Dear friends,
One hundred and fifty-one years ago, the Ku Klux Klan Act was passed to protect the civil and political rights of four million formerly enslaved people. It was intended to protect them from violence and threats that would prevent them from exercising their voting rights and enjoying other hard-won freedoms.
The bill authorized the President to intervene in the former rebel states that attempted to deny “any person or any class of persons of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges or immunities under the laws.” To take action against this newly defined federal crime, the President could suspend habeas corpus, deploy the U.S. military, or use “other means, as he may deem necessary.”
Unsurprisingly, the people who opposed the passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act viewed it as an attack on the sovereignty of state governments and on their freedom. Their freedom?!
None of us want to see a president send in the military, as Ulysses S. Grant did in South Carolina, the same year the law was passed.
Grant sent troops into the state where the Civil War had begun and defeat was pretty fresh. In our case, federal enforcement would likely prompt the outbreak of war.
Threats and harassment of early voters and poll workers have already been documented in this election cycle. There has been a referral to the US Department of Justice and to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. And it’s still October.
Last year, the Justice Department launched a task force to address the rise in threats against election officials, and safety preparations are already well underway for Election Day across the country.
In Colorado, for example, a state law – the Vote Without Fear Act – prohibits carrying firearms at polling places or within 100 feet of a ballot drop box.
A federal version of Vote Without Fear was introduced in the Senate last month.
Contact your Congressional delegation today to call for the immediate passage of legislation to prevent people from carrying weapons at or near polling sites.
Since I’ve urged you to make a plan to vote early, I am committed to getting you ready. It’s troubling to note that more than 1 in 4 New York City voters skipped the ballot initiatives when voting last year.
Here at the wiffij, no one expects you to vote for something you don’t understand. I am stepping into the breach to make sure you know what the four questions are that will appear on your ballot.
The wording is less arcane than in past years, so you really can vote without the fear that your yes vote doesn’t mean what you thought it did.
Ballot Proposition #1 for NY voters concerns a Bond Act that will fund climate initiatives. Here’s the exact language:
To address and combat the impact of climate change and damage to the environment, the "Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022" authorizes the sale of state bonds up to four billion two hundred million dollars [$4.2 billion] to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resiliency, and clean energy projects. Shall the Environmental Bond Act of 2022 be approved?
It’s great way to invest in our future. We’re giving the state permission to raise money by selling bonds. This does not result in new taxation. I urge you to vote yes.
The second initiative is to add to the City Charter
an introductory statement of values and vision aspiring toward “a just and equitable city for all” New Yorkers; and Include in the preamble a statement that the City must strive to remedy “past and continuing harms and to reconstruct, revise, and reimagine our foundations, structures, institutions, and laws to promote justice and equity for all New Yorkers.” The preamble is intended to guide City government in fulfilling its duties. Shall this proposal be adopted?
I have written about the poetry in the Preamble to the US Constitution. Let us please reimagine our city to promote justice and equity. Vote yes on Question 2.
The difference between a dream and a plan is a deadline. The third ballot proposal asks if we’re comfortable with requiring agencies and the city as a whole to make
Racial Equity Plans every two years. The plans would include intended strategies and goals to improve racial equity and to reduce or eliminate racial disparities.
If there’s language about justice and equity in our Charter, we have to be willing to work for it, or it’s just words. So, yes on making specific plans (Question 3).
The last question is important for us reality-based folks: it requires a realistic calculation of the “true cost of living” in NYC,
including housing, food, childcare, transportation, and other necessary costs, and without considering public, private, or informal assistance, in order to inform programmatic and policy decisions.
It also requires that the city report this finding to the public each year.
Shall this proposal be adopted? This will be a powerful tool for demanding public services, better wages, and legislation to curtail abuses by landlords and other profiteers. Hell, yes! on Question 4.
Fun fact: NYC is now the most expensive city in the US for renters.
The executive summary: if you’re a NYC resident, vote YES on all four questions.
Full disclosure: I have never text-banked. My springling says it’s easy and I believe that you and the young people in your life might feel the same way.
The Civics Center is coordinating texts to first-time voters to encourage them to participate in the midterm elections.
Register for Civics Center text banks on Oct 31, Nov 1, and Nov 2. (The Civics Center is on Pacific Time.)
with love,
L