Protect Our Vote: Voting Rights Heroes
Mass 50501 is committed to protecting the integrity of our elections and uplifting the voices of the people. Check out our Protect our Vote campaign to get involved, find voting resources, and learn about actionable steps you can take to protect our vote. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of this country, but that foundation is on shaky ground. We must be informed and prepared.
We know that we cannot overcome this obstacle alone. Many allied organizations are already doing good work in Massachusetts and nationwide. We can spread their message to inform and inspire others. If you know of an organization working to protect our vote that would be interested in being featured, please reach out to us at newsletter@mass50501.org.
Today, we hear from Carlos Ramirez, member of Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati, a small pro-democracy grassroots organization based in Ohio.
Tell us a little about the history of your organization.
I am a member of a Cincinnati area secular community group called Tri-State Freethinkers. During one of our meetings, we talked about whether the Christian Nationalist agenda would be halted after the midterms. We agreed that we thought Trump would interfere with the elections, and discussed ways he could succeed. I recalled how former Attorney General Bill Barr stopped Trump from sending the military to seize ballots after the 2020 election, and opined that the current AG would not stop such an order. I argued that a ballot seizure before the election could be certified and perhaps even before being called would break the chain of custody and effectively void the election. Even though the Administration would lose in court after the seizure, the damage would already be done. The results could no longer be certain, and MAGA election officials would refuse to certify. We reached out to other local activists and founded BIA to try to prevent a ballot seizure.
As a true pro-democracy group, we decide everything democratically. We don't have any leaders or officers, just about twenty active members of diverse expertise, and growing.
Can you briefly describe the overall mission of your organization?
Through the certification of the midterm elections, the Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati will watch for and call out any preparations or signs of a federal ballot seizure, which we think would be one of the most devastating ways the Administration could disrupt the midterms, especially if done before elections are called and conceded.
What communities do you work with to protect voting rights?
We work with other pro-democracy groups in the Cincinnati and Southwestern Ohio area, and we are trying to spread our strategy of preparedness, careful monitoring, sharing of information, and legal organizing methods to other, more vulnerable jurisdictions.
What are the greatest threats to voting rights for members of these communities?
We think a federal ballot seizure would be one of the most devastating ways the Administration could disrupt the midterms, especially if done before elections are called and conceded. We are also focused on Administration attempts to interfere with certification of results.
What is your organization doing to protect these community members’ voting rights?
Before the election, we are primarily legally monitoring what top election deniers are saying and doing, and sharing that intelligence with the public via social media, and also reaching out to legacy media. We are reaching out to local officials to ask them to plan for election interference. After the election, we will keep watch for a federal ballot seizure in the Southwestern Ohio counties, alert the public and local media of what we observe, and record and witness such activity. We will organize unarmed, peaceful, non-destructive, legal, and persistent protests and boycotts in response to any efforts to interfere with counting and certification.
We are sharing information with the public primarily via our Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati Facebook and BlueSky pages, the Tri-State Freethinkers Facebook page, some affiliated groups Facebook pages, and the personal social media accounts of our team members. We are talking to our friends, family, and neighbors. I even made my own lawn sign, and encouraged others to do the same. To communicate with other activists, we speak at various in-person and virtual community meetings, and we also belong to several activist chat groups. We attend county commissioner meetings, and get on the speaker lists. We have also met in-person with local officials. We have asked local media to interview us or publish our letters to the editor, so far with no significant success.
What are actions that Mass 50501’s newsletter readers in Massachusetts can do to help protect voting rights, either for your community members of interest or elsewhere?
Massachusetts 50501 can help get the word out regionally and nationally about what Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati is doing. We ask that you and your members help spread our strategy, what we call our Concept, to other, more vulnerable jurisdictions, so they can form similar groups.
We encourage your readers to join or start their own election protection groups, and do the kinds of pre-election activity we're doing: primarily getting the word out about the real danger of ballot seizures and other post-election interference efforts the Administration is probably planning. The idea is to prevent the Administration from having the element of surprise, to inoculate the public and officials so they recognize the interference for what it is when it happens. We want state officials to uphold the law and the voters to loudly demand their votes be respected. Your MA readers could reach out to offer organizing assistance to more vulnerable jurisdictions. Your readers can get reliable, timely information from BIA, or sources like Democracy Docket or the Brennan Center, and should share reliable information publicly.
How will your recommended actions for Mass 50501’s newsletter readers make a difference to protect voting rights?
Most American prospective voters have little idea how endangered our midterms are and how the Administration could actually interfere. The primary benefit of our efforts will be to raise awareness, to counter misinformation, and to focus the public on the need to protect their votes from their own federal administration. Local officials will hear more of their constituents demanding they do their jobs properly. If we get enough people to broadcast the Administration's schemes, we can thwart the interference before and after the election.
Can you describe a recent success story about how everyday people like Mass 50501’s newsletter readers, the vast majority of whom are not politicians or government officials, took steps to protect voting rights?
Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati's legal monitoring activities recently discovered that a top election denier, who has Trump's ear, is pushing that election certification can't take place until a hand count can be completed. Hand counts take a long time, which is probably the point. The Administration could demand hand counts, then interfere with hand counts in order to run out the clock on the certification deadline. To justify the demand for hand counts, they might argue that voting machines are either hacked or hackable by China, Venezuela, or some other foreign country, which is an obvious pretense. Exposing the election deniers' election theft attempts early will help prevent the theft. We can all help spread the word.
For reliable election protection news sources besides BIA-C's Facebook page, my top recommendation is Marc Elias's Democracy Docket or the Brennan Center. There are many reliable election protection sources, which are getting more attention the closer we get to the midterms. The League of Women Voters is always reliable, but is focused on "normal elections," which this election is not. The corporate media is less helpful, because they are easily distracted.
How can our readers learn more about your organization and stay updated on your work?
Please follow our Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati Facebook page or BlueSky page for information and content you can share with other pro-democracy activists in your networks. Please share any useful information you have with us via Facebook Messenger, and we can reach out to you via Signal if you give us your Signal contact information. You may also contact me personally at my mobile number below.
Thank you.
Carlos Ramirez
Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati
513-417-2847
Thank you to BIA for sharing their work with us! Let’s embrace this election season with purpose and clarity. Click here for information about upcoming election registration, polling locations, and more!
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