Saving our Elections

On Wednesday, April 8, Standing for Democracy (SFD) and Free Washington Project sponsored a well-attended webinar addressing the pressing topic of how we can act NOW to save our elections from the ongoing and multi-faceted threats of the Trump regime.

The online seminar addressed two topics: (1) What is the threat environment, and (2) How can we respond and resist? Attorney General of Washington Nick Brown spoke about the specific threats to our free elections posed by the Trump regime and how an alliance of Democratic Attorneys General is preparing to eliminate these attacks. The major threats included: declaring a national emergency to cancel the elections; outlawing use of voting machines; requiring DHS to create a “list” of approved absentee voters in each state; commanding the US Postal Service to not allow mail in ballots; and an expected Supreme Court ruling that all ballots must be counted on Election Day. AG Brown strongly urged voters not to count on the USPS but rather to personally deliver their ballots to the ballot boxes in their neighborhood. He pledged not to allow ICE or federal agents to interfere with this process. He also described court challenges to these threats. AG Brown’s office will continue to fight these authoritarian efforts, and strongly encourages the broader voter rights movements to join and support this battle.

AG Brown was followed by SFD’s co-founder and long-time labor and civil rights advocate, Bill Fletcher Jr. Bill framed this struggle in the context of building the resistance to fascism and the powerful tech, fossil fuel, and finance industries, as well as Trump and MAGA. Bill emphasized how we need to build a broad alignment of forces, including labor, the immigrant rights movement, and civil rights and liberties organizations. He said not to rely solely on elected officials and the Democratic Party to save the day. Lawsuits alone will not be enough. Bill stressed that we cannot afford to wait until November to respond to these threats. Bill said that the labor movement has been slow to take up the anti-fascist fight and needs to be brought, front and center, into the resistance and, in fact, to lead it.

Cindy Domingo, the moderator, then introduced the second panel, who spoke to how we can respond to these threats. The first speaker was Charles Douglas III, the Executive Director of Common Power. (See https://com-monpower.org/ to join and volunteer). Common Power brings voting rights activists and, particularly, people of color directly into the electoral process. Its strategy is based upon the voters’ rights and civil rights movement of the ‘60s. Charles pointed to data from the recent Georgia run-off election for the seat just vacated by Marjorie Taylor Greene; it demonstrates that their work speaking directly to Republicans and even Trump voters to talk about bread and butter issue of affordability, was very effective in allowing the Democratic Party candidate Shawn Harris to make significant inroads in Republican dominance, compared to the last cycle.

Next, Stuart Holmes, the Director of Elections for the Washington Secretary of State, described the Supreme Court case from Mississippi that may radically change how Washington and 18 other states count ballots. It would outlaw any state from counting any ballots received by the registrar of voters after election day, even if postmarked on or before election day. Present Washington law allows the registrar to count ballots postmarked on election day for five days after the election. His office is preparing to meet this challenge with voter engagement strategies well before election day. His office seeks to organize volunteers to protect voters.

Cherika Carter, Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), who also serves as the WSLC’s Political and Strategic Campaigns Director laid out the WSLC’s plans to engage in voter turnout and protection efforts to ensure that all union members have unfettered right to vote and participate fully in the electoral process.

David Montes, the fourth speaker, a staff attorney for the ACLU of WA, focused on voting rights issues. He was a lead ACLU lawyer who successfully challenged the City of Yakima’s system for City Council elections in federal court, as discriminatory against Latinos. The ACLU also provides community education and involvement opportunities, which, when combined with those of Common Power, the WSLC, the Secretary of State’s office, the Democratic Party, and campaigns will form a bulwark to defeat Trump’s agenda.

Our take: The consensus of the panelists was clear: we must move forward to engage others in this effort and build a movement that can save our elections. Standing for Democracy and Free Washington Project call upon AG Brown and the Secretary of State to convene a “Community Election Engagement Board.” It might be comprised of their staffs and representatives selected by major organizations in civil society, actively engaged in voter protection work. It could include One America Votes, The League of Women Voters, the NAACP, and Indivisible Seattle. We must all be prepared and organized to go to the streets, precincts, and our neighborhoods to make sure our right to vote is protected. Standing for Democracy will formally make this proposal to AG Brown and Secretary Hobbs next week, with invitations to many other organizations to convene such a panel. Please feel free to make your views known to us.

The April 8 webinar can be viewed on www.freewaproject.org.