Category Archives: Uncategorized

Eric Eversole at King Street Patriots in Houston

Here is a video of Eric Eversole’s appearance at King Street Patriots last night in Houston, Texas to talk about military voting (after some introduction by Bob Marley and Catherine Engelbrecht).  He talks about FVAP on-base registration, enforcement of military voting rights and voter participation by the military and military voting “being a second class issue inside the Civil Rights Division.. . .  The biggest example was there was clear evidence. . .  that it can take up to 30 days for a ballot to travel to a war zone. . .  but the DOJ took a position that as long as the county mailed out a ballot 30 days before an election, that was good enough” as far as DOJ was concerned.  Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) also makes an appearance by video.







Dems push same day registration voting

The link is here.  Ellison introduced another bill Wednesday, “The Same Day Registration Act,” which would require every state to provide same-day registration in federal elections.  Including Minnesota, just nine states have some form of same-day registration. Kiffmeyer’s bill in the state Legislature would have eliminated the Minnesota statute that allows registered voters to vouch for a person registering at the polls.

“Mailbox as ballot box gains wider favor”

At the link, we find that absentee voting by mail can be popular and cut costs.  Of course, some remind us that absentee ballots are most vulnerable to fraudulent activity.

Bottom line:  Do we really want to rely so much on the mail service to vote when you see headlines like: 

Postal Bailout Proposed 

Postal workers protest Saturday shutdown 

Funding Woes force many changes in USPS practices

Texas moves for summary judgment on state senate redistricting claims

At txredistricting.org:

The State of Texas has asked the San Antonio panel to grant judgment in its favor without a trial on the state senate claims brought by State Senator Wendy Davis and LULAC.  The motion overlaps substantially with the earlier motion to dismiss filed by the state, which remains pending with the court.


The heart of the state’s contention is the claim that SD-10 is not a protected district under the Voting Rights Act and that it is impossible to draw a version of SD-10 that would have a minority citizen voting age population majority, even if African-Americans and Hispanics are aggregated together.


The state also says that Davis and LULAC lack evidence of discriminatory intent in the drawing of the map.  The state argues that the only evidence that Davis has that the district was “effective” as a coalition district was her election in 2008, which the state says was more the result of a “perfect storm” that strongly disfavored Republicans.  


As a result, the state contends that it was free to dismantle the district and transform it into a stronger performing Republican district- something that it freely admits that it did.


Davis and LULAC are to file their responses on November 9, but have argued elsewhere that the state confuses crossover and coalition districts and that while a state is not required to draw a crossover district in the first instance, dismantling a crossover district, where one exists, raises significant legal and constitutional concerns.  

Corruption, Fraud and Voter Intimidation ignored in Atlantic Beach, South Carolina as elections are overturned

At the link, an shameful example of corruption where the “elect few” use intimidation and manipulation of the levers of the election process to retain political power at any cost.  This is the type of unfortunate situation where DOJ should be quietly observing the voting process to deter illegal activity that harms voters and provide legitimacy to election results when the rules are followed.  Because of the city’s rich history for black Americans, the blatant corruption found in the “Black Pearl” is simply ignored by the Holder Civil Rights Division. 

Why?  Perhaps because the minority population under the thumb are the small number of whites and independent blacks outside the official power structure; therefore, apparently subject to abuse without protection or Justice.  The result:  Atlantic City’s electoral processes are burning so hot that elections are now being overturned. 

ATLANTIC BEACH, SC – The Atlantic Beach election commission Saturday overturned the Nov. 1 municipal election after the results were successfully appealed by three candidates. A new election will be held in 180 days. Benny Webb, town administrator, said the commission accepted that the evidence and witness testimony was solid enough to uphold the appeals and overturn the election.  Windy Price, Misty Umphries and James Van Fleet appealed after the votes were certified on Thursday.  Webb said the three claimed there was intimidation to both voters and candidates and that there was possible voter registration and vote fraud.  The trio also questioned some of the voting machines. The commission apparently agreed.

The Sun News adds more insight to a concerning situation:


Only in Atlantic Beach can a fraudulent election be fraudulently overturned.  A new election was ordered after an almost 9-hour meeting that was more akin to a “Saturday Night Live” skit laced with dark comedy than a legitimate display of representative democracy. 

…That’s in addition to testimony that said one voter declined to vote because he was paid not to, a couple of white residents saying they were intimidated – including the lone white candidate vying for a council seat – and allegations that maybe 35 voters, enough to affect the outcome of the election, were denied the vote, either because scare tactics or landlords who supposedly threatened eviction of anyone not voting for the preferred candidate – even though not one of these people was required to come forward to confirm that they actually exist.


What also became apparent Saturday is that unless you are among the elect few chosen by the election officials in Atlantic Beach, you don’t have a right to have your vote counted.


Irene Armstrong, the former mayor and one of the town’s most well-known citizens, had her vote challenged, as did Bellamy, the outspoken president of the Concerned Citizens of Atlantic Beach. They are on opposite sides of the warring political factions.  Rita Tucker is a fairly new resident. To prove her residency, Tucker provided photo identification, a voter’s registration card, documents from Veterans Affairs mailed to her home, a year’s worth of signed rent receipts – and even her landlord – a and her voted was still not counted.


If this was 1961 in a Deep South, majority-white town run by closeted Ku Klux Klan members hellbent on suppressing the rights of black voters, there would be widespread outrage.  But it’s not. It’s a small, predominantly black town with problems so deeply embedded and tragic most people have stopped paying attention.


And that’s what those who are making such incredible decisions are counting on