The Academy Awards recognizes creativity in films. The Voter Suppression Academy* awards recognizes Republican dirty tricks to prevent Americans voting.
"It's high time our voter suppression skills be recognized!", demanded an anonymous GOP operative. "It isn't easy to design hundreds of voter suppression dirty tricks and if it wasn't for us, millions more Americans would vote".
This map highlights some of the nominations for voter suppression creativity arranged by categories including Voting Hurdles, Purging and Racist Restrictions.
Voter Suppression Dirty Tricks nominees
Leading Voter Suppression scheme nominees
- Illegal to hand out water to people waiting to vote. Under the bill, signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, it’s now illegal to hand out food or water to people standing in line to vote. “No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector,” the new law states. - CNN
- Felon Voting Rights Restored, But Limited. In November 2018, Florida voters passed Amendment 4, a measure that restores voting rights to certain felons (nearly 1.4 million people) once they have served their sentences, including parole and probation. Those convicted of murder and sexual offenses remain unable to vote. - CNN
- Restrict election officials’ ability to send absentee ballots to voters without a specific request. Arizona’s proposal (HB 2792) would make it a felony to affirmatively send an absentee ballot to anyone not on the permanent early voter list. - Brennan Center
- Limit Drop Box Use. America First Legal — a conservative group founded by Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller — filed a lawsuit on behalf of voters to limit the use of drop boxes in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that if drop boxes are not physically monitored to ensure a person is only returning one ballot, the plaintiffs “will suffer irreparable harm in that the void or invalid ballots will dilute their validly cast ballots” in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
- Make it Harder for Native Americans to vote. Refuse to recognize PO Boxes that many Native Americans who have "non-traditional addresses" use to get email. - DemLabs
Voting Rights Resources
- Voting Rights Labs - Documents and analyzes voting and election laws across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Tracker also includes detailed, near-real time analysis of voting rights legislation pending across the country.
- Democracy Docket - Progressive media platform dedicated to providing information, opinion and analysis about voting rights and more.
- The Brennan Center for Justice - Focuses on democracy, criminal justice, securing the balance of power, and protecting fundamental freedoms while keeping Americans safe.
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Wikipedia (Image credit for the Oscars statue to the Academy).
TakeAway: Don't be silenced. Vote!
Deepak
DemLabs
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* The Voter Suppression Academy is a spoof. There is no such entity, but perhaps there should be one.
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Cartoons licensed from Political Cartoons
