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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBlack Voters Matter. Seniors board bus to vote. Bus stopped and seniors kicked off....
LOUISVILLE, GEORGIA Seniors in rural Georgia were dancing in the street, preparing to board Black Voters Matters bus to cast their ballots on the first day of Georgias early voting period. But roughly 40 senior citizens were forced off the bus, an act that organizers described as witnessing live voter suppression.
As senior citizens boarded the vehicle plastered with photos of African Americans and raised black fists, the Leisure Center in Jefferson County was notified that someone had called the county commissioner and complained that the bus didnt have the proper registration to take voters to the polls.
LaTosha Brown, one of the co-founders of Black Voters Matters, said there was nothing illegal about the groups activity. The organization is non-partisan and the bus doesnt endorse any particular candidate. She said it was a clear-cut case of voter intimidation.
This is voter suppression, Southern style.
This is voter suppression, Southern style, said Brown. Im very upset. Im angry. Im frustrated. Ive got a lot of emotions right now.
There are no laws in Jefferson County or in the state of Georgia prohibiting groups from transporting voters to the polls, and Brown said the elderly citizens actually requested to ride with us. Jefferson County is roughly 53 percent black, according to Census data.
Black Voters Matter, an advocacy group launched after Doug Jones Senate win in Alabama earlier this year, is currently on a bus tour it has called The South is Rising. The group is traveling across seven southern states, undertaking voter outreach and engagement, as well as providing disaster relief in parts of Georgia affected by Hurricane Michael.
The staff of the senior center and the Black Voters Matter organizers said they did not know who called the commissioner, but said it was likely someone who was scared by the sight of black people celebrating and preparing to vote.
Even in the absence of law, they will use tactics like intimidation and voter suppression, she said. Somebody called the county commission, but there was nothing illegal or inappropriate.
At the end of the day, every senior that got off that bus, not only are they going to vote, but theyre going to get five to ten people to vote with them, Brown said.
Once the seniors were back inside the building, Black Voters Matter organizers walked down the street to a historical plaque marking where a slave market once stood. While they planned their next steps, Louisville, Georgia resident Margaret Walker drove by and rolled down her window to offer some words of encouragement. I just want you to know, yall are on the right path, she said. We have a lot of people here who dont have transportation and cant get to the polls.
Cliff Albright, the groups other co-founder, said that being confronted by this tactic only fires up the organizers even more.
They made us even more energized, he said, to cheers from the seniors. Cant stop, wont stop.
https://thinkprogress.org/georgia-black-voters-matter-bus-blocked-from-taking-seniors-to-vote-a3c3e6580c5b/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tp-letters
Wounded Bear
(58,670 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Bettie
(16,111 posts)WTF? Oh, wait, cheating.
PearliePoo2
(7,768 posts)I hope this backfires in their fucking faces.
iluvtennis
(19,863 posts)narnian60
(3,510 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Lucky Luciano
(11,257 posts)Docreed2003
(16,865 posts)TwistOneUp
(1,020 posts)AZ8theist
(5,477 posts)Docreed2003
(16,865 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Vinca
(50,279 posts)to the polls, taken them home and packed the car full of voters again. We have to do whatever it takes. Fucking GOP.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)I'd be there with you.
LoveMyCali
(2,015 posts)They needed 40 volunteers to drive people. No laws against giving someone a ride.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)It's not a very well written article, but I think it only caused a delay and they actually did get to vote.
Solly Mack
(90,773 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)There's only two ways this ends. One of them by Republicans voluntarily giving up their doomed quest to suppress the vote.
CloudWatcher
(1,850 posts)I don't understand why there were not legal repercussions to this ... either criminal or civil.
mopinko
(70,135 posts)getagrip_already
(14,764 posts)Oh wait, they were all reassigned to the voter suppression, errr, voter fraud division.
Nevermind.
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)But those are tactics of desperation and fear.
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)wackos and every vote is critical in getting rid of these bastards. I think we're going to do very well Nov 6 and they think so too. They're reacting accordingly.
keithbvadu2
(36,829 posts)Not even 'back of the bus' but off the bus.
Baitball Blogger
(46,742 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,356 posts)People carpooled to make the Montgomery bus boycott successful. Reckon there are a few old folks amongst those in Georgia who will remember that.
We need to take back these state offices to fix the disgusting cheating Repugnants have put in place.
iluvtennis
(19,863 posts)Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)those who couldn't carpool?
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Obviously, the Republicans are out in full force, and watching for every little thing to call on and report. Buses and other vehicles. Anything.
So...can't they take the public transportation buses in smaller groups...they have a right to go to the polls on public transportation. I guess they have a law that the bus can't take a large group, or be dedicated to take them to the polls? They can get around that.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)But voters have had enough and Stacey Abrams has them excited. There are still a couple more weeks of early voting, voters can vote by mail too. I bet these buses are back running quickly, as well. White wingers can't stop this.
This got me ticked off, sent in another contribution -- not a lot, but enough to buy some signs, pay a few Uber or whatever drivers, etc.
Abrams' opponet -- KKKemp -- is endorsed by trump, of course.
SoCalNative
(4,613 posts)on election day. They should extend it to cover early voting periods as well.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)being chartered to take groups to the polls?
Yeah, they should do like one of Louisiana's governors years ago. He literally drove around, picked up blacks, and took 'em to the polls to vote. Earl Long, I think it was. I get all those Longs mixed up. Democrat. Very few of the blacks in the state had vehicles...life was very hard on minorities back then. Very hard. He won! I'll have to look up and see if he actually did anything that made their lives better.
mcar
(42,334 posts)I hope this happens!
Javaman
(62,531 posts)fuckers.
oasis
(49,392 posts)diva77
(7,643 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,356 posts)backtoblue
(11,343 posts)jmbar2
(4,895 posts)RandySF
(58,935 posts)llmart
(15,540 posts)and it may give new meaning to the phrase "the South will rise again". It may rise again with the faces of all these black people who are pissed off because of voter suppression and they'll be out in numbers.
Like others on here, I'd rent a full sized van and drive them to the polls if I lived there. However, I hope they also know they can vote early by mail, though I think them actually going to the polls and getting coverage is better.
Basement Beat
(659 posts)I will never in my life vote for a Republican. Frankly, I don't know how anyone who isn't an idiot or racist could still possibly support the Republican party.
George II
(67,782 posts).....not only are they going to vote, but theyre going to get five to ten people to vote with them,
When they hit, we hit back five to ten times harder!
I wish I could find the photographs of the Blacks on line in Harlem on election day 2008, waiting five or six hours to vote for President Barack Obama.
Don't mess with these people!
Scruffy1
(3,256 posts)I guess not saying who stopped them, who called them or whatever is the current "journalism" standard. Sound like a phony story. I mean were they notified by phone or in person? Who, what where and how.
jodymarie aimee
(3,975 posts)steventh
(2,143 posts)This sounds like unconstitutional voter suppression. But I wouldn't put it past the Republicans to try it. I wonder if the ACLU has been consulted about this outrage.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)I really can't believe these times we are living in.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)...
While the elderly people were boarding the vehicle plastered with photos of African Americans and raised black fists, the Leisure Center in Jefferson County was notified that someone had called the county commissioner and complained that the bus should not be taking voters to the polls.
...
Bonnie Wells, the clerk for the Jefferson County Commission, denied the allegations of voter suppression, telling ThinkProgress her office didnt receive any calls complaining about Black Voters Matters activity. She said they made no attempt to interfere with the senior citizens riding the bus to the polls.
So, what actually happened? Did "someone" anonymous phone up the center and say "'someone' has phoned the county commissioner"? If so, then why did the centre do anything? Who cares if 'someone' calls an office? I can call an office and tell them a UFO has landed. It's only if an official says something is illegal that is matters. Or is Wells lying when she says "they made no attempt to interfere"?
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)of white wingers -- who have been drinking too much lead laced moonshine for decades -- making threatening calls because they fear Stacey Abrams has a real shot. Maybe it was a miscommunication. Don't know, but someone trying to suppress the vote by saying "busing" voters is illegal is likely enough to be believable where this occurred.
Hope they get it sorted out, and people get to register their vote.
Glorfindel
(9,730 posts)You're right, muriel_volestrangler. Who is "their senior center"? Makes no sense. I'd like to see a list of the county officials of Jefferson County, GA, and their political affiliations.
SunSeeker
(51,574 posts)Fritz Walter
(4,291 posts)This is some banana-republic shit. Just a few miles from where I live.
Its not enough that the RepubliCON running for Gubernor is dis-enfranchising thousands by a blatant abuse of his responsibilities. Now this!?!
What next? Calling the cops because an African-American is voting on a sunny day?!? (Waiting for that shit to happen between now and November 6).
magicarpet
(14,155 posts)They will fight like mad to to retain their iron grip on the levers of power that enable them to hijack our government and retain control over us.
apkhgp
(1,068 posts)Along comes this pile of manure from a person that calls up the County Commissioner and complains of black people making too much noise. The "Whites Only" Elections that were supposed to have been stopped years ago, that got yanked into the present with that one phone call. That is so stupid I do not even have the words for it. all I do have are words of encouragement for every citizen voting Democrat. Any one voting the other way you are completely lost.
ecstatic
(32,712 posts)would reconsider and vote on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people the GOP is attempting to disenfranchise this year and beyond.
I'm so angry and furious. We need the UN to observe our elections. GOP cheating is completely out of control.
lpbk2713
(42,760 posts)I hope this story gets wide media attention.
MaeScott
(878 posts)Nitram
(22,822 posts)garybeck
(9,942 posts)The count commission office denies telling anyone they can't ride the bus. There is no mention of police instructing people off the bus. Why did they get off the bus? Something is missing in the story.
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)shades of the 50's and 60's again
EllieBC
(3,016 posts)And keep that going. Cant stop, wont stop!!!