I’ve got the perfect T-shirt to commemorate the upcoming Republican ballot theft attempts. From the judiciaries in key battle ground states all the way to the Supreme Court. You’re not getting away with it. Not this time.
I’ve got the perfect T-shirt to commemorate the upcoming Republican ballot theft attempts. From the judiciaries in key battle ground states all the way to the Supreme Court. You’re not getting away with it. Not this time.
This election season, we saw millions of new voters register, including millions of Latinx voters. Muslims, black people, Native Americans, LGBT people, and so many women were elected to represent us. For the first time in our nation’s history, over 100 women were elected to the House of Representatives.
Last night was historic not just because of these facts, but also because we took back the House in spite of massive voter suppression efforts. Our sham of a democracy forced us to wait in three to five-hour-long lines. Our sham of a democracy purged us from the voter rolls. Our sham of a democracy changed our votes from Beto to Ted. Our sham of a democracy “ran out” of paper ballots for voters. Our sham of a democracy demanded that Native Americans living on reservations present a home address or be disenfranchised.
This election season, rich, out-of-touch white men did everything they could to take away our voice.
But you cannot silence a movement. To everyone who voted for harm reduction: thank you. To those who were beaten, castrated, burned, and murdered so that people other than white men could vote: thank you.
I am so proud of us. And now, we must keep fighting the good fight so that one day, we have a system that is truly by and for the people.
Keep thinking about this. It means that the people who receive SSDI can literally NEVER be a part of the group legislating the program. I feel genuinely sick to my stomach…because like…that’s the formal structure. We’ve all accepted this??????????
On Monday, according to The Tributary, a Florida judge in Tallahassee ordered state election officials to move forward with a court-picked remedial congressional map to fix a racial gerrymander recently signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
every election cycle, the topics of gerrymandering, voter suppression, etc in the south are discussed in depth, and every election cycle, white people from the north go “LA LA LA CAN’T HEAR YOU, i hope all those southern poors die in a hurricane”
Like oh my fucking god do y’all really think *Texas* with our 55% non-white population is always red cause we WANNA BE?!?!?!?!?
it’s fucking infuriating. a lot of americans genuinely think the only problem is the electoral college (…if they think that’s a problem at all) and refuse to understand that people are disenfranchised based on where they live, among other factors
people are on twitter throwing shade at Texas and Louisiana as if Texan republicans didn’t just file a federal lawsuit to throw out 127,000 votes – Texas (which could fit the entire UK in it 2.8 times need i remind you) also closed hundreds of polling sites, leaving one county with only two sites. TWO. Louisiana also ordered hundreds of polling places to close early ON ELECTION DAY.
i don’t want to hear people going “oobloobloo these boomers” and “oobloobloo the south” and “oobloobloo these hillbillies”
IT’S DIRECT VOTER SUPPRESSION.
so stop making jokes about sleeping when southerners need help during hurricanes because your middle class white ass was able to safely get in your subaru to drive to your local polling place on your lunchbreak meanwhile voters on their way to their polling places in north carolina were pepper-sprayed by police.
Louisiana has one of the highest per capita rates of incarceration IN THE FUCKING WORLD. ITS THE SUPPRESSION.
Right now, most elected Democrats in the U.S. say that former convicted felons should “regain” the right to vote after they have left prison. This is in contrast to the Republicans, who say that the loss of civil rights should extend after the end of your sentence. The Democrats’ position, as is often the case, doesn’t go far enough.
I think it’s important to make voting rights universal, because if we have a class of people without the right to vote, then the pro-voter-suppression party constantly pushes more people into that class. People in prison can’t vote, so conservatives created the “war on drugs” to get as many black people into prison as possible to stop them from voting. People in mental hospitals (or “Shadow Prisons”) can’t vote, which is why Republicans love to say queer people are “mentally ill.” If we just allowed everyone to vote, no exceptions, then it would be a lot harder for voter-suppression to gain a foothold.
It’s similar to how welfare programs which benefit everyone, like Medicare, Social Security, and the national health care systems of other countries, are more politically resilient than those which only directly help some people, like Medicaid, SNAP, or unemployment benefits. Republicans are constantly introduces tweaks and loopholes to the eligibility rules for unemployment benefits to make it so that people who need them don’t qualify. By contrast, everyone gets Medicare and Social Security once they reach a fixed age. And sure, there are rich people who don’t need Medicare because they can afford to pay out of pocket. But by giving it to everyone, we avoid allowing Republicans to nudge the line of who exactly qualifies to exclude people who actually need it.
Also, from a more idealistic standpoint, the core of democracy is that the majority rules. If democracy really works, then it shouldn’t matter if (for example) murderers are allowed to vote, because the majority will make the right decision and keep murder illegal. If we need an undemocratic method to exclude “bad people” from being able to vote, then democracy doesn’t work and we should be looking for another form of government (and good luck with that!)
Thank you for chatting with us, Portia! Conversation around voting has been in the news a lot most recently in regard to the closing of polling places in Kentucky. Tell us a little bit about your work in this area.
We’re at a critical moment in history, both politically and socially, and voting rights is directly at the forefront. I am currently the Associate Director of Law and Policy at the Voting Rights Lab where I devise policy strategy on ballot access, voter restoration, and, of late, COVID-19 response. While I’m at a national organization, we work in partnership within states - and across the political spectrum - to protect and advance voting rights.
I watched a discussion between Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Stacey Abrams and one of the things they mentioned was the need to understand what voter suppression looks at the individual state level. For those who don’t know, what are some of the different forms that voter suppression can take?
All suppression refers to is when parties engage in strategies that keep people from voting in an attempt to influence election outcomes. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t just something that happens in the South, and it isn’t just done by Republicans. Suppression also looks different everywhere you go. In some places it is shuttered polling places, voter ID requirements, and broken voting machines. In other places, it is changing polling places for every election, or separating municipal elections from statewide or federal elections, which tend to have greater turnout.
Aside from Black people, are there other demographics that are particularly susceptible to voter suppression?
Yes! It is not just Black people whose vote gets suppressed. There are young people students, who are often less familiar with the voting system; infrequent voters, who don’t keep up with changes; new voters, including recent U.S. citizens; voters experiencing homelessness, who may not have a permanent address to receive mail or other election communications; and voters whose primary language is not English. The different mechanisms of suppression can affect the turnout of different groups, and so it is critical that we recognize all of its forms.
Obviously, this year is an important election year with the presidential race on the ballot. Is voter suppression as much of an issue in local or statewide elections?
It is on the agenda, but it is very much couched in terms of voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the US continues not to have its shit together in responding to the pandemic, voters are very concerned about whether they will be able to vote safely. Much of the question of who will be suppressed ends up being about who has access to absentee ballots and early voting, who can register during a pandemic, how to obtain IDs when motor vehicle agencies are closed, how many polling places remain open, etc. All of these issues are suppression issues.
In terms of electoral politics, voting rights sometimes isn’t as much of an issue candidates run on, but it should be. The quality of our democracy depends on the ease with which people can participate, and we should be forcing candidates to state their positions on voting and how they will expand access to the ballot by removing all of the restrictions and barriers.
As much as we talk about the importance of voting, there are also some people who don’t see voting as a ‘silver bullet.’ Do you have any thoughts on that?
I am laughing because I’m definitely one of those people. Voting is important for all of the reasons people acknowledge: civic duty, having a say in government, social cohesion and feeling a part of something. And at the state and local level, races can sometimes be so tight that any single vote can really determine the outcome. But we are not going to be able to vote ourselves out of this mess. What I typically say, and personally believe, is that we need multiple tactics. So I say vote as one tactic for change, so long as you believe it is helpful and not harmful to the ultimate vision of change you wish to see in the world. But also continue to attack the system from multiple directions to move us all towards justice.
For those interested in voting rights, what are some of the best ways to get involved?
If you are healthy and a registered voter, you should become a poll worker. Many poll workers are high-risk of COVID, since they tend to be older, which is contributing to a national poll worker shortage. So no matter where you are in the country there is a need for people. And if you can’t do that, work to elect people who believe in protecting and expanding the franchise, and not suppressing it. There are so many great people running, especially at the state and local level, and they all need support. That support can be financial or volunteering to phone bank or write postcards; it all matters.
Not sure if anyone noticed, but I’ve been neglecting this blog lately. Too many fish in the barrel, not enough bullets. And others doing it much better, which is a good thing.
But I’m surprised there isn’t much discussion (that I’ve seen) on the post-Trump reform agenda. We could need one sooner than we think - or later than we fear. In any case, here’s my two cents. This list focuses on institutional/structural changes - hopefully these are acceptable to people of all ideological stripes who are interested in strengthening democratic self-government rather than narrow partisan interests. Many will need constitutional amendments, and some are more realistic than others. But we have to start somewhere.
Prosecutors and judges
1. The Attorney General becomes a non-political, non-partisan post. Yeah, you can still have a “Secretary of Justice” or whatever for policy issues, but prosecutions under federal law should be independent from political influence. Have the AG serve one, nonrenewable 10 year term, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but cannot be removed except for gross incompetence/malfeasance. FBI reports to the AG.
2. AG appoints US attorneys for fixed, staggered terms, say 6-8 years. Again, cannot be removed without cause. AG can choose to appoint special prosecutors for special cases.
3. All written and verbal communications by officials in the executive or legislative branch with the AG, other federal prosecutors or the FBI are matters of public record.
4. Federal district and appellate judges serve for fixed terms, say 12 years. Supreme Court justices maybe 16 years.
Campaign finance
5. Sources and amounts of all donations to political candidates, causes or organizations greater than $1000 in a calendar year are matters of public record. This applies to any donation, in cash or kind, to anyone who seeks public office, and to any person or organization that communicates against others seeking public office, or advocates on an issue that is currently subject to political debate
The president
6. The president becomes fully subject to executive branch ethics rules.
7. The president must release complete financial info, including tax returns, assets and debts, and eliminate any financial conflicts of interest and all foreign sources of income by the time of his/her inauguration. If s/he fails to do so, this automatically triggers impeachment proceedings.
8. If the president is impeached and removed from office, the vice president serves in a caretaker role until new elections are held, no later than six months after the president leaves office.
The Senate
9. No more Senate filibuster. However, all matters of substance in the Senate must be approved by a majority of senators and by a majority of population represented by those senators as measured at the most recent census. A bill would become law if it passes the House by a majority, and both tallies in the Senate. Kamala Harris would have 37 million votes, Mike Rounds of South Dakota would have 814,000. Right-wingers will be happy to learn that Ted Cruz gets 25 million votes.
10. Senate vacancies are filled by prompt special elections, not gubernatorial appointment (this always bothered me).
Elections
11. No more electoral college. President chosen by nationwide popular vote.
12. No more party primaries, at any level. All elections have two rounds: if no one gets more than 50% in the first round, the top two candidates compete in the second. This would be a big culture shock at the presidential level, but I think we could make it work.
13. Congressional and state-legislative district lines to be set by independent commissions with equal representation of both major parties and representation by minor parties. Agreement of reps of both major parties on these commissions needed for final approval, and districts must meet broad federal guidelines (contiguity, racial balance etc).
14. You want voter ID? OK, anyone who shows up at a polling place (which opens two weeks before election day) with a valid photo ID that proves citizenship can vote and is automatically registered for the next eight years. So no chance for voter fraud (which is virtually nonexistent anyway) and no more convoluted requirements for advance registration. You can get a special voter ID based on address-based forms of identification (birth certificate + bank statement etc) from your local DMV or elections office, without a fee, up to two weeks before the election, also valid for 8 years.
15. Ballots are mailed to all registered voters four weeks before the election. Completed ballots can be mailed in or dropped off at a polling place at any time thereafter.
16. For those who wish to vote in person, voting machines must meet strict security and transparency guidelines, including published software and an auditable paper trail.
17. Every election will automatically be audited (ie a sample of precincts/counties will have their votes hand-counted); any irregularities will trigger a broader recount.
18. A county where officials are found to have harassed, intimidated or otherwise restricted voters will have its elections federally administered for the next ten years. A state that has three or more such counties will have all of its elections federally administered for the next ten years.
Miscellaneous
19. No more penny. WTF is worth two cents?
20. You want to sell health insurance across state lines? OK, health insurance can be sold across state lines, but the health insurance industry is now regulated at the federal rather than the state level. Actually all insurance should be regulated at the federal level.
21. No more debt limit. Come on, it’s a stupid idea.
22. If the appropriations bill for an authorized federal agency or department is not passed by the end of the fiscal year, the previous year’s appropriation is automatically renewed, with an inflation adjustment. So no more government shutdowns.
23. Members of Congress can be prosecuted for insider trading based on knowledge they acquire as part of their legislative activities.
24. The District of Columbia gets either the senators and representatives it would be entitled to if it were a state, or statehood.
25. Puerto Rico gets either statehood or (once its finances are straightened out) independence.
26. Civics classes made mandatory in all schools, public or private. These will cover how the government works, how citizenship works, how to critically read news coverage, how to judge the reliability of news sources, how to engage in public debate, and how to distinguish facts from opinions.
Republican campaign consultant Scott Tranter appeared on a panel Monday hosted by the Pew Center on the States to discuss the long lines and voter ID controversies that plagued the 2012 election. In his comments, Tranter seemed to imply that he believed these issues were helpful to Republicans and should be pursued for that reason.
“A lot of us are campaign officials – or campaign professionals – and we want to do everything we can to help our side. Sometimes we think that’s voter ID, sometimes we think that’s longer lines – whatever it may be,” Tranter said with a laugh.
