313,000 voters in Georgia received letters in October notifying them their voter registration was at risk and they had 30 days to respond. A federal judge has allowed The Purge to move forward, after assurances from a lawyer from the state that any voters wrongly purged will have their rights ‘quickly and easily reinstated’ (sure*).
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/16/stacey-abrams-georgia-group-files-motion-voter-purge
The judge is allowing arguments at a hearing scheduled later this week, after an emergency motion to stop this madness was filed on Monday by a group founded by Stacey Abrams. It seems like the wisest, fairest way to for this to play out would be for the arguments on both sides to be heard BEFORE orders are issued or decisions are wrought, but I’m not a judge in Wisconsin. Or Georgia. Which brings me to…
Georgia, as a whole, has an *’elections trust’ problem: Brian Kemp, now governor, used to be Secretary of State. As such he was responsible for fielding questions over the validity of his win of the governorship due to the process he oversaw, and problematic voting machines.
Meanwhile, the secretary of state’s office is investigating a complaint of alleged election interference against some of the critics of those machines:
This is so disgusting. (Cough cough support Stacey Abrams: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fairfight-2019?refcode=AD_GS092919D-N-evergreengs-searchers-6599696323-80366628658-386056786969-stacey%20abrams&gclid=CjwKCAiAluLvBRASEiwAAbX3Gexz7FklvRZFEoSU7fKw1aeIdqAr8fVdDwinzVljz5icRL0imT2YzhoCEzkQAvD_BwE)
If we manage to keep riding this blue wave and flip some stuff (and White House) next year, I am going to make it my mission to be a pain in everyone’s ass if they do not prioritize voting rights. It is the single most structurally important thing we can do to stop suffering the tyranny of minority of voters.
The House passed a new voting rights act, which is great, but it will surely be challenged by states – and so it may be years before we see a fair election in the BEST case scenario.
I’m with you but a little less hopeful. Hard to have a fair election to have that blue wave when the outcomes are already predetermined. That said, we DO need to support Abrams and more importantly, support Greg Palast who has been fighting this fight forever for Abrams as well as the whole country. The fact that he is not the most well known journalist in this country tells you more about our media than anything else!
https://www.gregpalast.com/we-have-mortally-wounded-jim-crow-program/
Thanks for that!
Yeah, you are right the deck is stacked against us. I was just saying, even in the BEST case scenario this is an uphill battle.
Because the outcomes are all but totally pre-determined, we have to fight dirty on the ground and be guerilla warriors to get people voting. Driving people to polling places, helping people register, etc etc. Those of us in the know and with any resources need to focus them in this direction while the system is so corrupt.
It gets so discouraging; the more you read, the more you discover…
This is so infuriating. Thanks for staying on top of it bellaluna!
Yep! That’s why a free press is so important.