By Marta Lev
The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton.
Every day there is some image that sums up the extent of the malice and, okay, evil of the times in which we find ourselves. For me, today’s image was of a pick up truck filled with US Postal boxes, and a worker unbolting another box from the ground, to be carried off. This is the latest gambit to manipulate an election’s outcome by limiting US citizens’ access to voting; especially infuriating to those of us working hard, and successfully, to expand voter participation in vote by mail.
What’s a concerned citizen to do? Abandon vote-by-mail organizing? Double down on it? I’m going with the latter, specifically facilitating Florida voters to get vote by mail (VBM) ballots. When the concern about sabotage of this effort was raised, Richard Segan and Peter Grey of Swing Left Greater Boston had this response:
“There are no guarantees in this election and there are all sorts of scenarios that would have seemed bizarre only a few years ago that may play out. What if Trump refuses to leave the WH, what if the Electoral College is not allowed to convene, what if there is overwhelming evidence of Russian hacking of the voter count, what if he tries to postpone the election in light of a surge in COVID-19?
…The DNC has a team working on many of these scenarios and more. There is a huge voter protection plan underway to try to counter issues like delays or heightened challenges, but it could be a very difficult election. Personally, I still think VBM is a good strategy. In FL, they will be able to track which voters have opted to VBM and whether or not they’ve mailed in their ballot. This will allow for follow-up in the weeks and days before the election. If polling stations are closed because of a planned strategy to suppress the vote or because local officials cannot staff polling locations, many voters will not vote if they don’t have VBM.
I would encourage people not to be daunted by the many uncertainties we face. In particular, I urge people to focus on whatever stimulates them the most at any given time.
I like to fantasize about a few lower-ranked military personnel saying ‘Now just come along with us, sir.’”