Reply #1: A plea for help from PFAW. Worried - TERRIFIED is a better word -

[IndyOp]

I just got back from observing the polls for the mayoral election in New Orleans, and I’m fighting mad. Too many voters – mostly poor and African American, many of them still devastated by Katrina – were denied the access to the ballot box that our Constitution guarantees.

It was infuriating. Polling places had been moved at the last minute. Some were poorly marked. Poll commissioners demanded to see identification when the law does not require it. And there was an intimidating police presence around polling places in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Too many absentee ballots for displaced voters were not counted. Our poll watchers and legal teams are going back to New Orleans for the May 20th runoff. For those of us who lived through the 2000 and 2004 elections, the scene was all too familiar.

It was a life-changing experience for me and our partners, the Louisiana Voting Rights Network, the NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The various layers of government could have – should have – made voting easy for these citizens. But they didn’t.

I’m worried – terrified is a better word – that this injustice is going to repeat itself around the country as Americans go to the polls to elect new Congress Members and Senators this November.

Someone has to put a stop to the shameless abuse of our fundamental rights. That’s why People For the American Way Foundation and our allies created the Election Protection project.

We believe that everyone’s vote must be counted. We are working hard this election year – in New Orleans, Ohio, Florida and in communities across the nation – to make sure every voter has equal access to the ballot box. If you believe that too, please support our work with a tax-deductible donation.

http://www.PFAW.org/go/SupportElectionProtection

In the coming months, our Election Protection project will educate voters about their rights, monitor the polls for illegal and intimidating practices and challenge discriminatory or disenfranchising laws. And we won’t stop there. We will register African American, Latino, and younger voters – and make sure they get onto the rolls.

I’m not saying it will be easy. Every state in the nation has different laws that govern voting. Voting machines and ballots vary even from county to county. Powerful forces – including some government officials who have a duty to remain nonpartisan – will try to block us every step of the way.

In the oldest and proudest democracy in the world, citizens should not have to donate money to make sure their elections are fair and accurate. But we can’t let them get away with it. Not this time. Never again.

Please help with your donation of $50, $35 or any amount you can afford.
http://www.PFAW.org/go/SupportElectionProtection

Thank you for all that you do.

Yours in the struggle,

Sharon J. Lettman
Director, National Programs and Outreach
People For the American Way Foundation