Braxton assumed office by default in 2020 when he filed for office and no one else, including the incumbent, did the same.
The defendants, listed as former mayor Haywood “Woody” Stokes III and his town council, held a secret, special election, preventing Braxton from appointing his town council. During their special election, the previous town council re-elected themselves, and ultimately reappointed the previous town mayor.
The common thread with any definition of voter suppression is that it reduces voting. Being encouraged to vote and in such a way as to increase its power is as close to the opposite of voter suppression as you can get.
Call it something else if you like, but it ain’t voter suppression.
For too long have Americans been a victim of its political parties putting party loyalty over governance. Together let’s send the message to Washington and say, ‘You will represent or be replaced.’
“I’m suspicious of any plan to fix unfairness that starts wtih ‘step one, dismantle the entire system and replace it with a better one,’ especially if you can’t do anything else until step one is done. Of all the ways that people kid themselves into doing nothing, that one is the most self-serving.” –Walkaway (by Cory Doctorow)
I think I’ll be saying this a lot in the near future, but please don’t throw away your vote. As revolutions go, “not voting” is the 0 value on a scale of impotent to effective. If you care about change, do it at the local level. There are candidates in your city and county with radical ideas and plans for your communities. You can make a massive impact all on your own in those elections. You can change things. You have real power there.
And that power grows when it joins with other communities across the country. That’s when your voice is loud enough to catch the ear of establishment power.
It’s idealistic I know, but no less so than trying to catch the ear of power through abstainment. “Do nothing” does not stoke the fires of discontent to organize collective power. Please do something, and start with voting. Please.
Alabama town that hasn’t held elections in decades sued to allow voting ( www.theguardian.com )
An update to this post beehaw.org/post/6717143
Texas man changes his name to ‘Literally Anybody Else’ and launches presidential bid ( www.independent.co.uk )
cross-posted from: lemy.lol/post/22330173...