Voter Suppression Will Backfire...Until Then, GO VOTE!!!

Voter Suppression will backfire, just you wait

 

So…remember North Carolina VIVA Law? It is now making waves in the state that saw Governor Pat McCrory win last year. This was the chance for the tea leaves to start showing some promising signs of rubber stamping.

Voter suppression has been a key prong in the GOP since 2011 when the GOP took states that were very very purple like WI, (full Legislative and Governor) MN (both chambers) ME (Split Legislature and R Governorship) NH (veto proof majority D Governor) and in 2012 when we were celebrating over Obama’s re election something that the GOP had fought so hard to stop. Art Pope was seeing the fruits of his labor pay off when Pat McCrory, routed 4 years ago by Governor Beverly Perdue (no relation) was elected to the NC Legislature.

They got to work on abortion bill in a motorcycle safety bill, tort reform, basically a blueprint of ALEC which I’m sure Art Pope has a membership in—kind of model legislation…including Voter ID

Now I believe that the Governor can pick the State Board of Elections members from how it sounds I could be wrong, but all 100 County Board of Elections are run by Republicans. I watched a Rachel Maddow Report that just blew me away one day and they highlighted a young man in a college town where Elizabeth City State University is being located who was told he couldn’t run for Elizabeth City Council. It was reversed as more and more stories were singing a light on a man who objected or challenged his ability to run and vote. The VIVA law changed objections from anyone in the county to anyone in the state. It was noted in the Maddow report from NC (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/23/rachel-maddow-north-carol_n_3801705.html) that the same man objecting to Montravius King’s ability to run didn’t touch any registrations of a predominantly white university in the next town over, just a thought. Also, a county Bd of Elections voted to take polls OFF CAMPUS and put them in a nightclub somewhere across town in an effort to make it harder on voters.

This pissed off liberals and Republicans alike who weren’t happy with the direction of their state. A  Democratic sweep in mayoral races and city council seats across the state, the article here: http://www.thenation.com/blog/177048/voter-suppression-backfires-north-carolina-spreads-texas states Boone County as the focal point. I am sure that due to the Tea Party influence we’ve probably seen some other backlash pushing liberals and progressives into localities nationwide

Including Montravius King. Not only did this backfire in a big way, but he won the most votes of any candidate on the ballot!!! I have no doubt that he will energize so many people to take the franchise much more seriously since it is now jeopardized. We saw on Election Day in FL and throughout the country people in Democratic strongholds waiting 6 hours to vote including a 106 year old woman. What were they trying to stop? The Governor’s Race, Lt Governor’s Race and Atty Gen sweep in VA for one.

 

New York City: Not only did Bill de Blasio win on a platform of reducing inequality and halting NYPD’s controversial ‘stop-and-frisk’ program, he’ll also govern with a more progressive city council, as the 21 new members of the 51-seat body are expected to double the council’s progressive caucus after aggressive campaigning by labor groups and the Working Families Party.

Sea-Tac: An aggressive campaign by business interests wasn’t enough to defeat a $15 per hour living wage ordinance for transportation workers at Seattle’s airport and residents of the surrounding community.

Whatcom County, Wash.: In a victory for the environmental movement, progressives seem to have swept Whatcom County council elections in a race that was widely seen as a referendum on a proposed new coal port terminal. (National Journal called this race “an obscure county election that could change the planet.”)

Takoma Park, Md.: It wasn’t an election victory per se, but it’s always good to see the franchise expanded and yesterday 16 year-olds voted for the first time in this city’s local elections.

Colorado: Three out of four Colorado cities with anti-fracking ordinances on the ballot passed them.  Centennial State voters also voted in two new taxes on legal marijuana, strengthening the measure enacted last year.

Boulder, Colo.: In a landslide, residents of this Colorado town voted to buy out energy giant Xcel Corporation and implement a long-term energy plan that relies heavily on renewables.

Bridgeport, Conn.: The state’s Working Families Party drubbed corporate “reformers” in the city’s hotly contested school board elections.

Other mayoral races: Left-leaning candidates won mayoral races in Charlotte, N.C., and Dayton, Ohio.  Houston, Texas re-elected its first out-lesbian mayor.

Phoenix City Council: If the unofficial results hold up, Phoenix will have the first-ever progressive majority on its city council.

Coralville, Iowa: The Koch brothers’ American for Prosperity tried to make a local election in tiny Coralville, Iowa a referendum on government spending but their candidates were defeated by this town of 19,000.

Royal Oak, Mich.: Becomes the 30th municipality in the state to bar discrimination against LGBT-Americans by upholding a human rights ordinance which passed this spring but was challenged by conservative activists.

Missoula, Mont.:  Six of the city’s 12 council seats were up for grabs, and liberals swept them, thanks in large part to the efforts of the New Party, which was a precursor of sorts to the Working Families Party.

THESE are the victories that they are fighting to stop. The nonviolent transfer of power going to liberals and progressives the loss of power from the peoples’ will. THAT is the thing they need to make sure never happens again. Also, in the VA AG race the State Board of Elections Republican majority had a rule change that you if you voted with a provisional ballot, you had to go and show up in person to have your vote counted. I have never heard of anything like this. Also, lawyers can’t argue in front of a judge that votes must be counted unless the VOTER shows up. It backfired as well handing Mark Herron the race. I feel that his first duty as AG should be to sue the State Bd of Elections and force them to play by the same set of rules that apply to everyone

 

NC news from Daily Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/09/1245715/-Dems-turned-out-for-local-NC-elections-yesterday-good-sign-for-2014

Bill Moyers Under The Radar Progressive Wins for 2013  http://billmoyers.com/2013/11/06/15-under-the-radar-progressive-wins-of-election-2013/