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Followers of this blog/post/e-blast have a unique opportunity to hear from one of the leaders in the effort to register voters for November and fight voter suppression. Eduardo Sainz of Mi Familia Vota has led his organization's efforts in Arizona to increase the Latino vote and is leader of their national get-out-the-vote effort. Mi Familia Vota has just expanded its targeted efforts from six states in the southwest and west to several Midwestern states. Please sign up to join us on Monday, August 31st at 7pm PST by emailing me at dsh347@gmail.com and we will send you the handy zoom link when the time draws near.
For some time, we have reminded ourselves that Donald Trump will do anything to “win” an election. There is no sense of wonder that Trump would now turn to the Postal Service or the Census to try to change the outcome that is emerging, on November 3 or over time. There’s no surprise that we are examining whether he will resist leaving the oval office after we defeat him.
Turnout is our electoral strength, with our potential even higher upon the nomination of Kamala Harris. Donald Trump wants to tarnish this election to make it less likely you will vote in it. Across America, resisters are saying, “He can’t do all of these things, can he? He has not been fully checked in previous assaults on the Constitution, so why should we have any confidence in how things will go on November 3? Worse, his own party has an abysmal record of blocking his authoritarian intentions.
On all three threats, we already know how to respond, and how to prevail. Donald Trump knows what we know. Yes, he would burn down all our post offices if he could get away with it. In the absence of that strategy, he expects that mail in ballots will be delivered, and counted, he’s just trying to drive the totals down. His aim is to make the cloud surrounding the election so dark that voters will elect not to participate. It is his primary voter suppression technique, and he practices it every day.
The United States Postal Service processes and delivers 500 million pieces of mail a day, through 31,000+ post offices, whose employees are not all hanging on the Postmaster General’s every word. As the Atlantic points out, there is no issue in the capacity of USPS to handle the volume of less than a 100 million mail in ballots. The issue instead is whether the USPS political leadership will seek to change processes to impair the capacity. The funds that Nancy Pelosi will insist that USPS be provided in the next stimulus package is insurance--- they block the intentional impairment of the capacity, and cast light on dark deeds. There will not be a stimulus package unless these matters are attended to.
Nancy Pelosi and the public outcry will prevent the worst behavior by the Post Office management, but it falls to all of us to prevent the collateral damage that Trump always intended. It’s essential that turnout remain our advantage. Already, countless campaigns and organizations are turning the availability of mail ballots into a central tool. In every swing state except Texas, mail in ballots can be secured without the voter needing to provide a reason. 76% of American voters have the mail in option. It’s even possible that Trump’s false claims of fraud will depress the vote of his own supporters.
A few states honor November 3 postmarks, but many more do not, including more than a few where the cast ballot must arrive by election day. Absentee balloting will begin as early as late September in some states. The goal is to send our ballots in by October 22. This will not only guard against any slow delivery, but it will guarantee that there will be higher totals to be announced on election night. Rather than the outcome being dragged out over weeks (as Trump claims) we can secure totals on the evening of November 3 that will show Trump the door.
So the question becomes whether he will go out the door once he is shown the door. Here too, it is bizarrely in his interests to sully the election by failing to guarantee that he will leave. That is because he wants to be able to maintain that the election was stolen (by mail in ballots) no matter what the totals. It is all part of depressing the vote, which he sees as his victory path.
He has to foul the nest to have a chance to occupy the nest, so will say “we’ll have to see” all the way to November 3. After that, the equation changes. This country’s institutions, including the Courts, the Congress (yes, the Congress) and the military have every interest in the peaceful transition of power. More important to Trump, so do the financial markets. A refusal by Trump to go would send markets into a deep dive. It would sharply reduce Trump’s beloved (and overstated) assets, and increase his chances of going to prison. He won’t do it.
The best defense here again is turnout sufficient to sweep all or nearly all of the swing states. In each we hold a lead. Since we know that Trump is capable of trying anything, we defend against everything, but we keep on winning this election the old fashioned way.
Trump’s third means of creating disorder is a work in progress. At the Commerce Department, Wilbur Ross is seeking to end the Census count a month earlier than planned, by the end of September.
This raises the specter of minority populations being undercounted. If the Census Bureau reports faulty numbers to Congress on December 31, it could have a deleterious impact on the distribution of certain federal funds and the apportionment of Congressional seats ultimately on the equitable drawing of district lines.
This is a yet unresolved matter. There is some good news. First, a bi-partisan group of Senators including Mitch McConnell (inexplicably) has urged Nancy Pelosi to use the stimulus package or freestanding legislation to extend the date when the Census report is due to Congress. Second, even if this fails, the Congress convening in 2021 could take steps to reject or improve upon the impaired count. On this front, it would seem prudent to make certain we win the Senate majority.
Let’s celebrate Kamala Harris. We have our ticket. We are ahead and we are going to win if we don’t let up for a second. Since each of the above requires our attention, and since vigilance is liberty’s price, let’s do these three things right away.
| 1) Protect the United States Postal Service | |
 | The battle is not even close to over. The USPS has issued a statement saying they will do their job this fall. We will make sure this promise is honored. It’s not a bad idea (next time you are masked up and buying stamps) to talk to as senior a manager as you can find in your local post office. As you know the voter suppression talk isn’t coming from them. The not so evident players on this challenge are the Secretaries of State in each state. Their national association has asked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for a meeting about USPS obligations, and he has agreed. Notably, the letter was signed by two Republican and two Democratic Secretaries of State. We can all make sure these elected officials from both parties realize the seriousness of their obligation. You can email nass@sso.org or phone them at 202-624-3529. And, if you are feeling spirited, you can give your carefully worded input to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is a Republican and who signed the letter. |
2) Protect the Census | |
 | The Census count ending early is a profound problem, even though there will be additional ways in the next several months to protect the integrity of the census. At this point, the best thing to do is to call your Senator in support of the bi-partisan letter, which calls for a delay in the Census report date to Congress. If you want to be a litigant as well, there is no better organization to support than the Brennan Center at NYU. |
3) Send a Signal This Week to Support Biden and Harris | |
 | The best defense against Trump’s multi-front attack on the Constitution is a resounding victory on November 3. As well as the Biden/Harris ticket is doing in reaching out to all those who cannot abide Trump, there are resisters who are not sure that they are with us. You know which, if any, of your friends meet this description. This is a good week to remind them that Trump’s assaults on the USPS and the Census Bureau and his meditations on not vacating the office transcend the every four year battle about who should be President. Protecting the Constitution is the first order of business and they must be a part of that business. You can also gently remind them of the epic battle that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fighting. Ask them to become a part of her struggle, making it unthinkable that Trump will get a third appointment to the Supreme Court. |
Each of Trump’s endless series of attacks on our country demonstrates not our powerlessness, but our power. We are fully marshaled and we know what to do.
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
