#CripTheVote Twitter Chat On Voter Suppression
September 13, 2020
7-8 pm Eastern
The co-partners of #CripTheVote, Andrew Pulrang, Gregg Beratan, and Alice Wong, invite you to a Twitter chat about voter suppression with Dom Kelly, Development Manager at Fair Fight Action, a national Georgia-based voting rights organization founded by Stacey Abrams with a mission to fight voter suppression.
For more about Dom:
Dom Kelly is a person with Cerebral Palsy, a lifelong disability justice advocate, and a passionate progressive. In addition to working in politics, Dom is a longtime musician, and as a member of his band A Fragile Tomorrow, he, alongside his two brothers, recorded and toured around the world with artists like Indigo Girls, Joan Baez, The Bangles, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and more. After the loss of his triplet brother Paul at the age of 6, Dom and his identical brother Sean helped start a program in their local school district that taught kids about disabilities. When he's not working to protect democracy and dreaming about helping progressives with disabilities run for office, Dom is at home in Atlanta with his wife Catie, their dog Vivi, and their cat Pippi Longstocking most likely having a dance party in their living room.
Twitter: @the_tattooedjew
How to Participate
Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility and @the_tattooedjew. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.
If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote
If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted approximately 6-7 minutes apart.
Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/
Here is a link for people who are new to Twitter on starting an account and how to use it: https://help.twitter.com/en/new-user-faq
Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-chat/546805/
Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/
Introductory Tweets and Chat Questions
Welcome to the #CripTheVote Twitter chat on voter suppression with @the_tattooedjew. Remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet. If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”
“Voter suppression” is any effort to discourage voting by certain populations or in certain regions in order to benefit a particular party or candidate. Because it’s generally considered unacceptable to openly tell people not to vote, suppression efforts are usually disguised as something else, like “preventing voter fraud” — even though voter fraud is extremely rare. Alongside long-term barriers that make the voting process difficult for everyone, voter suppression makes it even harder for certain people to vote, which undermines our democracy.
Q1 Voter suppression is nothing new. What are some examples of voter suppression tactics you are concerned about in the lead up to the election in November? #CripTheVote
Q2 What is the role of the Census in voter suppression and inequality when communities are undercounted #CripTheVote
Q3 Various states have made it more difficult for people to register to vote. What kinds of improvements do you want to see on voter registration in your state & nationally? #CripTheVote
Q4 What kind of training should election officials and poll workers have to ensure that disabled people can vote independently and privately? #CripTheVote
This year there has been an explicit effort to undermine voting-by-mail with cuts in funding with the US Postal Service https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/donald-trump-usps-post-office-election-funding
Q5 If you plan to vote by mail this year what are your concerns and are you taking any steps to ensure your ballot will be received in time? #CripTheVote
Q6 Voting by mail is inaccessible for some disabled voters. Why is it important to have different ways for people to vote this November? What are some ways you will try to stay safe if you plan to vote in person during the pandemic? #CripTheVote
Some states, including Georgia, have weaponized the ADA for voter suppression. For example, the 2018 midterm elections in GA: https://www.ndrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NDRN_Blocking_the_Ballot_Box_2020.pdf #CripTheVote
Q7 How is the closure of polling sites both racist and ableist? How does it erase Black and brown disabled voters who are multiply disenfranchised by these voter suppression tactics? #CripTheVote
Q8 What are some of the voter protections in place that every voter should know about? What resources do you recommend for reporting voter suppression and other illegal actions? #CripTheVote
This concludes our short #CripTheVote chat on voter suppression with guest host @the_tattooedjew. Please keep the conversation going. A recap of this chat will be up shortly. For more: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/
And be sure to join us on 9/27 for our next #CripTheVote chat on #COVID19 and the 2020 Election! http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/2020/05/may-31-2020-cripthevote-chat.html
