Hi, all, and happy Wednesday! It’s a somber anniversary today, of course: ten years since Sandy Hook. Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was when news of this horrific event broke. My own child was three at the time, and it was impossible to imagine something so awful happening to children only a few years older than my own.
I want to second! and third! and fourth! Check My Ads as an amazing organization that works to defund far right websites.
I’ve been writing emails, etc., for almost 2 yrs with them, making CEO’s of various companies aware their ads are appearing on websites, etc., that are supporting violent or far right viewpoints. Most of these advertisers never agreed to post their ads there, but because they give their ads to companies that distribute ads without oversight by the corporation, the corporation doesn’t always know where their ads end up. Once we let the corporation know, they pull their ads, and thus the funding behind them, helping to end the funds needed to keep the far right program on the air. It is such an easy thing for us all to do and has a profound effect on helping stop the spread of these destructive viewpoints. Please take some time to check them out at https://checkmyads.org and sign up to help out. Thanks so much.
Instead of attacking Manchin, I want to ask his help and the help of all those who voted for the Respect of Marriage Act to now support respect for citizenship: the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Voting Rights Act during the last 2 days of the lame duck congress. For shame to the Senators who don't exercise their powers under Article 1.4 and set a federal election code so IF, How, Where we vote are NOT determined by our zip code. Shameful that our own Senators don't have one person one vote and now 19 states and the Supreme Court are giving in to States' rights over federal civil rights. I think if the religious leaders speak to moderate Republicans as they did in the Respect for Marriage Act, we can get H.R 5746 passed this week. Can’t we get President Bush to speak out to his friends in the Senate? Won’t President Biden work again on Senators Manchin and Sinema. Danger invites this rescue as a national emergency.
H.R. 5746 is alive until the session ends and pressure should be brought to bear on Senator from Wyoming: Senator Lummis who voted for the Respect of Marriage Act because the local church members urged her to stand up for civil rights. Can't you get the Wyoming peoples to get on the phone to her and ask her to save the Native American Voting Rights Bill embedded in H.R. 5746 Section 9000.
Not only the black caucus, the ACLU, the LWV, the Native American Caucus want this to be passed. So do those who spoke out against Harper v Moore and Merrill v Mulligan. These are seriously troubling times for our democracy.
No one would countenance no Uniform Commercial Code. Now we need a Uniform Election Code so your zip code does not determine IF, when, how or where you may vote in any federal election.
Background:
Senator Lummis and 51 other Senators voted for the filibuster in January against H.R. 5746: The Freedom to Vote John R Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Change in circumstances:
In this October 2022 Term the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has taken up 2 significant voting rights cases which likely will further eviscerate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ("VRA"):
Moore v Harper : By June 2023 SCOTUS is likely to grant North Carolina’s state legislature (and other states) power under Article 1.4 to determine times place and manners of elections even if held unconstitutional under the terms of North Carolina’s State Constitution, making state legislatures superior to the oversight of their State Supreme Courts.
Merrill v Mulligan : The Court is likely to support Alabama’s position that racial consideration in redistricting is impermissible, notwithstanding that eliminating the impact of racial segregation is an underlying purpose of the VRA. Keep in mind that the Roberts’ Court had no problem finding political gerrymandering by state legislatures to be constitutional in Rucho because it is not up to the Supreme Court to question the political decisions of an equal branch of government.
More facts to consider:
The Supreme Court has effectively ruled that unless Congress acts directly and specifically, voting rights shall be determined by individual state legislatures.
Already in 2016 SCOTUS refused to grant certiorari in Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) v. Husted thus upholding Ohio’s perfection rule allowing insignificant errors on the outside envelope of a provisional ballot to disqualify the vote of a properly registered voter - one was a blind 84 year old voter prohibited from voting, clearly a denial of the right to vote in contravention of the rights of disabled voters to be able to vote.
Senators know: Congress does have the power to set uniform national standards for times, places and manner of voting under the Constitution of the United States of America: Article 1.4 grants to each State Legislature the power to set the times, places and manner of holding elections for US Senators and Representatives, “but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.....”
Congress has acted wisely and carefully when enacting and then amending 8 times, the VRA with the purpose: “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, 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” which purposes were subsequently expanded to include national origin, disabilities, etc.
The VRA’s greatest early impact was in its pre-clearance requirement for federal court or Justice Department approval before jurisdictions that had historically discriminated could change voting rules, processes, or procedures. One result: By 1969, Mississippi’s Black voter registration rate increased to 59% from 6%.
Nonetheless the US Supreme Court has gutted and continues to gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
● Citizens United v FEC (2010) removed Federal campaign restrictions on Corporations and Unions, unleashing unlimited and undisclosed (foreign) money into politics
● Shelby County v Holder (2013) held that the pre-clearance formula is unconstitutional. Impact: 1688 polling places CLOSED in previously covered States; 30 million voters purged from rolls; restrictive voting laws passed in many states.
● Rucho v Common Cause (2019) ruled that state laws permitting partisan (not racial) gerrymandering are “beyond the reach of the federal courts.”
● Brnovich v DNC (2021) upheld an Arizona law to stop people from collecting ballots to deliver to precincts, which disproportionately impacted indigenous peoples; and to stop counting ballots from people who voted in the wrong precinct.
The discriminatory impact of the Filibuster on Voting Rights:
The filibuster of voting rights is furthering racial and other forms of voter discrimination. States with large urban populations have disenfranchised voters of color, disabled voters, native Americans, homeless and young people.
Consider this: California has 39m voters and 2 Senators; yet the 5 least populous states have a total of 3.5m voters and 10 Senators AND the filibuster. Thus, if subject to the filibuster, it takes 60 votes to pass significant civil rights/voting legislation benefiting all American voters, a super majority.
When it comes to passing voting rights, isn’t it ironic that voting rights advocates are asking the Senate to pass a federal standard for voting to ensure 1 person 1 vote and every vote counted, yet the Senate itself does not have 1 Senator 1 vote when it comes to voting on civil rights.
I urge you to stand up and fight for H.R.5746 – a federal uniform set of laws to ensure
Uniform laws setting times, places and manner of voting:
paper ballots for all voters to ensure post-election audits and accuracy
preventing the horrific 3 hours in line to vote in Georgia just on Friday by reducing to a maximum of 30 minutes the waiting time in line to vote, early voting, no excuse vote by mail,
franking of the vote by mail envelope,
adequate funding for the mandates of H.R. 5746,
a national holiday for election day,
nonpartisan independent redistricting commissions in every state,
no foreign money in our elections through clean money provisions,
the Native American Voting Rights Act and reinstating the preclearance provisions of the John R Lewis Act with defined standards thus ending the impacts of Shelby, Rucho, NEOCH and Brnovich.
Thus our zip code will no longer control if, when and how we vote.
H.R. 5746 will not be repassed by the new Congress on January 2023.
Please do your duty and end the filibuster of H.R. 5746 this week: debate and vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Yes to Simon and Tom's inspiring conversation. Need to listen to the ending when they send the replay so I can immerse myself in Simon's super optimistic closing statement. Thanks for turning us on to him!
I want to second! and third! and fourth! Check My Ads as an amazing organization that works to defund far right websites.
I’ve been writing emails, etc., for almost 2 yrs with them, making CEO’s of various companies aware their ads are appearing on websites, etc., that are supporting violent or far right viewpoints. Most of these advertisers never agreed to post their ads there, but because they give their ads to companies that distribute ads without oversight by the corporation, the corporation doesn’t always know where their ads end up. Once we let the corporation know, they pull their ads, and thus the funding behind them, helping to end the funds needed to keep the far right program on the air. It is such an easy thing for us all to do and has a profound effect on helping stop the spread of these destructive viewpoints. Please take some time to check them out at https://checkmyads.org and sign up to help out. Thanks so much.
Instead of attacking Manchin, I want to ask his help and the help of all those who voted for the Respect of Marriage Act to now support respect for citizenship: the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Voting Rights Act during the last 2 days of the lame duck congress. For shame to the Senators who don't exercise their powers under Article 1.4 and set a federal election code so IF, How, Where we vote are NOT determined by our zip code. Shameful that our own Senators don't have one person one vote and now 19 states and the Supreme Court are giving in to States' rights over federal civil rights. I think if the religious leaders speak to moderate Republicans as they did in the Respect for Marriage Act, we can get H.R 5746 passed this week. Can’t we get President Bush to speak out to his friends in the Senate? Won’t President Biden work again on Senators Manchin and Sinema. Danger invites this rescue as a national emergency.
H.R. 5746 is alive until the session ends and pressure should be brought to bear on Senator from Wyoming: Senator Lummis who voted for the Respect of Marriage Act because the local church members urged her to stand up for civil rights. Can't you get the Wyoming peoples to get on the phone to her and ask her to save the Native American Voting Rights Bill embedded in H.R. 5746 Section 9000.
Not only the black caucus, the ACLU, the LWV, the Native American Caucus want this to be passed. So do those who spoke out against Harper v Moore and Merrill v Mulligan. These are seriously troubling times for our democracy.
No one would countenance no Uniform Commercial Code. Now we need a Uniform Election Code so your zip code does not determine IF, when, how or where you may vote in any federal election.
Background:
Senator Lummis and 51 other Senators voted for the filibuster in January against H.R. 5746: The Freedom to Vote John R Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Change in circumstances:
In this October 2022 Term the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has taken up 2 significant voting rights cases which likely will further eviscerate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ("VRA"):
Moore v Harper : By June 2023 SCOTUS is likely to grant North Carolina’s state legislature (and other states) power under Article 1.4 to determine times place and manners of elections even if held unconstitutional under the terms of North Carolina’s State Constitution, making state legislatures superior to the oversight of their State Supreme Courts.
Merrill v Mulligan : The Court is likely to support Alabama’s position that racial consideration in redistricting is impermissible, notwithstanding that eliminating the impact of racial segregation is an underlying purpose of the VRA. Keep in mind that the Roberts’ Court had no problem finding political gerrymandering by state legislatures to be constitutional in Rucho because it is not up to the Supreme Court to question the political decisions of an equal branch of government.
More facts to consider:
The Supreme Court has effectively ruled that unless Congress acts directly and specifically, voting rights shall be determined by individual state legislatures.
Already in 2016 SCOTUS refused to grant certiorari in Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) v. Husted thus upholding Ohio’s perfection rule allowing insignificant errors on the outside envelope of a provisional ballot to disqualify the vote of a properly registered voter - one was a blind 84 year old voter prohibited from voting, clearly a denial of the right to vote in contravention of the rights of disabled voters to be able to vote.
Senators know: Congress does have the power to set uniform national standards for times, places and manner of voting under the Constitution of the United States of America: Article 1.4 grants to each State Legislature the power to set the times, places and manner of holding elections for US Senators and Representatives, “but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.....”
Congress has acted wisely and carefully when enacting and then amending 8 times, the VRA with the purpose: “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, 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” which purposes were subsequently expanded to include national origin, disabilities, etc.
The VRA’s greatest early impact was in its pre-clearance requirement for federal court or Justice Department approval before jurisdictions that had historically discriminated could change voting rules, processes, or procedures. One result: By 1969, Mississippi’s Black voter registration rate increased to 59% from 6%.
Nonetheless the US Supreme Court has gutted and continues to gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
● Citizens United v FEC (2010) removed Federal campaign restrictions on Corporations and Unions, unleashing unlimited and undisclosed (foreign) money into politics
● Shelby County v Holder (2013) held that the pre-clearance formula is unconstitutional. Impact: 1688 polling places CLOSED in previously covered States; 30 million voters purged from rolls; restrictive voting laws passed in many states.
● Rucho v Common Cause (2019) ruled that state laws permitting partisan (not racial) gerrymandering are “beyond the reach of the federal courts.”
● Brnovich v DNC (2021) upheld an Arizona law to stop people from collecting ballots to deliver to precincts, which disproportionately impacted indigenous peoples; and to stop counting ballots from people who voted in the wrong precinct.
The discriminatory impact of the Filibuster on Voting Rights:
The filibuster of voting rights is furthering racial and other forms of voter discrimination. States with large urban populations have disenfranchised voters of color, disabled voters, native Americans, homeless and young people.
Consider this: California has 39m voters and 2 Senators; yet the 5 least populous states have a total of 3.5m voters and 10 Senators AND the filibuster. Thus, if subject to the filibuster, it takes 60 votes to pass significant civil rights/voting legislation benefiting all American voters, a super majority.
When it comes to passing voting rights, isn’t it ironic that voting rights advocates are asking the Senate to pass a federal standard for voting to ensure 1 person 1 vote and every vote counted, yet the Senate itself does not have 1 Senator 1 vote when it comes to voting on civil rights.
I urge you to stand up and fight for H.R.5746 – a federal uniform set of laws to ensure
Uniform laws setting times, places and manner of voting:
paper ballots for all voters to ensure post-election audits and accuracy
preventing the horrific 3 hours in line to vote in Georgia just on Friday by reducing to a maximum of 30 minutes the waiting time in line to vote, early voting, no excuse vote by mail,
franking of the vote by mail envelope,
adequate funding for the mandates of H.R. 5746,
a national holiday for election day,
nonpartisan independent redistricting commissions in every state,
no foreign money in our elections through clean money provisions,
the Native American Voting Rights Act and reinstating the preclearance provisions of the John R Lewis Act with defined standards thus ending the impacts of Shelby, Rucho, NEOCH and Brnovich.
Thus our zip code will no longer control if, when and how we vote.
H.R. 5746 will not be repassed by the new Congress on January 2023.
Please do your duty and end the filibuster of H.R. 5746 this week: debate and vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Thank you
Alice Schaffer Smith
Executive Director
National Voter Corps
www.nationalvotercorps.org
nvcsteeringcommittee@gmail.com
a non profit project under the Social Good Fund
Yes to Simon and Tom's inspiring conversation. Need to listen to the ending when they send the replay so I can immerse myself in Simon's super optimistic closing statement. Thanks for turning us on to him!