Seven Things Holder Can Do to Save Our Democracy (Because the Corporate Media Sure as Hell Won’t)

[McCamy Taylor]

Disgusting. Once again, the GOP publically, gleefully boasts that it plans to “win” (read “steal”) the next election by denying citizens their right to cast a lawful vote. In 2000, we saw then Governor Jeb Bush hire a firm to create a bogus felons list in order to keep African-Americans from voting for Al Gore. When they could not find enough felons in Florida, they stripped the voting rights of Floridians who had names similar to felons living in other states. We now know that Gore won in Florida. However, those suppressed votes gave Bush the ability to hand the decision to the SCOTUS which broke the law by ruling on Bush V. Gore based upon the identity of the parties in the case. Who can forget O’Connor’s whine about how she wanted to retire but could not unless a Republican got to choose her successor?

Think back to 2000. How many of you ever considered the possibility that Bush Sr.’s idiot son could be elected president? That must be why we failed to stand up and declare “Hey, something rotten is going on in Florida. Lawful voters are being stripped of their rights.” Who cared if a few thousand people, mostly Black were disenfranchised? It is only news if a white person’s vote is stolen. It only became news when a whole bunch of (mostly white) people saw their own votes lose all meaning in the face of the stolen election.

In retrospect, the Department of Justice should have been all over Florida, its governor and secretary of state. Since nothing was done, 2004’s election suppression in Ohio was a cakewalk. Never mind that the second time around we were ready for it ---we paid attention in Ohio. We questioned the reliability of paperless voting. Bush/Rove controlled the Department of Justice, meaning that the American people were powerless to do anything but hate Bush/Rove with a passion that lead to the 2006 upset.

Now, the GOP is getting ready to steal another election. Who here really believes that the American people want to dump Obama for a sadistic, snooty, job-killing, silver spoon fed rich boy? But if we allow ourselves to be complaisant as we were in 2000, 2000 will happen all over again---

Back in 2000, election theft of such brazen magnitude was inconceivable. No one took the warnings from Florida seriously. This time, we have no excuse. A crime is being committed. It does not matter if the scale of each apparent Voting Rights Act violation seems small—a Congressman here, a veteran there. It does not matter how big a lead Obama gets in the popular poll. Unless we are willing to defend the voting rights of every American citizen, we might as well flush our own votes down the toilet.

That is where the Department of Justice comes in. As I understand the Voting Rights Act anything that deliberately infringes upon you right to vote---and that includes your right to cast the vote and have it tabulated and counted into the total of votes cast---is illegal. Thanks to an act of Congress in 1982, anything that “accidentally” infringes upon those same rights of a subset of the population (like having ballots only in English) is also illegal.

So, I propose that---

1.The Department of Justice review the results of the voter disenfranchise efforts from 2000, 2002, 2004 etc. Where there has been a pattern of systemic voter disenfranchisement, the fed’s should step in and analyze the current system of voter registration, enrollment, disenrollment, polling place access, polling place equipment (including the number of lost votes that are expected with the technology in place) and potential for election fraud in advance of the fall elections. Part of the DOJ’s job is to prevent violations of the law, and if there is probable cause, they need to act.

2. If a single eligible voter is found to have been stripped from the rolls in a state, this should be grounds for forcing that state to prove that other voters have been stripped from the list lawfully. If they cannot prove it, the voter is reinstated.

3. In states which require voter ID, the federal government should identify those at risk---mostly the elderly , disabled and poor who do not drive (hint, check Medicare and Medicaid rolls)---and either issue free ID or require that states provide free ID.

4. In order to detect—and deter-- tabulation fraud, the feds need to put their own exit pollsters in place, to assure that no one flips a switch after the votes are cast and before they are counted. In 2004, we learned that we cannot rely upon the corporate media or private pollsters to keep our elections fair. Google "reluctant responders" if you do not believe me.

5. Federal law enforcement officials need to be at high risk polling places on election day to make sure that no one physically interferes with our right to vote. That includes dispersing any local law enforcement officials who decide to set up roadblocks near minority polling places, as Florida police did in 2000. In addition, the feds need to be standing by the phones at a 1-800 number, ready to act if reports of suppression come in from other precincts. Again, in the past we relied upon the press to police the polls. We can no longer do that. You never know what kind of deal the GOP candidate has cut with the MSM. Maybe CBS needs another exemption from media share regulations. Maybe Rupert Murdoch has been promised immunity from prosecution.

6. Speaking of prosecution, those who deliberately change election results should be prosecuted. Those who are thinking about changing election results should know that they will be prosecuted. Regardless of the election outcome. A crime is a crime.

7. The federal government needs to run public services announcements (in Spanish as well as English) telling voters their rights and also telling them where to call when those rights have been trampled upon.

If the DOJ does not act, here is what will happen. Going up to the election, Obama will be in the lead. Then, on election day, Romney will suddenly pull 4-5 crucial percentage points out of his ass. The press will declare that Romney’s upset victory is due to massive corporate spending. They will say that polls are no longer reliable in the post Citizens United America. Another stolen election will be laid at the door of the SCOTUS which could not care less if its legacy is trashed----again. The press will cover up any evidence of voter suppression or election fraud. The corporate masters of the big newspapers and television news stations will light up fat cigars and daydream about all the money they are going to make once Romney reduces their workers to serfs….

[McCamy Taylor]

1. If you need a refresher course in election fraud, "Grand Theft Election Ohio"

has a bit of everything. http://www.grandtheftelectionohio.com/

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. Holder is or might be interested in saving our democracy? That's not funny.