Happy Election Day!

It's wonderful to be able to stand up and be counted, to exercise your franchise, isn't it?  Except if you can't, when you should have the perfect right.  Am I talking about some banana republic?  No, this Call-Out goes out to some situations in locations right here in the good old USA...

If you live in Georgia, State Secretary Brian Kemp is very interested in your handwriting.  Better make sure your I's are dotted, your T's crossed, your hyphens exactly where they should be, and most of all make sure your signature as you vote matches the one on your voter-registration card.  Because Brian Kemp is on the job to make sure No Matchee, No Votee.  I know my signature at age 53 is exactly the same as it was at 18.  Uh-huh!

And did I mention dear Mr. Kemp also without one speck of evidence accused Democrats of hacking into Georgia's voter database?  Not one shred of evidence, but blaring it far and wide!  And, ladies and gentleman, can you you please tell me in what universe but Georgia could someone simultaneously be running for governor in the same place he's in charge of elections?!

And in Ohio, be sure to vote every once in a while, or you may be unceremoniously purged.  Back in June, the Supreme Court decided in Husted V. A. Philip Randolph Institute that states are allowed to dump a citizen's name from voting rolls if they have failed to vote in three consecutive federal elections.  This decision is sure to affect the people the most who have the hardest time getting to the polls -- low-income, minorities, the elderly.  Look for a lot of states to try this tactic to slant close elections, and no doubt this is one of those landmark Supreme Court decisions that will be brought up frequently, and talked about for some time to come, and not favorably, by real freedom-loving Americans.

And if you're in North Dakota, be sure you know your exact address.  That may sound a little strange, but not in a state where a large section of the population is Native American and living on reservations, which does not afford them the luxury of having exact residential addresses.  There was a time when a tribal voter could use their P. O. Box address, but not since the passing of the new law in 2014.

In April 2018, a US District Judge turned back this law, calling it "burdensome and discriminatory", but that opinion was overruled in September by a US Circuit Court Of Appeals, whose verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court.  Last Tuesday a group of Natives returned to court, and the original District Judge, Daniel L Hovland sympathized, saying he had "great cause for concern", but citing the Purcell Principle, which forbids changes in voter laws close to an election, refused to set aside application of the law.  Needless to say, re-election of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, may be in serious jeopardy.  Which was, I'm guessing, the intent of the law.

It goes without saying which party is the beneficiary in each of these cases, but that is actually secondary in the mind of this blogger.  My concern is that this kind of activity is going on right in front of us.  What will we, as citizens, do about it?  I truly believe the integrity of our nation is at stake, and I not only mean integrity in the sense of moral uprightness, but also in the sense of being "unified and sound in construction."  I'm not really sure of the future of any of the three.

I'm counting on you to prove me wrong.

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2018/10/17/voters-georgia-north-dakota-fighting-back-voter-suppression-advance-midterm-elections/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/us/politics/georgia-voter-registration-kemp-abrams.html

https://www.thenation.com/article/jimmy-carter-georgia-stacey-abrams/

https://www.thenation.com/article/after-stunning-democratic-win-north-dakota-republicans-suppressed-the-native-american-vote/