by Kate Turner '21
October 29, 2018
[Taken down for site construction and re-uploaded 8.31.19]
what are the dems up to?
8 days until the midterms! We’re all working as hard as we can to make sure everyone at Mount Holyoke can vote.
First, we’re continuing our weekly tabling schedule in the lobby of Blanch (Mondays and Thursdays during dinner). Come to us with any questions about your ballot, or to let us know you’ve voted!
We’ll also be canvassing in New York’s 19th District again this weekend! On Saturday, Lily, Kate, Maggie and Elena knocked on doors in a Nor’easter for Antonio Delgado — email Lily (james23l) by Wednesday if you’re interested in doing the same (but with better weather).
Plus, the Dems are offering rides to the polls leading up to Nov. 6! If you’re registered to vote in South Hadley or any other town in the area, sign up here and we’ll take you out to vote! If none of the times offered work for you, PLEASE contact us! Your vote is essential and we’ll make sure you can cast it.
Next week, we’ll be phonebanking through the Women’s March organization to get out women’s votes.
We’re also having an election night party! Join us in the Blanchard Great Room on Tuesday, November 6 at 9:30 to watch the polling results come in and eat some pie. Tell all your coolest friends! We’d love to have you.
in the pioneer valley
At Mount Holyoke, at least a hundred students rallied on Tuesday in support of sexual assault survivors. Here’s how the campus has been dealing with accusations of assault against a current professor since they were publicized by the Associated Press two weeks ago.
Question 5 on the Amherst ballot asks voters whether they support ranked-choice voting, which would allow them to rank candidates in order of preference. The ballot question is nonbinding.
The Northampton city council issued a statement last week in support of Question 3. This was prior to the New York Times article about the Trump administration’s narrow view of Title IX, and they have since issued further statements, restating the importance of protections for transgender people.
state-wide
If you’re a Massachusetts voter, here’s what you need to think about before voting and a look at the ballot you’ll see on November 6, including the state’s three ballot questions.
Question 1: Voting YES would move legislation forward to implement a limit on the number of patients assigned per nurse in the state of Massachusetts. Voting NO would retain the status quo.
Question 2: Voting YES would create a commission that would (a) write a report on limiting money in politics, and (b) propose language for a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would regulate campaign spending. Voting NO would retain the status quo.
Question 3: Voting YES would keep 2016 legislation that protects transgender people from discrimination in public spaces. Voting NO would repeal that legislation.
national news
A man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday, killing 11 and injuring at least six. This is one of the deadliest-ever attacks on the Jewish community in the United States.
Another shooting this week took place at a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky, where a white man shot and killed two black customers. When another customer, a white man, pulled out a handgun to stop the shooter, the shooter reportedly said, “Don’t shoot me. I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.” According to the New York Times, the shooter also attempted to enter a black church just minutes before heading to the Kroger supermarket. He has since been arrested, and the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.
In other horrible news, at least 10 pipe bombs have been mailed to prominent Democrats and vocal opponents of President Trump, including Barack and Michelle Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Maxine Waters (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and George Soros, as well as the CNN headquarters. At this point, none of the devices have harmed anyone, and police have arrested the primary suspect, a prominent Trump supporter who has frequently railed against many of his targets on social media.
An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been dumping what is believed to be tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the gulf every day since 2004, making it one of the largest offshore disasters in US history.
The Trump administration is considering narrowing the definition of gender to “a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth” under Title IX.
The Department of Justice also explicitly told the Supreme Court that laws against sex discrimination do not extend to protect transgender people. This comes in advance of the Court taking up at least three major cases dealing with LGBTQ+ rights.
A caravan of around 7,000 migrants and refugees is slowly approaching the United States’ southern border, and Trump can’t stop lying about it, including making unfounded claims that the travelers include “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners.” Amid all the fearmongering, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has promised to send 800 or more troops to secure the Mexican border in anticipation of the caravan’s arrival, and the Trump administration has floated the idea of an executive order similar to the travel ban to be applied to the Mexican border. This is not the first such caravan to approach the U.S.-Mexican border, which suggests that the GOP’s reaction to it is motivated more by the approaching midterms than actual worry for public safety.
about elections
This week in voter suppression:
A federal judge has blocked Georgia from throwing out absentee ballots with signature issues, meaning that those with applications frozen or ballots rejected have a chance to appeal the state’s decision. “The Court does not understand how assuring that all eligible voters are permitted to vote undermines the integrity of the election process. To the contrary, it strengthens it,” the judge wrote. If you or anyone you know is from Georgia, make sure they know about this opportunity — and wherever you’re from, check on your registration status!
In slightly less positive news, Democratic officials have reported as many as 4,700 vote-by-mail applications missing from DeKalb County, one of Georgia’s “most populous and liberal-leaning regions.”
And 53,000 ballot applications are still on hold in Kemp’s office, the majority of which belong to African Americans.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin has purged 700,000 voters since 2016, nearly one in four of them from Milwaukee and Madison, the state’s most heavily Democratic areas.
Here’s the latest on the midterms from the New York Times. Friendly reminder to take a lesson from 2016 and take all polling with a grain of salt.
And here’s a way to donate to 20 close but crucial House races across the country — these are smaller races, so your dollars will make more of an impact than they would in races that are getting national attention.
get involved!
Do you have a plan to vote?
Check out Vote Save America to make sure you’re registered.
Next, check out your ballot here. Pay special attention to your state’s ballot measures. Use a tool from the ACLU to check out how your candidates are on civil rights.
Do you know how you're getting to the polls?
Haven’t gotten your absentee ballot yet? Now is a good time to call your town clerk’s office and check on that.
If you’re voting in person, do you know your polling place?
Reminder that if you’re a Mount Holyoke student and need a ride, the Dems can help!
If not, Uber and Lyft are offering free rides to the polls on election day.
If early voting is something your state offers, feel free to hop on that opportunity, too!
Great! Now that you’re all set, time to make sure others are, too! Here are two easy ways you can help from home.
(1) Send postcards to get out the vote in key races with Postcards to Voters, a grassroots progressive organization that has already sent over 3 million postcards to Democratic voters across the country.
(2) Phonebank with Brand New Congress to help get out the vote for progressive Congressional candidates.