Archive for the ‘Fair Elections’ Category

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Are you Experiencing ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION (ED)?

Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

Jim Crow, poll tax, grandfather clause, hanging chads, long lines, touchscreens. Hmmm. The more things change, the more they… go underground. The repression gets more subtle, then they call you paranoid. It’s hard out here for a voter – even more so for voters of color.

A huge success of the Civil Rights movement was the Voting Rights Act. But certain sections of the VRA will expire in 2007 if Congress doesn’t reauthorize them, and some members (of Congress) believe the fight for civil rights and social justice is over. Done. Passe. Kaput. That’s where you come in.

Join us for ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION,
7PM on Thursday June 8th at The Know Bookstore.

Learn how to keep democracy upright by renewing and reinvigorating the Voting Rights Act!

Featuring FOOD, PRIZES, SPOKENWORD & Voting Rights
JEOPARDY!
Brought to you by Traction and the UNC Center for Civil Rights, along with the NAACP-NC, Southerners for Economic Justice and North Carolina Central University’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change.
HINT: Registration is a good idea. Email ED@getTraction.org or call 843-8197.

Posted in Civil Rights, Events, Fair Elections | No Comments »

More On Voting Machines

Friday, April 28th, 2006

Over the past couple of months here at Traction’s website, we’ve been writing and writing about voting rights and the dangers of electronic voting machines. Over at DailyKos this morning, diarist reprehensor has a little nugget for you to chew on. He digs into the archives at VerifiedVoting.org and offers up a “sample of the thousands of ‘anomalies’ that were reported to the [Election Incident Reporting System] during the 2004 election.” (He also invokes Mark Crispin Miller who wrote an absolutely essential essay in Harper’s last year for anyone who’s worried about the integrity of American elections. Make sure you read it if you’ve not yet had the chance to do so.)

Click through to read a fuller report at DKos.

Posted in Fair Elections, Politics | No Comments »

FREE STUFF! Lobby me NOW while you still can…

Thursday, March 23rd, 2006

It’s Hard Out Here for a Lobbyist, what with all the ethics reform in the news these days.  They’re trying to take all the fun out of being a big Washington or Raleigh lobbyist, so I guess I’ll stick with my PhD program.

At least I have ONE chance to give away special favors:
Traction just got a box of slick stuff from THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, the great new black comedy about slick lobbyists (starring William H. Macy, Katie Holmes, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe) and I get to give it away!

TYFS sidebar red

I’ve got about seven very slick black T-SHIRTS, twelve bizarre plastic babies who smoke (their brand: Li’l Smokes), and about 25 FREE PASSES for two to an advance screening on Monday night in Raleigh. (more…)

Posted in Arts, Economic Justice, Events, Fair Elections, Health Care | No Comments »

From the Dept. of Voting Rights: We’re Not Out Of The Woods Yet….

Friday, March 3rd, 2006

There have been some great strides made in the name of achieving the sort of universal suffrage that we were all taught was the fundamental premise of American democracy. Right here in Wake County, activists recently claimed victory over paper-trail-less electronic voting machines.

However, there’s still much work to be done:

“The past and the present look a whole lot alike in the prevalence of racial discrimination in voting,” Barbara Arnwine, director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told the Associated Press.

Two important sections of the Voting Rights Act will be up for renewal in August 2007. These sections help prevent disenfranchisement of minority voters and ensure that Americans whose first language is not English have access to resources that can help them through the voting process in their mother tongue.

So what? Well, many of the legislators who will vote on that renewal and who will influence the details of the act’s next manifestation are up for reelection this fall. As North Carolina can proudly boast competitive races in every single one of its thirteen U.S. Congressional Districts, that gives you just one more thing to talk about with the candidates as they swing through your neighborhood in the coming months.

Posted in Civil Rights, Fair Elections | No Comments »

Wake County [hearts] Voters
(Valentine’s Day Election Reform Edition)

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

Are you one of those people who thinks that voting would be great if the votes were actually counted? Do you worry that your secret ballot is annually vanishing into a secret electronic netherworld? Are you afraid that your votes are being shepherded off to a secure and undisclosed location?

Well, if you live in Wake County, guess what! Your votes just got liberated:

On Monday, county commissioners decided to buy new optical-scan ballot counters. They rejected a proposal for 13 additional touch-screen voting machines.

The decision led to applause from voting activists, who had questioned the touch-screen machines’ reliability.

Why is this such great news?

Two reasons: First, we’re not in Florida anymore, Toto. The machines that Wake County voters will confide in on election day will keep old-fashioned, tried-and-true, unmistakable paper records of every vote cast. (Remember Carteret Co., anyone?)This will make for accurate counts of voters’ choices and will help us all sleep at night knowing that the person who is sworn into office all but certainly received more votes than any of his or her opponents. Plus, if there are questions or irregularities, there’s always a paper trail just waiting to be recounted.

Another reason why this is so wonderful is that it’s the result of a long-fought battle by local grassroots activists (including our own Lanya Shapiro). Not only have Tractivists been out there fighting the good fight, this decision is proof positive that when we bring our passions, skills and tenacity to the table, we can achieve spectacular results!

Ya gotta love it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted in Fair Elections, Tractivists in Action | No Comments »

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