Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Speaking of votes…

A bitch just received a fresh shipment of Smartie-based joy from a certain Jeremy in Montreal just in time for my first Voter Education class of the new year!

Happy, happy, happy followed by joy times three!

Sigh.

Longtime readers know that a bitch teaches Voter Education classes and that Smarties play a key role. My students get a kick out of munching on "imported" chocolate (wink).

Anyhoo…

Speaking of the vote…
This bitch knows that there is more to voting in elections than just showing up and casting a ballot. St. Louis has a long history of voting irregularities…and isn’t that a pleasant way to say someone pulled the old ‘how many chickens are in the chicken coop?’ out on black folks trying to get their suffrage on?

Cough.

Anyhoo, I teach Voter Education classes at several local women’s shelters because all of us need to walk into a voting location packing knowledge and a strong understanding of our rights are the polls.

Suppressing the vote remains a favorite tool of The Man.

As we turn our focus to New Hampshire, we should also take notice that the Supreme Court is set to hear the ACLU’s landmark Voter ID challenge.

Missourians will remember the ignorant drama of the voter identification battle that took place here in 2006.

Well, the Indiana case goes to the Supreme Court tomorrow.

You heard me right...the ACLU’s challenge to Indiana’s Voter identification law goes before the Supreme Court tomorrow January 9.

Pause…sip water…continue.

Indiana’s voter identification law requires voters to present a government-issued ID to vote in federal, state and local elections. Voters without identification may vote using a provisional ballot, which is counted only if the voter travels to a circuit court or county election board to prove his or her identity within 10 days of the election.

This law could disenfranchise thousands of Indiana’s registered voters who do not have, and, in many cases, cannot obtain the limited identification that Indiana will accept for voting

Which is exactly what The Man wants to see happen.

Doubt me not…voter identification is folded in with all the calls for voting reform and technological upgrades because it limits access and therefore limits input. Back in the day the vote was suppressed by flashing a noose but now voter identification is poised to efficiently accomplish what the noose failed to…keep poor people, people of color, renters, young people and the disabled from speaking truth to power at the polls.

So, take a moment from watching the primary madness and get up to speed on this issue. Those of us who are committed to educating and empowering voters in our communities will need to be ready for whatever comes our way.

Best wishes to the ACLU as they present the people’s case to the Supreme Court tomorrow.

9 comments:

Vitriolic Virchow said...

Good heavens. It take two weeks and a nominal sum ($80.00) to get a passport that's good for 10 years. That's $8.00/year. I made damn good and sure I registered to vote and got what I needed before I registered for the draft. If you're not willing to work for it, why are you voting?

Maya's Granny said...

The thing that angers me is that the GOP steals elections by disenfranchising tens of thousands of people in unethical ways, using voting machines that flip the votes from Dem to GOP, etc. And they claim they need voter ID to prevent voter fraud!

Shark-Fu said...

First of all, my vote was earned and then earned and then earned again through blood, sweat, tears and struggle.

Second point - the vote isn't something citizens should have to work for. This is America, right? The vote is a right guaranteed by law and people should be able to exercise that right without jumping hurdles to do so. That's what the Voting Rights Act was all about.

What you are missing is the fact that people who are registered to vote are being run through a series of bullshit processes all of which make it hard to do that which they have registered to do.

That is unAmerican and not in keeping with the founding values of this nation.

This government is of the people...we demand of it not the other way around.

But hey, congrats on that passport thing...

Infuriated Faggot said...

Hey ABB!

I actually took (another) step in educating myself on these democratic front-runners. . . Usually I go off of their past records- i.e. looking up how they voted on issues that matter to me. . .yes, I REALLY do spend most of my day on congress.gov following shit going down in our government. Anyway, today I decided to take a look at their campaign websites. . .figuring it would be much easier for a 'normal' person to get an idea of the differences between Obama and Clinton. . .

Let me first say that Obama's site (under "issues") is much more elaborative than Clinton's- which is high school homework-ish and lazy in comparison.

Second, Clinton doesn't really make a stand on issues that are killing the American people (i.e. Trade; health care).

I think there is a reason she is doing so bad in the primaries! People must be paying attention.

Okay, another thing about Hillary... I saw her signing a T-shirt "Hillary Rodham." Not Hillary Rodham Clinton and not Hillary Clinton. . .what's up with that?

Also, for your enjoyment, when I was in Da Lou before Christmas, I saw CNN refer to Barack Obama and his family (after a Christmas greeting/publicity) as "Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows!" saying (verbatim: "there is your Hot Chocolate and marshmallows for the Holiday Season"). I'm not the only one who saw it, I have witnesses.

Okay, Happy New Year and keep posting wonderful things!

Respectfully,

Faggot

Jay said...

Actually they're working hard to make it so that you have to jump through many, many hoops to get a passport anymore too.

The GOP has gone to great lengths to try to supress voter turnout. They're also a lot smarter and more sophisticated about it nowadays. It's not like the old days when Ed Rollins, who is a top Huckabee adviser, tried to go around and simply pay cash to blacks if they promised not to vote .... allegedly.

Early voting? Okay, the GOP went along with it here, but it's Monday through Friday only and from 9 am til 4 pm only and only at the county courthouse. God knows we wouldn't want to make it convenient for anyone who works for a living.

Unknown said...

Just because I don't want to be mad alone, have you read Gloria Steinem's op-ed in the New York Times? I thought my head would explode. Really. What next? Willie Horton ads?

Shark-Fu said...

Hi infuriated!

I've been listening to the interviews of would be voters and it seems to me that they are indeed looking hard at each candidate and the facts.

I'm thrilled with that all on its own!!

As for dropping the Clinton, didn't she add it on back in the day? But the t-shirt should reflect the name that goes on the ballot...

Anonymous said...

My theory...

Barack Oblique’s Smooth Talk Express is about to be torpedoed out of the water by Bush waging war on Iran… That’s what the near-conflagration yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz is all about.

Hope I’m wrong. But Bush & the GOP will do anything. Anything.

Anonymous said...

Good heavens. It take two weeks and a nominal sum ($80.00) to get a passport that's good for 10 years. That's $8.00/year.

I don't know how to break this to you, but DAMMIT, NO CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES SHOULD EVER EVER EVER EVER HAVE TO PAY ONE THIN STINKIN' DIME TO BE ABLE TO VOTE!

Sweet Jebus, son, don't you understand that voting really is a right? WTF do you think the Bushites were on and on about the "purple fingers" for??

Sorry, Ms. Shark-Fu-- that just truly irks the living shit out of me. These tapioca brained morons seem to think we don't know our history-- don't know about poll taxes (look it up, son!) and literacy tests being used to keep black folks disenfranchised.

I'll hush up, now.

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