs and shift its trajectory toward inclusion and equality. Addressing the original sin of slavery and allowing Black people full citizenship rights, however, have proven elusive.

... Nearly exclusively White, male Cabinet members and judicial appointments under Trump have symbolized White restoration, along with policies designed to address White grievance such as the border wall, restrictions on immigration and attacks on civil rights — including voting rights. Policies aimed at curtailing immigration, including Trump’s family separation policy, shutting the door to asylum seekers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, are efforts to stem demographic change and entrench White rule.

The 2020 presidential election is the most consequential in modern times, as the battle lines are drawn over whether America will allow space for a multiracial democracy to grow and thrive, or revert to Whites-only rule and the authoritarianism of the plantation state. A Third Reconstruction may be needed to address the persistent problem of anti-Black racism, correct the historic injustices and inequities, and seek redress. The First and Second Reconstruction eras sought to realize the promises of the Fourteenth Amendment, yet failed to achieve this. A Third Reconstruction would seek to bring true political and social equality that comes with citizenship ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/10/29/this-years-elections-will-decide-if-america-witnesses-third-reconstruction/

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12. Georgians witness surge in over 198,000 voter purges (Atlanta Daily World)

By Ben Peters

Today, legal counsel for Greg Palast and the Palast Investigative Fund wrote a letter to the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, demanding he obtain the list of over 198,000 voters he and his predecessor, Brian Kemp, wrongly purged from the voter rolls—and return these voters to the registration rolls before the election.

The American Civil Liberties Union Georgia issued the report, Georgia Voter Roll Purge Errors on September 1. This report provides detailed evidence by the nation’s top experts in address verification—including the official licensee of the US Postal Service, Merkle, Inc.—who balked at the removal of these 198,351 voters under the false conclusion that these voters moved, justifying canceling their registrations ...

“You have had the ACLU’s notification of this horrific violation of voters’ rights for over a month, yet your office has chosen to dodge, weave, obfuscate and prevaricate instead of acting to protect these Georgia citizens. Your office over the past six years has conducted a virtual ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls, capturing victims such as, infamously, Martin Luther King Jr.’s elderly cousin, you’ve wrongly denied the right to vote on the false accusation they have moved from their registration county. King’s cousin, like over 198,000 others, was still living in the home you said she left.”

According to the National Voter’s Registration Act of 1993, the office of the Secretary of State (SOS) must maintain “accurate” voter rolls. The SOS is not at liberty to make voter rolls inaccurate by purging voters based on wrong information and inaccurate methods ...

https://atlantadailyworld.com/2020/10/21/georgians-witness-surge-in-over-198000-voter-purges/

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13. National League of Women Voters litigation cases (Washington State University)

ANDREA GONZALEZ

... LWVUS managed five litigation cases about gerrymandering, five cases regarding violations of the National Voter Registration Act and seven voter purges cases, Stewart said. There are also 20 states involved in litigation around COVID-19.

Some of the COVID-19-related litigation cases address legislation that makes it harder for some people in the state to vote or register, she said. In Louisiana, the law is requiring individuals to have two witness signatures on their ballots.

This is a burden for people in high-risk groups, like immunocompromised or older individuals, she said.

The league’s mission is to help individuals vote, empower them to vote and defend democracy ...

https://dailyevergreen.com/90818/news/national-league-of-women-voters-discuss-litigation-cases/