Civil & Human Rights

(Repost) Rep. John Lewis: People died for the right to vote, we have come too far together to ever turn back

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Civil Rights Movement hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) addressed the DNC convention on voting rights. "My dear friends, your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union." Lewis went on to describe the literacy tests and poll taxes that are now unconstitutional.

"Today it is unbelievable that there are Republican officials who are trying to stop some people from voting. They are changing the rules, cutting polling hours and imposing requirements intended to suppress the vote . . . that's not right, that's not fair, and that is not just."

"I've seen this before. I've lived this before. Too many people struggled, suffered and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote. We have come too far together to ever turn back. So Democrats we must not be silent. We must stand up, speak up and speak out. We must march to the polls like never ever before. We must come together and exercise our sacred right."

Video below the fold.

Election Protection Hotline Numbers

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The New York Times in an editorial opinion today writes, Voting Rights – Upholding Democracy: This year, voting is more than just the core responsibility of citizenship; it is an act of defiance against malicious political forces determined to reduce access to democracy. Millions of ballots on Tuesday — along with those … Read more

Martha McSally: The anti-feminist (video)

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Even feminists own recipe boxes.
Even feminists own recipe boxes.

Republican Congressional candidate Col. Martha McSally says she has been “fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality [her] whole life.”

McSally is well known as the first woman combat pilot and the Air Force officer who fought against a government rule requiring US service women to wear Arab garb when they leave the base. Does this make her a champion for women’s rights?

Let’s look beyond these headlines to answer that question. More on McSally’s stances on choice, women’s health, equal pay, and the War on Women.

Choice

Although McSally bristles when called a “cookie cutter” Republican candidate, her stances on women’s issues are in lock-step with Congressional War on Women stalwarts like Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan and fellow Arizonan Jeff Flake, who is running on the Republican ticket for US Senate against Dr. Richard Carmona.

McSally’s website says she believes in “the sanctity of every human life”. This right-wing code for saying that she agrees with the Republican Party’s anti-abortion platform. Ironically, small-government McSally believes that the government should dictate when American women have children. Not supporting a woman’s right to make decisions governing her own body is a deal breaker for many women.

Read more

The House Majority PAC ad: ‘AZ-01: Jonathan Paton – Why’

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The House Majority PAC is up with a closing ad in CD 1 against Jonathan "Payday" Paton entitled "Jonathan Paton – Why." Tthe House Majority PAC teamed up with Emily’s List (aka Women Vote!) to target Paton’s views on women’s healthcare.

Paton has been a consistent vote for the fetus fetish "culture warriors" at Center for Arizona Policy who want to criminalize abortion and subject women to second class citizen status to a fertilized egg.

Video below the fold.

‘Flipped’ votes in Pima County? Will voting machines or voters determine 2012 election? (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Since the 2006 Pima County election, which created the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), there have been ongoing gquestions about election integrity, the ease in which local vote-scanning machines can be hacked, and accusations of slip-shod procedures in the county's election division.

Last Friday, a group of local citizens– Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, and Independents– filed a lawsuit to force Pima County to comply with election laws in the way it handles ballots and ballot machines in this election. This action will be heard in Pima Superior Court tomorrow– Nov. 1– at 2 p.m.

In a Wake Up Tucson radio interview, Bill Beard (who is running against long-time Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez) and attorney Brad Roach said that the current court action alleges no past wrong doing by the county; it simply asks judge to order the county to comply with state law in handling the elections. 

"Pima County has short-circuited some of the laws of the state of Arizona," Beard claims in the radio interview.

In the past, the Pima County Board of Supervisors has been less than cooperative with election integrity investigations– hence the move to encourge the courts to force the county's hand. The plaintiffs want the judge to instruct the county to:

1- Have poll workers include in every Official Return Envelope a copy of the signed "tally lists" or results tape. (This is a record of the total number of votes a machine has on board before it leaves the precinct polling place and is taken to the elections department. When the machine reaches the county, these totals can be rechecked.)

2- Separate the vote by mail ballots by precinct (thus simplifying random sample rechecks of votes).

3- Conduct sufficient randomly selected hand count audits of the vote by mail ballots– including county races.

4- Pay plaintiffs' attorneys' fees and the costs of expert witnesses and "reasonable" costs for any analysis and testing to verify results.

Why does a group of citizens have to file a lawsuit against the Pima County Board of Supervisors to force them to protect our votes? Videos and more informaiton after the jump.