Demand that Congress Protect Our Elections
Sisters,
It is CLEAR that some elected officials will look the other way in spite of clear evidence that there are nations who want to screw up our democracy. There is a LARGE AMOUNT of evidence from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation about Russian tampering in our elections. The Mueller report outlined an elaborate campaign of hacking and propaganda during the 2016 presidential race that resulted in indictments that charged 25 Russian individuals and three Russian companies. They used social media to spread lies and inflame our not so hidden racism, hacked into Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails, and who knows what else that we haven’t seemed to be bothered enough to investigate fully.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 23rd where he stated that “The Russians are absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our elections.” Director Wray was a very credible witness, and it is hard to watch his testimony and leave the experience not scared to death about what is going on right under our noses!
The New York Times has even dedicated an entire webpage to tracking outside influence on our democracy, Russian Hacking and Influence in the U.S. Election: Complete coverage of Russia’s campaign to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
Meanwhile, Congress has failed to act to protect the most fundamental tool of democracy—fair elections. Did you know that the House of Representatives have passed election protection bills, but the Senate refuses to debate the issue?
Young businessman hiding head in the sand
Never Forget Your Members of Congress Work for YOU!
When members of Congress are elected, they pledge allegiance to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to faithfully discharge the duties of their office. Standing against bigotry and hate is the ultimate expression of their sworn duty. Take a second to read the oath of office below to refresh your memory about what your elected officials swore to do on our behalf, lest we forget they WORK FOR US!
[su_pullquote]“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So, help me God.”[/su_pullquote]
Congress isn’t the only group of elected officials with an obligation to protect our elections. State legislatures are also duty-bound to protect the right of its citizens to cast their votes. The Senate Intelligence Committee found that foreign governments targeted elections in ALL 50 STATES! However several state legislatures seem just as bound and determined as foreign governments to keep folks from participating in fair elections. Whether it is purging voter rolls, closing polling places, limiting early voting, not sending enough voting machines to some communities, partisan gerrymandering that gives one party the advantage, and trying to stop college students from voting, state legislators are mucking around with our rights, and we’re letting them.
If you have been blasé about election tampering, thinking everything is fine because you have never had any problems voting, WAKE UP!
Folks who want to further weaken our democracy are BUSY, and if we are not careful, we might all wake up one day and find that our democracy has died and there is nothing we can do about it. Let me be clear-there is A LOT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT, but we must act now!
Make sure that you were not one of the 17 million Americans (no that is not a type) recently dumped from the voting rolls.
Senate rules make it possible for ONE senator to put the brakes on a debate (WE CAN will explain this more in a future post). Let your senators know that you think it is ridiculous that they are failing to debate the issue of election security. Tell them you want them to take immediate action to ensure that our elections are fair and free from foreign and domestic tampering and that they need to give the states the resources NOW to prepare for the 2020 election cycle.
Click above to learn more about efforts to combat partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression, and voting protections. We have to put our money and our time behind efforts to defend our democracy.
We the People STILL have the power. We can’t be afraid to use it!
Yours in the Struggle,
Stephanie McGencey, WE CAN President and Founder