Ways to Participate in These Vital Elections

 Ways to participate in elections.

 

Volunteer to be a poll worker

Volunteer to be a poll watcher

Boost voter turn out.   Send cards, text messages, phone bank.   

Defend the right to vote.  Oppose voter interference.  Voter suppression. 

Educate your friends and neighbors, and union members, church members, civil rights organizations, etc.

 

The California Poor People’s Campaign has produced a voter education page. 

The California Poor People’s Campaign has produced a voter education page. 

 

We’ve put together a voting education page to support you as you make preparations to vote. The page offers a variety of resources to prepare for this year’s elections, including:

• A Voting Record: This voting record graphic will help you see where major candidates and parties stand on the big issues of the day, from raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour to lowering prescription drug prices. It offers detailed information about how they’ve voted on these issues in the past.
• Voter Protection Resources: These resources include voter protection hotlines and websites for help if you face any issues voting in this year’s elections. Trained experts will ensure you are able to cast a ballot.
• Everything You Need to Vote: This graphic includes clickable links to essential resources, such as important deadlines for voting in your state, registration checks, absentee ballot requests, ballot previews ahead of time, finding local polling place locators, election reminders, and registration to vote. 

We encourage you to share this page with your friends, family, and social networks. These resources will help guarantee that we can mobilize many poor and low-income infrequent voters during this year’s elections

Republicans Pour Millions into Anti Immigration Election Efforts

   

As Election Nears, Republicans Pour Millions Into Anti-Immigrant Ad Campaign

Candidates and their supporters have spent $117 million to portray the situation at the border as an invasion.

 

https://capitalandmain.com/as-election-nears-republicans-pour-millions-into-anti-immigrant-ad-campaign

 

The Left Wins in Mexico : Again

 On our blog. 

https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/the-left-wins-in-mexico-again

 

Claudia Sheinbaum’s Victory Is a Triumph for Mexico

BY

KURT HACKBARTH

 

Claudia Sheinbaum has won Mexico’s presidential election in a landslide. In her victory speech, she paid homage to the social movements of the past and promised to continue MORENA’s impressive record of social progress.

 

…So far, Claudia Sheinbaum holds a thirty-point lead over her conservative rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, 58.3 percent to 28.7 percent, with third-party candidate Jorge Álvarez Maynez coming in at 10.5 percent. According to projections made by the National Electoral Institute, Sheinbaum’s final total was expected to fall within a range of 58.3–60.7 percent, outperforming all but a pair of final preelection polls.

According to the institute’s conteo rápido, or fast count, the landslide was expected to carry over into Congress as well, with MORENA and its allies winning up to 380 of 500 seats in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, and up to 88 of 128 seats in the Senate. This would put the center-left coalition within range of its ambitious goal of achieving a qualified majority of two-thirds, which would allow it to pass constitutional reforms on its own (together with the state legislatures it controls). And not only did MORENA win the all-important mayorship of Mexico City with candidate Clara Brugada, the MORENA coalition is also set to pick up at least six of the eight governor’s races up for grabs.

To put MORENA’s victory in perspective, Sheinbaum is on course to best Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)’s 2018 landslide victory of 53 percent by some five to seven points. Where AMLO received a historic total of thirty million votes, Sheinbaum will have received some thirty-five million. Similarly, Gálvez was running about ten to twelve points behind the conservative party’s total in that election. In 2018, the conservative parties Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and National Action Party (PAN) ran separately; this year, they ran in coalition. But instead of adding in numbers, the coalition wound up subtracting.

A Refusal to Be Goaded

True to her scientific background, Sheinbaum ran a disciplined, methodical campaign. Taking nothing for granted despite holding a virtually unchanged lead since announcing her candidacy, Sheinbaum racked up the miles, holding three times as many rallies as Gálvez. Where Gálvez veered from one uncosted policy proposal to another, Sheinbaum rolled out a hundred-point program that includes extending social programs and scholarships, continuing annual minimum-wage increases, consolidating Mexico’s push toward national health care, building a million affordable homes on a rent-to-buy plan, constructing seven long-distance train lines, avoiding the maquiladora experience of the 1990’s by mandating that companies investing in the “nearshoring” phenomenon provide higher wages and benefits, and — in what is certain to continue raising the shackles of multinational energy interests — a public sector–led energy transition building on Mexico’s state-owned oil, electricity, and lithium companies.

Elections and Democracy in Guatemala

 

In Guatemala,  Indigenous and campesino groups have declared an indefinite national strike in response to judicial harassment of president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his party Movimiento Semilla. Thousands of demonstrators have blocked traffic on major thoroughfares across the country. Indigenous and community leaders say the protests will continue until Attorney General Consuelo Porras and prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche resign and the Constitutional Court puts an end to what Arévalo has termed  “a slow-motion coup”  to prevent him from taking office in January.     The strike entered its  fifth consecutive day today, with at least 28 active blockade points nationally. At the road blocks, Indigenous authorities, including the 48 Cantones de Totonicapán and Indigenous mayors' offices, are joined by university students and faculty, health workers, teachers, and a  wide range of civil society groups .  The strike comes after Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) was raided for a fourth time last week by officials from the Attorney General’s office. A  live stream video of the raid shows  distressing scenes of police wrestling vote tally boxes from the arms of justices who plead with officers to respect the will of voters. The 20-hour raid was part of ongoing investigations into spurious claims of election fraud targeting Arévalo and his Semilla party. International observers have said there is no evidence of vote tampering.      For the people who voted for Arévalo, an anti-establishment candidate who promises to challenge entrenched corruption and impunity, the raids are an attempt on the part of political elites to weaken or disqualify their president-elect.     Attorney General Porras and special prosecutor Curruchiche, seen as the key operatives in the campaign to sabotage Arévalo and Semilla, have both been  sanctioned by the U.S. government for anti-democratic actions and obstructing investigations into corruption in Guatemala. Since Arévalo’s surprise showing in the first-round presidential election in June, Porras and Curruchiche, together with judge Fredy Orellana, have repeatedly pursued fraud allegations and other supposed irregularities. The criminalization of Semilla follows a worsening trend of lawfare, institutional intimidation, and judicialization of dissent in Guatemala, as NACLA contributor  Vaclav Masek observed i n the lead-up to the August 20 runoff that handed Arévalo a landmark victory.      Arévalo met with senior officials in Washington this week, after the U.S. State Department released a statement saying it was “ gravely concerned ” about ongoing efforts to undermine a peaceful transition of power. The U.S. government has imposed visa restrictions on current and former members of congress, justice officials, and “anyone else who undermines democracy.” In a statement, the White House expressed support for Arévalo “following last week's undemocratic efforts to undermine the will of the Guatemalan people, intimidate election authorities, and prevent the peaceful transition of power."     In the face of the ongoing judicial harassment against Arévalo and Semilla, the TSE is considering  extending the formal election period until the January presidential inauguration, a move that would protect the party from suspension.      The Organization of American States (OAS) described the situation in Guatemala as "a political persecution similar to those carried out in authoritarian regimes." The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised concerns about the risk of violence as political tension runs high. In solidarity, NACLA staff  DONATE to support our work SUBCRIBE to the NACLA Report

Elections: Which Side are you on ?

 

We’re one week out from this election, and it comes down to recognizing who is on our side. Ask yourself: Who are the candidates trying to solve problems, and who are the ones just trying to stoke fear and division? Who supports public education, and who is trying to ban books and engage in culture wars? Who is protecting freedoms like a women’s right to reproductive health, and who is undermining our democracy?  Check out the GOP plan for the economy. They want to: Raise prescription drug costs. Increase healthcare premiums. Cut Medicare and Social Security benefits. Cancel student loan forgiveness. Drive up inflation and the deficit by cutting taxes for the rich. Look how well that worked for the last U.K. prime minister. The AFT has endorsed the problem-solvers—the lawmakers and candidates who are working to solve the problems that keep us up at night: inflation, the costs of prescription drugs and gas, the struggle for a better life, potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare, global climate change, the need to strengthen public education, and threats to and our freedoms and our democracy. On the other side, we have the problem-makers—the lawmakers who use anger and fear to divide people and want to slash Social Security and Medicare, roll back freedoms, allow Big Oil to gouge us at the pump and Big Pharma to gouge us at the pharmacy, and stop student debt forgiveness. Their answer to everything seems to be to cut taxes for the rich.  Everything is on the ballot this year. Thank you. In unity, Randi Weingarten AFT President

Newsom Signs Farmworker Election bill.

 

Alongside Farmworkers at the State Capitol, Governor Newsom Signs Law Expanding Farmworker Union Rights

Published: Sep 28, 2022

The Governor’s Office finalized an agreement with UFW and the California Labor Federation on clarifying language next year to ensure worker protection

SACRAMENTO – Today, alongside advocates and farmworkers outside the State Capitol, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding union rights for farmworkers. This follows the Governor, United Farm Workers (UFW), and the California Labor Federation having agreed in a letter on clarifying language to be passed during next year’s legislative session to address Governor Newsom’s concerns around implementation and voting integrity.
 
“California’s farmworkers are the lifeblood of our state, and they have the fundamental right to unionize and advocate for themselves in the workplace,” said Governor Newsom. “Our state has been defined by the heroic activism of farmworkers, championed by American icons like Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong. California is proud to stand with the next generation of leaders carrying on this movement.”  
 
AB 2183 by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) creates new ways for farmworkers to vote in a union election, including options for mail-in ballots, and authorization cards submitted to the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, in addition to the existing in-person voting process.
 
The supplemental agreement between the Newsom Administration, UFW, and the California Labor Federation includes a cap on the number of card-check petitions over the next five years, and will allow the ALRB to adequately protect worker confidentiality and safety. This additional agreement would be codified into law with a bill next year that would be supported by both the administration and the union. The agreement will be codified with additional legislation next year backed by the union and the administration.

Support Farm Workers Right to Free Elections

 Tomorrow at 2 pm: Join us at the Sacramento State Capitol for a FREE concert by Tom Morello supporting AB2183!

Since we ended our 335-mile march for the Governor's signature on August 26, farmworkers and supporters have held a 24 hour vigil at the State Capitol to demand that Governor Newsom sign AB2183.

Tomorrow, on Day 24 of our vigil, renowned activist and musician Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine will join farmworkers and community members and perform a free concert to support farm workers and their vital bill. Join us. 

The free concert will occur at 2 pm, at the vigil site located at N Street and 11th street, right outside the Sacramento Capitol. 

Out of the area or unable to attend? You can show your solidarity by: 

• Commit to join the vigil on another day by clicking here
• Sign the petition telling CA Governor Newsom to sign #AB2183 here!
• Spread the word to friends and family. 
• Questions about tomorrow or the vigil? Email sacvigil@ufw.org

Honduran Elections: Voters Throw Out Corrupt, U.S. Backed Regime

As soon as the first ballots were counted it became clear: Xiomara Castro of the Libre party was overwhelming the ruling party -- and winning the presidency of Honduras.

“What a beautiful sight -- to see people jubilant, waving flags, and dancing into the night in the streets of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, cities renowned for violence and corruption.” said Marco Castillo, leader of the CESPAD/Global Exchange observer mission. 

Yesterday, DEMOCRACY triumphed, although results remain preliminary and we must remain vigilant. (Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates from our election observation team on the ground.)

Hondurans went to the polls and voted by stunning margins to end the miserable and corrupt rule of the National Party that had taken power in a 2009 military coup with tacit U.S. support -- looking at you Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  

Corruption and economic deterioration followed the coup and U.S. sanctioned election fraud in 2017 kept the national party in power -- looking at you now, Donald Trump. 

We know how Honduras has suffered as a pawn of violent U.S. policies in the region and as a northbound transport “trampoline” for cocaine traffickers. It was particularly galling when Donald Trump stigmatized desperate Honduran migrants who caravanned north after the 2017 election fraud (that he green-lighted) as “invaders”; but, the neocolonial domination of Honduras has long been bi-partisan. 

But yesterday, democracy and national sovereignty won, while authoritarianism and colonial domination lost. This is the reality that turned the streets electric and raised hope in a country where hope has been hard to find.

We congratulate the Honduran people on a hard won victory. We also want to thank our supporters who have helped us to invest deeply in supporting these elections and appeal to our supporters to help us stay the course. Honduras now has an enormous opportunity to redefine its destiny, but our support must continue and we still need your help.

Global Exchange has been involved in Honduras since the late 1980s when Media Benjamin wrote, “Don’t Be Afraid Gringo” the story of Elvia Alvarado, a Honduran organizer who galvanized her community despite the U.S. backed repression of that era.  We have worked to stay connected with Honduras and it was no coincidence that Tegucigalpa, Honduras was where we started our five-nation End the Drug War Caravan to New York City and the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in 2016. 

The connections we have made over the years led us to CESPAD, (The Center for the Study of Democracy) and the robust partnership we established to train, equip, and deploy hundreds of national and international observers around the country on Sunday.  We worked closely with CESPAD, for months, to investigate conditions on the ground and to attract media coverage to potential problems or irregularities prior to the elections.  

From SOA Watch.

In her victory speech Sunday night, Castro spoke of the past 12 years of resistance by the Honduran people and lifted up the memory of the numerous martyrs who lost their lives opposing the coup and subsequent regimes. She also emphasized her plan to build a government of unity and reconciliation. As President, she would face huge challenges. Since the U.S.-backed coup, there has been a massive looting of Honduras, with the violent implementation of extreme right-wing neoliberal policies that have plundered both public institutions and natural resources. This has resulted in massive poverty, displacement, migration, and the criminalization and murders of those who have defended nature and human rights. The damage that was done will not be fixed overnight, but will take sustained organizing. As Bertha Zuniga, General Coordinator of COPINH, wrote on Twitter on Sunday night, ''Now we must rebuild our Honduras so that never again are people murdered or jailed for defending nature and the rights of Indigenous peoples. The Struggle Continues.'' 

As Hondurans embark on the struggle to rebuild, the U.S. must not interfere. We know too well that the U.S. bears significant responsibility for the destruction of Honduras over the past 12 years (and over the past century). We will not forget that it was U.S. recognition of Hernandez as President that enabled him to stay in power despite massive fraud in the 2017 elections. We will not forget the U.S. training, financing, and equipping of the military and police forces that shot and killed demonstrators in the streets. We will not forget the U.S. financing of the Hernandez regime in the name of fighting the drug war even as his brother was prosecuted by the U.S. for drug trafficking. We will not forget the U.S. training of those who carried out the 2009 coup at the School of the Americas. In the days ahead, as the votes continue to come in and Hondurans continue organizing, challenging extremely violent and entrenched powerful forces, we must remain vigilant against U.S. interference and demand respect for the will of the Honduran population.  

While the road ahead is paved with challenges, at this moment we lift up the clear mandate of the Honduran people and what that represents after the past 12 years of repression and bloodshed. We also remember and honor all the martyrs of the Honduran resistance, from Isis Obed Murillo to Ra

Did the White House Interfere in the Mexican Elections ?

 Mexico elections

 

Tensión con la Casa Blanca: Biden anunció que seguirá apoyando ONGs para combatir "líderes autoritarios"

Fue en un memorándum anti-corrupción. AMLO habló de "injerencia".

 

 

see for example:  https://www.lapoliticaonline.com.mx/nota/136650-tension-con-la-casa-blanca-biden-anuncio-que-seguira-apoyando-ongs-para-combatir-lideres-autoritarios/

 

Choose Democracy : Resist Authoritarianism

 Choose Democracy : Resist Authoritarianism: 

Choose Democracy: We can stop an undemocratic power grab, but only if we prepare and together, choose democracy.

Democracy is fragile. We have reason to worry that this fall we may see an undemocratic power grab — a coup. We also know that the people can defend our democracy. Nonviolent mass protests have stopped coups in other places, and we may have to do the same in this country.

Elections work because the public agrees to honor the results. Similarly, coups work only if the public honors them. When the public refuses to accept the coup as legitimate, coups fall apart. Refusal looks like millions of people using nonviolent tools to delegitimize the coup by demonstrating, resisting orders, and shutting down the country until democracy prevails.

That’s why we are committing now to choose democracy: by voting, making sure all the votes are counted, and preparing to take the streets in the case of a coup.

Together, we choose democracy.



OUR PLEDGE:
We will vote.
We will refuse to accept election results until all the votes are counted.
We will nonviolently take to the streets if a coup is attempted.
If we need to, we will shut down this country to protect the integrity of the democratic process

 

Our Time - Kevin de León for Senate

Leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador Wins Mexican Presidential Election i...

Migration battles will change.


Donde están los Niños ?

Lopez Obrador's Lead Widens in Mexican Presidential Race Thanks to Trump

When Liberals Criticize Liberals About the Election

And don't consider the consequences to the Latino Community.

Dissent Magazine has posted an article entitled, "The End of Progressive Neoliberalism,"
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/progressive-neoliberalism-reactionary-populism-nancy-fraser
Since Dissent does not permit comments on their articles, I will post my response below.

Thank you for the piece, The End of Progressive Neoliberalism by Nancy Fraser from Dissent. I wondered how folks such as the writer justified the position of not organizing all available forces to defeat Trump.  It is good that you came out of the closet. I think you represent many, I have been looking for someone to speak up from this perspective ( not my own).

From your essay you seem to consider the contamination of our politics by the Clinton, neoliberal machine as a greater danger than the potential victory by Trump and his neoliberal proto fascists.

I have some issues of dissent from your piece. There is a left in the US.  Weak, yes, but it exists. For example the CCDS says of the election,

“”The movement for justice and progress in the U.S. has suffered a great setback. And the depth of the reactionary movement that led to this setback was underestimated by most on the left. It’s necessary to reflect on what it has taught us and about our shortcomings but it’s also vital to assess our strength to meet this great challenge.”   I think they are referring to your position  when they say,

“And the depth of the reactionary movement that led to this setback was underestimated by most on the left.”

Democratic Socialists of America’s position is here:

http://www.dsausa.org/we_fight_for_socialism_dl_npc

There were a good number of socialists ( not liberals) who worked night and day to defeat Trump including myself.  Most did so on some form of this perspective.

http://www.dsausa.org/trump_racism_and_the_left_dl

While you make good points in criticizing liberals  ( you call them  progressive neoliberalism), I encourage you to continue to explain your own view.

I will use data from California  in response since I know the data from here more than national data. The Trump election is most likely going to eliminate health care for some 2-4 million children, in particular the children of the undocumented.  Some 2-4 million workers ( immigrants) now face deportation.  At least 40 % of these are parents of U.S. citizen children.

These and other consequences are described here:

http://www.dsausa.org/tags/strategic_racism

LULAC Responds to the Supreme Court Failure to Act

June 23, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today in U.S v. Texas, an equally divided U.S. Supreme Court left in place an appeals court ruling blocking the implementation of President Obama’s expanded executive action programs that would have granted over 4 million people work authorization and temporary relief from deportation. The President’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) would have extended protections to parents with U.S.-born children who met certain requirements. In addition, the split decision today leaves in place the lower court's stay of the expansion of the President’s other program, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protects certain undocumented youth who came to the United States as children from deportation. However, the original DACA announced 4 years ago remains in effect. 

“Today’s decision marks a significant setback for more than 4 million undocumented immigrants in this country,” said LULAC National President Roger C. Rocha, Jr. “The hope had been that those individuals would be able to come out of the shadows and legally contribute to the United States with three year work permits. While today’s split decision does not impact the original 2012 DACA program, the injunction on expanded DACA and DAPA remains in effect, and the lives of millions of immigrants will continue to be in limbo. The United States must move forward and value the contributions of those who follow the rules and provide for their families. We cannot continue to tear families apart by deporting individuals whose only wish is to provide for their families." 

While today’s U.S. Supreme Court split decision allows the injunction to remain, LULAC will not be deterred in its efforts to provide justice to these individuals. 

Trump is Dangerous

Racists Politics Must Be Exposed and Opposed !

The intolerant agitation promoted by Republican Donald Trump and support in essence by most Republican candidates is a call to the ‘silent white majority’  combined with a demand that 11 million immigrants be deported is a dangerous and divisive racial message.  It must be vigorously opposed.

Trump’s popularity among Republican voters has dramatically risen in the polls as he now has a double digit lead over runner-up Jeb Bush. His fear mongering political message has found a very receptive base within our society among xenophobic and angry conservative sectors.

We know these campaigns to be dangerous. It is not only the ranting of a fringe right.

The Trump – Republican arguments are factually incorrect and the  proposed agenda is impossible to implement short of establishing an authoritarian police state never before seen in the US. How will he deport 11 million, when 40% of these people are members of families with US citizens and thus they are eligible for gaining a green card ? For them, it is only a matter of the 20 year long waiting list.

And, how will he round up the  estimated 40% of all of the workers who arrived with a valid visa, but overstayed their work or tourist visa.  How will he find these people?  His claims are stupid.

Let us be clear.  The attack on Mexican American children by Donald Trump is impossible to implement.  They are US Citizens.  Yet, US citizen children were deported in the 1930’s in the program euphemistically known as “repatriation.”

There is no such thing as an anchor baby.  They are US citizens.

There is no such thing as “birth right citizenship”, they are US citizens.