Help..Urban Ga. has a problem...Cops setting up road blocks in black

[vetwife]

areas...They say they are looking for drugs. They have dogs. we have early voting. I say its voter intimidation. This is not good.
Some blacks are afraid to leave the area. Many are trying to GOTV
and if just one person has a dog hit the car, guess who won't be able to vote? How do we know that they couldn't even plant something
on folks? I should not say black areas. I should say where many blacks live. Very few white in the areas where they have the roadblocks.

[eaprez]

1. I'd contact the local Dem Office so they can get attorney's to the site.

[Hobarticus]

7. And the ACLU, and the Southern Poverty Law Center...

Run this all the way up the flagpole, and hurry!

[Adamocrat]

16. Is this in DeKalb?

My partner and I have encountered very anti-Dem police there.

[vetwife]

23. No Dekalb County is friendly compared to this area !

[NewYorkerfromMass]

2. I can't believe they're worried about GA.

I know they did this in FLorida in 2000.

[vetwife]

3. My son took groceries to a veteran and cops asked him what

he was doing in the area...Place was known for drugs. Son told them why he was there and they searched the car. All was fine. I am pretty angry !

[progressiveBadger]

6. Two possibilities:

1.) They are even worried about traditionally strong republican strongholds
2.) They need to make it seem like an utter blowout in every state so that no one questions their voter fraud.

[eaprez]

17. Why you flashing that Electoral Vote Predictor on your posts?.....

...trying to be depressing or what?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

38. wtf is up with that "electroial predictor" graph?...sniff sniff

[seabeyond]

26. state and local election

will stop the dem vote, maybe not focused on the national. but are there any close races for senate or rep. and this is the state that had robgeorgia file, and isnt it the state of mcclelland and the first time having a repug gov in fourty something years.

this is pulling out of brain. so much to remember. dont know how much i am remembering correctly

[illuminaughty]

35. RobGeorgia.zip

The scandal that Bev Harris uncovered. They stole it from Max Cleland and several other dems.

[Ksec]

4. dirty bastards

[deadmessengers]

5. Law question

I thought drug checkpoints were found by the courts to be illegal? I was under the impression that they needed some other reason to stop and search you first - of course, I could be completely wrong about this, and probably am.

[vetwife]

8. Well...Our car was searched. and I think we are still under Martial law !

Don't think Purdue ever lifted it from the Hurricanes and G-8.

[Jersey Devil]

9. sure, they have a tail light out, they are "speeding", driving carelessly

It's a white southern cop's word against that of a minority. You think it's tough to pull off?

[deadmessengers]

10. Not at all

I don't think it would be tough to pull off, or unlikely. (I live in Georgia, and I know exactly what you mean)

I was thinking about the press angle - can I call around to some of the Atlanta press outlets and get some daylight shining on this?

[doni_georgia]

14. Supreme Court found them unconstitutional in 2000, but you have to look

at whether the "Patriot" act changed this.

[doni_georgia]

11. Where's this happening specifically (Atlanta? other cities?)

Contact the following people -
John Lewis - Atlanta office - [phone]; DC Office [phone]
The SCLC - Atlanta phone - [phone]
NAACP's 24 hour hotline - [phone]
Mayor Shirley Franklin's office - [phone]

[vetwife]

13. Doni..You know where and this is all repug ! Blacks are already

intimidated out here. This is 8th District...You know they boycotted me for C-Span !

[doni_georgia]

20. Sorry Vetswife didn't see you had made the original post - that's my dist.

Damn assholes! My county is divided between the 8th and 13th districts. We need to contact Representative David Scott. He represents the predominately black neighborhoods in my county - the predom white neighborhoods are in the 8th. PM me the exact info and I will call him. I have met him several times through education events. I still say contact Lewis, SCLC and NAACP too. Probably wouldn't hurt to contact Andrew Young, I know him also, so I will call him tomorrow.

[vetwife]

22. Doni...Its gonna get worse in our district..You know that don't you?

Thanks hon...Dem Party all over this. Guess I will donate services tomorrow. They will jail me out here if possible. I know that too !

[doni_georgia]

27. It's horrible in our district

Down here, the Bush supporters are really nasty. I have been run off the road a couple of times by people with W stickers (with my kids in the car), have had more people give me the finger and scream obscenities at me than I can count (again with my kids in the car - my five year old asked, "Mommy, what's a fucking commie? That man just screamed that at us." It's unbelievable. These people are supposed to stand for family values, but they only value their own. We have been having 2-3 hour lines at the voter registration office for early voting, but it's mostly been the repugs voting. Most of the Dems I know are waiting until election day, because they fear if they vote early, their vote will be "disappeared." Meanwhile, I suspect the Republican machine has something up their sleeves for next Tuesday here in GA because of the unprecedented effort to get their people to vote this week instead of Tuesday. I'm voting Tues. I will get there at 6:30 am and wait on the polls to open. I have to work that day (teacher work day), but I am going to drive people to the polls during lunch and after 3 pm.

[RebelOne]

30. You must live in a very rough area.

I have a Kerry/Edwards bumpersticker and also a MoveOn.org sticker on my car. And so far, I have not had any reactions bad or good. I live in Cherokee County, which is just about 100% Republican.

[doni_georgia]

32. I live in a middle class suburb with Bubbas and Baptists

People around here act like if you support Kerry you are aiding and abetting the terrorists, and so you deserve whatever you get. They're idiots! I had a coworker (bear in mind I am a teacher) who got really angry at me and chewed me out, because I am giving people from the housing projects a ride to the polls next Tuesday. She honestly said that these people don't deserve to vote, because they "don't pay taxes." Now bear in mind that "these people" are the parents of the kids we teach. So, you can infer from her attitude that these kids probably don't deserve an education because their parents "don't pay taxes." Kind of explains why the same kids always get "left behind."

[cali]

12. Contact the DNC

Immediately. NBC (go figure) has a phone number for voting problems. I don't have it, but I'm sure you can get it from their site. Lastly, a ton of lawyers and other politically savvy folks hang out on the daily kos website. Just jump into an open thread.
Good Luck!

[vetwife]

15. Yeah but our word against their's I have never seen the roadblocks

that I have seen today.

[vetwife]

18. I am contacting the DNC now. Son said he saw cops set up all

over the place today ! Most of our veterans are disabled and black and there may be drugs in the area but I think they were out of line to even ask what we were doing in the area.

[Neecy]

24. well

Go back tomorrow with a video camera. Film as much as you can, over as wide an area as possible. Cops can't stop a citizen from filming.

Then it won't be your word against anyone's - it'll be documented on film.

[vetwife]

25. That is what we are planning on doing. thanks !

[eaprez]

19. Call the Election Protection hotline...

An Election Day hotline (1-866-OUR VOTE) will offer immediate, legal assistance to voters during the early voting period and on Election Day.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=

[vetwife]

21. Thanks..Local Dem party already on it..Phone was busy busy busy

I just called and left message and they are handling. Good Lord..This is a mess !

[doni_georgia]

28. Let;'s keep this kicked. If the repugs are trying this tactics in GA,

they are really in trouble.

:kick:

[JSJ]

29. where do bad cops come from?

Why, they come straight from the military, that's where.

[Dem2theMax]

31. If we can do anything from where we are, let us know vetwife.

I'm in calif. but I'll be glad to write emails, make phone calls, whatever. PM me if need be.

[doni_georgia]

33. If you could call the numbers I posted in an earlier post in this thread

it would be helpful. I am going to make a couple of calls today. Andrew Young is a family friend, so I am going to call him today and see what he suggests.

[Dem2theMax]

36. Consider it done.

:)

[doni_georgia]

41. Thanks! They're having a meeting at First Iconium Baptist Church

on Moreland Ave in Atlanta Monday to organize poll watchers for GA if anyone is interested. here's the link:
http://www.electionprotectionvolunteer.org/electionprotection/index.cfm?itemid=17928

[wicket]

34. Please keep us posted!

I hope these facists get stopped!!!! :grr: :grr:

[ianrs]

37. kick n/t

[UnityDem]

39. What street corners?

Where exactly in the 8th district?
City? Street corner names?

[txindy]

40. kick

:kick:

[vetwife]

42. They were not there today..I checked and Dem Headquarters

complained to whomever. I also offered my services to ride the roads on election day and suggested we do the same up until. I expect a few problems in this district on the 2nd and I don't think most of the republicans expected so many dems. I really think they think we were all republicans or not voting. Its not that way !
This state could be closer than they know unles Diebold is involved. The only thing that really really concerns me, because I know we can call those numbers and get lawyers out here is that lots of people those who voted dem turned out in 2002 and the whole state went Republican. We get no receipt. No paper ballot. Nothing to recount.
I am passing out the phone numbers from Move on and suggest all people do this as not all people, especially from poorer nieghborhoods have a computer.
I think they got the message when State and local Dem parties challenged the cops. I am assuming they did. If I see it one more time I am filming it and so is the Dem party.