Contribute To Voter Supression Wiki

Baratunde Thurston of Jack and Jill Politics has created this place to log incidents of voter supression throughout the U.S.

Thurston writes:

the point

1. Learn what voter suppression is
2. Report incidents of voter suppression
3. Act to combat and prevent it

You can go to the Voter Supression Wiki here.

Intro blog posts:

On Jack & Jill Politics
http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2008/09/announcing-the-launch-of-t...


On DailyKos (recommend!!)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/18/13101/8066/280/602811


On Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/baratunde-thurston/announcing-the-launc...


And a great intro from Jon Pincus who helped a lot with the concept and setup
http://www.talesfromthe.net/jon/?p=209


YouTube video intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0aMMqvZ69s


THANK YOU ALL for your suggestions and connections. This was done in
about 24 hours. I love the Internet. Let's go protect some votes!


- saving democracy one wiki at a time

Help Haitian Hurricane Victims

Yobachi of BlackPerspective.net sends out personal call

A Little Help Can Go A Long Way



I’ve been telling you the last couple of weeks about the absolute devastation in Haiti from being hit by 4 tropical storms and Hurricanes with in less than three weeks. If you missed that, you can read here and here as well.

This morning I made a donation to Food For The Poor, directed to Haitian relief. It was only a mere 20 dollars, it’s what I have for the time being. It’s not much, but I understand that things add up.

If you have a few bucks you can spare, and you’ll put your 20 dollars with mine, and on and on then it won’t be just $20.

Some 1,400 of you read this blog every week. If I could get just 10% of you to make the same donation to which ever relief effort of your choosing; collectively it would be 2,800 dollars we would be providing in relief.

If everyone just does a little, a lot can be accomplished.

~Yobachi

Other donation information

Food For The Poor, Inc:

Pan America Relief

You can check out charities and how they spend donations at Charity Navigator

Get The Word Out About Voter Registration

In most places you have less than a month to get registered.

Get the word out to all you know. Send your entire email inbox the link.

From Pround Black Voter Blog:

State-by-State Voter Registration Links

Brothers and sisters ... TIME IS GETTING SHORT for you to register to vote in the November 2008 election! Some registration deadlines are just a few weeks away. Please encourage people to visit the new VOTE FOR CHANGE website.

At this site people will be able to find out if they are registered to vote; get registered to vote; apply to vote absentee; plus find early vote locations.

Registering someone can be a pretty quick and simple process. It literally takes about two minutes to get a registration form completed. If, you’re going to try to register voters, be sure to find out registration requirements for your area and also please remind people about the IMPORTANCE OF BRINGING PROPER I.D. WITH A CORRECT ADDRESS ON VOTING DAY.

Below is the link for each state's Voter Registration Site with information on the requirements to get registered. Also, with so much voter "trickery" many of these sites allow you to check to ensure that you are still registered and to check your polling place.

• Alabama


• Alaska


• Arizona


• Arkansas


• California


• Colorado


• Connecticut


• Delaware


• District of Columbia


• Florida


• Georgia


• Hawaii


• Idaho


• Illinois


• Indiana


• Iowa


• Kansas


• Kentucky


• Louisiana


• Maine


• Maryland


• Massachusetts


• Michigan


• Minnesota


• Mississippi


• Missouri


• Montana


• Nebraska


• Nevada


• New Hampshire


• New Jersey


• New Hampshire


• New York


• North Carolina


• North Dakota


• Ohio


• Oklahoma


• Oregon


• Pennsylvania


• Rhode Island


• South Carolina


• South Dakota


• Tennessee


• Texas


• Utah


• Vermont


• Virginia


• Washington


• West Virginia


• Wisconsin


• Wyoming


• Vote From Abroad

Please share this information with others. We want to increase voter participation by everyone in the 2008 election cycle.

Finally, check the link for your state to ensure that it is still accurate!

Hurricane Crisis In Haiti Needs Your Attention and Your Help

The second disaster to what is transpiring in Haiti, is the disaster that is, again, America's major media giving little attention to this developing humanitarian crisis that is just 700 miles off of our own shores. Of course they need the airtime to talk about what Britney was wearing at the VMA's.

After Hurricane Hanna caused floods and mudslides at the end of last week, Ike dumped more water on the besieged island Monday.

Last week I asked people to donate, and you should still give what you can; if it's just $10 or $20 dollars. But we should also ask our government to help, via cargo helicopters that can airlift in supplies and so forth.

We need to target someone for focused intensity. You should always contact your own legislative representatives; but there needs to be a single entity hit by everyone who would participate, and I think House Speaker Nancy Pelosi makes the most sense.

See the bottom of the page for contact info and donation info

Humanitarian disaster unfolds in Haiti
By Jacques Guillon in Gonaives, Haiti
September 10, 2008 10:01am

HAITI'S third largest city is at the centre of a humanitarian disaster after being hit hard by four major storms in less than a month.

Supplies slowly trickling into waterlogged Gonaives, but they were nowhere near the amount needed for flood victims who have gone for days without food or clean water.

The UN Mission in Haiti said 101 bodies have been found in Gonaives, the Haitian city hardest hit by Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike, since yesterday.

Four major storms, two of them hurricanes, have struck Haiti in less than four weeks.

More than 600 Haitians have died and the disaster is still unfolding due to the challenge of delivering aid in the impoverished and waterlogged Caribbean country.

"If we don't find a way to deliver massive humanitarian aid, we will see fights and riots that will kill more people than the cyclone did," warned UN spokeswoman Vicky Delore-Ndjeuga.
Gonaives was flooded when Tropical Storm Hanna lashed the low-lying northern city surrounded by deforested hillsides at the beginning of the month.

Across Haiti, 800,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian aide, almost half children…

go here for the rest of news.com.au's story

An AP Story on the issue


Congressional Contact and Donation Information

House Democratic Leadersip:
Nancy Pelosi - House Speaker 202-225-4965 / AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov, sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

General Switch Board for the House of Representatives, where you can get anyones number 202-224-3121

House website: www.house.gov/ (can find anyones website to get emails and other contact info).


Food For The Poor, Inc:

Pan America Relief

You can check out charities and how they spend donations at Charity Navigator

As the information in this article demonstrates the U.S. military has provided a decent amount of airlifted aid and medical support; but the issue is that the asset resources need to match the size of the crisis. We can do more, so why not do what we can to relieve human suffering?

From www.blackperspective.net

Action Alert: On 9/23, Georgia to Execute Wrong Man in Killing of Police Officer

Afrosphere Action Alert

Villager at the AfroSpear’s Electronic Village blog urgently brings to our attention the case of Troy Davis, a Black man who is scheduled to be executed just twelve days from now in Georgia, “even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.”

Amnesty International USA says, “The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even during the trial,” and Amnesty urgest us to write automated letters online to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. They provide a sample letter. The European Parliament says, “there is abundant proof of his innocence, material evidence against him has never been produced and seven witnesses for the prosecution have retracted their testimony.”

The evidence presented by Amnesty International and the European Parliament indicated that police arrested and charged the wrong man, and Georgia will now execute an innocent man while a police killer goes unpunished for his crime.

The AfroSpear's Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) informs us that:

Georgians for the Abolition of the Death Penalty and Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) will hold a rally for Davis on September 11, 2008, from 6 to 8pm on the steps of the Georgia Capitol. (Source: http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0372.html)

This is just one of the many activities that will surely occur between now and September 23 to stop or postpone the execution of a man who many informed human rights organizations say must not be guilty.

Monday, September 8, 2008: Day of Blogging for Community Organizing Justice: "I Am a Community Organizer"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The AfroSpear and afrosphere announce a Day of Blogging for Community Organizing Justice: "I Am a Community Organizer", to be held on Monday, September 8, 2008.

AfroSpear and afrosphere bloggers involved are encouraged to each contact five additional bloggers and request their participation.

"The AfroSpear and afrosphere have heeded the call for community organizing within the Black community, both online and in our day jobs, as teachers, church deacons, and in other community building efforts. We condemn statements that criticize community organizing - statements that challenge the value of the "one thousand points of light" volunteerism, non-profit and charitable work that George H. W. Bush made a centerpiece of his social programs.

Rather than attempt to score political points by attacking charitable and non-profit sector efforts, those who seek to lead America should join those community organizers in churches, schools, PTA's, Girls and Boys Clubs, and all those who work tirelessly to make America a better place, every day of the week.

We in the AfroSpear and afrosphere therefore dedicate this Monday, September 8, 2008 to highlighting the crucial community-organizing efforts online and in our own communities. Even a church choir is a community organization and no one should belittle such efforts simply to score political points."

Francis L. Holland, Esq.
Coordinator
Afrosphere Action Coalition
francislholland@yahoo.com

September, 2008: Register to Vote and Request Absentee Ballots

Reposted from the AfroSpear's Proud Black Voter Blog.

The Truth About Absentee Ballots -- They Count!

Crosspointed from Vote From Abroad Campaign Blog.

Living abroad, absentee ballots are a pain in the butt - but they're all we have. And they DO count.

Too often, we hear "Oh, they don't even count absentee ballots unless it's close." WRONG! Every ballot validly cast is counted. That is a fact. Your vote will count whether you
cast it in Paris, France, or Paris, Texas.


OK, so it's true that a victor is usually called before every last vote has been tallied. But that's true for hometown voters, too! On election night, the networks are naming winners with just a small fraction of votes counted. Absentee ballots are all counted before an election result can be "certified". Remember the Florida fiasco? The vote count must be certified by the Secretary of State before it is official. That is the law.

Your vote WILL count. And if it's a very close race, the whole world will be waiting to know how YOU voted.

Here's a list of states and when they count their absentee ballots.