By Gloria DULAN-Wilson
Hello All:
It's clear that there are those among us who want to drag Black people back into the days of jim crow and kkk - while simultaneously dragging America into fascism and nazism - and pushing women into a posture of subservience to their mysoginistic fantasies. Never has America been so close to losing her freedom and moral compass under individuals who have absolutely no right to be in positions of responsibility.
The assault on our right to vote has never been more egregious in modern times. President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the voting rights act into law in August 1965, empowering Black people to exercise the right and freedom to have a voice in the laws by which they are governed. But in 2013 the suprime court eviscerated our rights and said that we no longer needed the protection of voting rights - racism had been resolved. Nothing could have been further from the truth. As soon as they put out that edict, every "solid citizen of the solid south" went into action to take away every semblance of our right to vote.
Sadly, there were many who had no idea of what had happened, because a major case of voter apathy had overtaken the Black community. Somehow many of our brothers and sisters had developed some form of amnesia about what their peers, predecessors and ancestors had endured to bring this precious right to us. Even more sad, we are now feeling the brunt of what happens when an essential right is taken away.
Transformative Justice Coalition, founded by Barbara Arnwine, has been working tirelessly, along with other organizations, to have our rights reinstated and expanded. But it's going to take the collective efforts of all of us throughout the US, regardless of age, race, status, to demand and fight for our rights as citizens of this country.
In order to protect what's left of our rights to vote, and to prevent them from goose-stepping up and down our spines during this current, and most pivotal period of the presidential election, we have to be vigilant to ensure they do not subvert our rights through subtle and egregious ways of blocking our votes.
These are TJC's
72 FORMS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION!
2. Closing of DMV’s in strict voter ID law states
4. No early voting
5. Early voting cuts
6. No Sunday Souls to the Polls Early Voting
7. Harsh requirements/punishments for voter registration groups
8. Tough Deputy Registrar Requirements
9. Harsh voter registration Compliance Deadlines
10. Failure to timely process voter registrations
11. Cuts to Election Day (Same Day) registration
12. Polling place reductions or consolidations
13. Polling place relocations
14. Inadequate or poorly trained staffing at polls
15. Inadequate number of functioning machines,
optical scanners or electronic polling books
16. Running out of ballots at polling sites
17. No paper ballots
18. Failure to accept Native American tribal IDs.
19. Barring Native American voters through residential address requirements for Native American lands which have PO Boxes
20. Failure to place polling sites on Native American lands
21. Refusal to place polling sites on college campuses
22. Lack of available public transportation to polling sites
23. Excessive Voter purging
24. Disparate racial treatment at polling sites
25. Student voting restrictions Residency
26. Ex-felon disenfranchisement laws
27. Requiring Payment of Fines or Fees As Condition of Vote Restoration
28. Failure to Inform Formerly Incarcerated Persons of Their Voting Rights or Eligibility to Vote
29. Excessive Use of Inactive voter lists
30. No Public Outreach or Notification to Voters Placed on Inactive Lists
31. Language discrimination Failure to accommodate
32. Lack of language-accessible materials
33. Failure to accommodate voters with disabilities
34. No disability accessibility
35. No curbside Voting
36. Not enough disability accessible voting equipment
37. Barriers to assistance by family members or others for voters
38. Deceptive practices: MISLEADING Flyers; HARASSING Robocalls
39. Voter intimidation: Impersonating law enforcement personnel
40. Police at polling places
41. Racial gerrymandering
42. Creating polling place confusion by splitting Black precincts
43. Partisan gerrymandering
44. Barriers for homeless voters to voter registration
45. Voter caging - Use of One-Time Post cards/Mailers
46. Voter challengers at polls
47. Voter challenges to voter registration lists
48. Use of Suspense lists
49. Absentee Ballot Short Return Deadlines
50. Exact match requirements for signatures or other information
51. Complicated Absentee Ballot Requirements
52. Proof of Citizenship Laws
53. Out-of-precinct = no vote counted requirements
54. Failure to pre-register – 17 year olds
55. Restrictions on straight-party voting
56. Interstate voter registration Crosscheck system
57. Jailed persons’ pre-conviction: denied right to register and/or vote
58. DOJ demanding voter records
59. Employers not providing time off or enough time
60. Failure to assist or accommodate voters displaced by natural disasters
61. Long lines
62. Blocking Board of Elections from accepting grant money to improve efficiencies
63. Criminalizing private citizens from giving food, water, and other assistance to voters in long lines
64. State legislators taking over local election boards for partisan purposes
65. Proposing or passing legislation to require fingerprints in order to vote
66. Undermining citizen ballot initiatives for independent or less partisan redistricting
67. Requiring formerly incarcerate persons whose rights have been restored in the state of their offense to now pay fines, fees and restitution prior to restoration of the right to vote in a new state to which they have moved (Jim Crow 2.0)
69. Criminalizing and prohibiting private groups from giving out applications for absentee or vote by mail ballots
70. Court sanctioned closure of polling locations without public note
71. Election Boards refusing to certify elections due to “Stop the Steal” myths
about dominion voting machines
72. Foreign governments interfering with elections by spreading false information and racial conflicts and pretending to be African American voters to discourage Voter participation
© 2019 Barbara Arnwine. All rights reserved.
Below is a link to TJCoalition.
https://tjcoalition.org/
TJ Coalition has been diligently working in behalf of the rights of voters across the US, and have had some great victories in standing in for those who have been disenfranchised.
Now, the greatest challenge is before them - a challenge that will so negatively impact Black people and our rights that we could be reverted to pre-slavery days. The 8th Circuit Court judges have determined that we no longer have the right to have representation when our rights are violated. They have made it illegal for Activists, advocates, lawyers, or any other members of the legal system to stand in our behalf in courts of law. So no charges can be brought against perpetrators unless specifically brought by the state attorney general or the federal government. Currently, this only affects minorities in the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota - suppressing their right to vote - and turning back the clock on years of progress. This violates freedom of speech and expression, as well as equal representation under the law.
TJCoalition, and other activists and lawyers have banned together to have this decision vacated and the restoration of their rights. They are looking for you to join them in protecting our rights to vote and our rights to exercise our free speech and equal representation under the law. For additional information, log onto https://tjcoalition.org -
I WILL BE TAKING A DEEPER DIVE INTO THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS ASSAULT ON OUR RIGHTS IN AN UPCOMING POST.
UNITED WE GET THE JOB DONE
NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT???
Gloria DULAN-Wilson
