Thread by @DempseyTwo

On November 1, 1982, (Yes, 1982) a document was filed in a New Jersey court. This document, or at the very least its history, is something we need to be aware of. It was a CONSENT DECREE entered into between the DNC and the RNC.

A 7th wee Election Integrity 🧵👇🏻

In 1981, there was a group of Republicans in New Jersey calling themselves the “National Ballot Security Task Force.” As alleged by the Democratic National Committee in a lawsuit they filed against the RNC in Feb of 1982, this group got up to election shenanigans.

According to the DNC, the National Ballot Security Task Force sent mail to Black and Hispanic people with the instruction for the post office to not forward any mail undelivered to the original address, but rather return it to sender (them).

They then used the returned mail to create a list of voters to challenge during the general election. They got around 45,000 names for their challenge list. They then took those lists to Commissioners of Registration and asked that those names be removed from voter rolls.

This means if a Black voter changed addresses and the RNC found out about it, they tried to prevent them from voting. Bad, right? It gets worse, because they also hired county deputy sheriffs and local police officers to patrol the targeted Black and Hispanic polling places.

They put up signs warning the area was being patrolled by National Ballot Security Task Force, they wore armbands and guns. They stopped and questioned prospective voters and harassed and physically restrained poll workers.

This isn’t just voter suppression, it’s intimidation.

The DNC went as far as to call them an ‘Army of workers’ in the complaint. You can read the complaint in its entirety here. I suggest you do. It’s short and you will get the gist pretty quick. It is foundational for the next part of this thread.
brennancenter.org/sites/default/…

I know, right?! Ok, so in the first tweet, I mentioned the words CONSENT DECREE. After the DNC brought that lawsuit against the RNC we just talked about up there 👆🏻, we arrive back where we started on November 1, 1982.

Here is the Consent Decree.

brennancenter.org/sites/default/…

The Consent Decree is essentially the settlement agreement entered into between the DNC and RNC, and was submitted to the court. The RNC agreed to refrain from any ‘ballot security activities in polling places…

‘…or election districts where the racial…composition is a factor in decision…to deter qualified voters from voting.’
They also agreed to lose the armbands, the guns, the signs and they could no longer deputize private personnel as law enforcement.

Let’s recap. The Republicans tried to stop Black and Hispanic voters from voting through voter intimidation. They got caught. They entered into a Consent Decree to no longer show up to the polls with guns or show up dressed like an ‘Army’ to intimidate voters.

This was in 1982.

That Consent Decree had been in place for longer than some of you reading this have been alive. Joe…please tell me that you misspelled has…that you meant the Consent Decree ‘has’ been in place for longer than some of us have been alive.

I’m sorry, I wish I could...

On December 1, 2009, the Consent Decree was modified. One of the modifications was to set a date for the Consent Decree to expire on December 1, 2017. If the DNC could not show the RNC was in violation of the Consent Decree as modified, it would expire.

brennancenter.org/sites/default/…

On Jan 18, 2018 a hearing was held via telephone. The DNC failed to convince the judge that the RNC was in violation and therefore the judge ruled that the Consent Decree would be expired. As of Dec 1, 2017, the RNC is no longer bound to the agreement.
electionlawblog.org/wp-content/upl…

Now let’s for a moment sit back, drop our gaze and come to the realization that the very next general election that would take place after the expiration of the Consent Decree on Dec 1, 2017 would be the 2020 Presidential election.

Take a deep breath. In…out…

The protections that had been in place since 1982 had all fallen by the wayside just in time for Hair Fewer’s re-election campaign. And the campaign seemed almost giddy about it. Enter trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark.

npr.org/2020/09/28/917…

‘Army’ of poll watchers? End of a Consent Decree? Let’s start playing offense? Key precincts?

Well, it’s just the campaign lawyer saying that. It’s not like trump went on Hannity and talked specifically about having sheriffs and law enforchrissake👇🏻

independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

jr. weighed in on that article.

Covid caused an increase in the use of mail-in ballots so less people were at the polls, therefore we didn’t see the National Ballot Security Task Force or whatever trump branded version of same.
Which means?

It means that the 2022 mid-terms will truly be the first test. States are forcing voters back to the polling sites by restricting or even eliminating mail-in ballot usage. There are no protections. But there are plenty of groups out there doing ‘Election Integrity’ work.

Election Integrity was recommended to RNC (📌1). The infrastructure is available. For instance, CPI’s Election Integrity Network, there’s True the Vote, trump has recently been referencing them at his rallies, and amicus briefer Honest Elections Project.
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/2…

Well…actually, Honest Election Project is a fictitious name. No I mean it, it is literally a fictitious name according to the VA Secy of State. The real name is something called the Judicial Education Project, except it isn’t that either it is the 85 Fund.

According to a @SenWhitehouse hearing on March 10, 2021, Honest Elections Project is tied to the GOP’s Supreme Court Justice conveyor belt Leonard Leo. Which, I imagine, means the HEP is probably pretty well funded. Or is it the Law and Policy forum?

judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

Are we equipped to deal with this? The GOP voted against HR1 which was a bill to actually have election integrity. 2 Dems wouldn’t change the legislative filibuster for this bill.

There is no Consent Decree in place to stop shenanigans.

📌1 - I’m sure if we just put our trust in the RNC to be cool, we’ll have nothing to worry about…

Except on August 11, 2021, the RNC chair received this report. 👇🏻🤦🏼‍♂️

prod-static.gop.com/media/document…

None of this may not be top of mind for voters or reporters, but it really feels like it should be. The Election to Save Democracy is this November, confirm you’re registered and vote.

@maddow @JoyAnnReid @glennkirschner2 @MaddowBlog @SenWhitehouse @harrisonjaime