It's Election Eve: Let's talk about voter suppression (thread)
We all know the only reason GOP has any power in this country by suppressing the black vote. And they know that's the only way they can stay in power.
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We all know the only reason GOP has any power in this country by suppressing the black vote. And they know that's the only way they can stay in power.
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Most of you are familiar with gerrymandering & #VoterId - state-sponsored techniques predominantly affecting the black community.
States draw new legislative maps based on census results every 10 years. Gerrymandering means manipulating the map to give one side an advantage
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States draw new legislative maps based on census results every 10 years. Gerrymandering means manipulating the map to give one side an advantage
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"No voting qualification or prerequisite... or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.”
—Voting Rights Act of 1965
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—Voting Rights Act of 1965
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In 1982 Congress reauthorized VRA and made Section 2 permanent.
Section 2 prohibited the violation of voting rights by any practices that discriminated based on race, regardless of if the practices had been adopted with the intent to discriminate or not.
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Section 2 prohibited the violation of voting rights by any practices that discriminated based on race, regardless of if the practices had been adopted with the intent to discriminate or not.
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Amending Section 2 had a significant impact on minority representation in Congress.
Many states chose to comply by creating Congressional and legislative districts with "Majority-Minority" districts in order to give to minority populations a voice.
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Many states chose to comply by creating Congressional and legislative districts with "Majority-Minority" districts in order to give to minority populations a voice.
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1992 redistricting to was the first to comply with the 1982 Amendment. The number of CD's with black or Latino majorities nearly doubled
The number of black Congressmen rose from 17 to 32 and number of Latino Congressmen rose from 10 to 19
Great, right? Def a good thing
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The number of black Congressmen rose from 17 to 32 and number of Latino Congressmen rose from 10 to 19
Great, right? Def a good thing
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Having more black and Latino Members of Congress benefits minority communities everywhere, regardless of who their individual representatives are.
But there were also negative consequences to this practice, intended or otherwise.
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But there were also negative consequences to this practice, intended or otherwise.
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The new districts were created by grouping minority neighborhoods together. This is also known as "packing" or "stacking"
Problem is, once you carve out minority areas, you're left with districts that are all white.
So every new district created several safe GOP seats
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Problem is, once you carve out minority areas, you're left with districts that are all white.
So every new district created several safe GOP seats
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In 2002 and 2012, except in cases where the courts stepped in, GOP continued to pack more and more minority populations into the same districts.
That's why GOP has so many far right Congressmen they can't control. They are elected in districts where they can't lose.
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That's why GOP has so many far right Congressmen they can't control. They are elected in districts where they can't lose.
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In 2013, SCOTUS ruled in Shelby v Holder that VRA Section 5 - aka "preclearance" - was no longer necessary.
Under preclearance, states and jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination had to petition the Justice dept if they wanted to change their voting laws.
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Under preclearance, states and jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination had to petition the Justice dept if they wanted to change their voting laws.
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"Our country has changed,” Roberts wrote, saying racism was no longer a problem and “extraordinary measures” could no longer be justified.
Didn't you hear? Racism is over, y'all. You should have gotten a letter in the mail.
/sarc 🙄
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Didn't you hear? Racism is over, y'all. You should have gotten a letter in the mail.
/sarc 🙄
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Of course that's facetious. We all know racism is alive and well in the US
It should surprise no one that within a month, 33 states passed voter suppression laws targeting minorities
That's why #VoterID swept the county and Maricopa Co was able to close those poll locations
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It should surprise no one that within a month, 33 states passed voter suppression laws targeting minorities
That's why #VoterID swept the county and Maricopa Co was able to close those poll locations
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But there are other, more nefarious tricks GOP uses to keep minority voters away from the polls that are outside the already inadequate bounds of the law.
We train our canvassers what to look for, and now I'm telling you. Most of this is going to happen tonight, over night
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We train our canvassers what to look for, and now I'm telling you. Most of this is going to happen tonight, over night
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They'll post official-looking notices that there's been a change, the election has been moved to Wednesday, or it's been cancelled. Sometimes they say "Republicans vote Tuesday and Dems vote Wednesday"
I've heard about this my whole life. I saw it first hand in NC in 2014.
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I've heard about this my whole life. I saw it first hand in NC in 2014.
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Sometimes it's a little more subtle. They will park police cars outside of polling stations. I found one in 2016 parked right by the door.
That's illegal, but took two hours for our lawyers to get it moved.
What was I supposed to do, call the cops?
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That's illegal, but took two hours for our lawyers to get it moved.
What was I supposed to do, call the cops?
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Sometimes they put random road blocks on the routes leading to the polling sites, forcing cars to drive in circles and causing huge traffic jams.
This gets people frustrated and and many will give up and leave. Others will hear about it on the news and decide to stay home.
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This gets people frustrated and and many will give up and leave. Others will hear about it on the news and decide to stay home.
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The worst - I encountered this myself in 2016 and one of my canvassers report this just yesterday - we find people who think they voted on the internet. Someone "helped" them, then they are warned that voting on Election Day is a felony and they will go to prison.
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This is particularly hard to remedy
Makes sense, right? Why can't we vote on the internet?
And who's going to risk prison on the word of a random person? I wouldn't
And people get really defensive when you tell them they were taken advantage of. I would too.
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Makes sense, right? Why can't we vote on the internet?
And who's going to risk prison on the word of a random person? I wouldn't
And people get really defensive when you tell them they were taken advantage of. I would too.
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Once people get to the polls, any number of things can happen.
They might have been purged from the rolls.
Or the name on their ID doesn't exactly match their voter registration - this one affects married or divorced women all the time.
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They might have been purged from the rolls.
Or the name on their ID doesn't exactly match their voter registration - this one affects married or divorced women all the time.
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If you are not allowed to vote for whatever reason, DEMAND a provisional ballot. Make a scene if you have to - sometimes that's what it takes, and it's that important.
If you hear of anyone turned away at the polls tomorrow, send them back for a provisional ballot.
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If you hear of anyone turned away at the polls tomorrow, send them back for a provisional ballot.
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I'm sure there are all kinds of new tricks we don't even know about. This election is their last chance. Voter suppression is all they have.
@staceyabrams says, "The remedy to voter suppression is voter mobilization"
But it's important to stop it whenever we can.
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@staceyabrams says, "The remedy to voter suppression is voter mobilization"
But it's important to stop it whenever we can.
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If you see or hear of anyone being turned away, or anything keeping people away, or anything that is going to make voting harder, speak up.
Call me if you need to, but here's the National Voter Protection hotline:
866-Our-Vote
(866) 687-8683
We have lawyers standing ready
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Call me if you need to, but here's the National Voter Protection hotline:
866-Our-Vote
(866) 687-8683
We have lawyers standing ready
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"When highly committed parties strongly believe [in] things that they cannot achieve democratically, they don’t give up on their beliefs — they give up on democracy."
-- @DavidFrum
-- @DavidFrum
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