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It shouldnt feel so hard to write about voting rights in a way that will not offend partisan sensibilities. It didnt used to be this way. In 2006, Congress reauthorized the 1965 Voting Rights Act with a unanimous vote in the Senate, 98-0. It was promptly signed into law by President George W. Bush, who did so in honor of Fanny Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King, with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in attendance.

Sadly, much has changed in the last 15 years, and such bipartisan cooperation seems like another era.

While the task is difficult, I cannot let my desire to avoid accusations of partisanship overcome the need to speak truth and advocate for justice as I see it.

One person, one vote is the ideal that forms the bedrock of our democracy. It aligns with the fundamental Christian belief that all people are created in Gods image and are therefore equal. It is one of the reasons I am a Baptist.

One person, one vote is the ideal that forms the bedrock of our democracy.

Our congregational polity means each church member is empowered to vote on important matters of church life and governance. In our country, each citizen should be empowered to have their voice contribute equally to determine who represents us and how our government operates. A government by, for and of the people.

Of course, whether or not each voice is valued and given equal weight never has been a settled question. The vote has been the subject of conflict and debate throughout U.S. history. Originally, it was reserved for landowning white men, and Black slaves counted as only 3/5 of a person when considering Congressional representation. While the 15th Amendment gave Black males the right to vote, that right was rarely protected. Eventually, and after a sustained movement, women were given the vote in 1920. Less than 60 years ago, the Voting Rights Act finally put the weight of the federal government behind the promise of Black suffrage. Although in application, that fight continues.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 set up a process of federal approval for changes to voting laws in states with a history of discrimination. Those pre-clearance provisions were undone by the Shelby v. Holder Supreme Court ruling in 2013. Proposed changes to voting laws have picked up pace since then.

According to experts at the Brennan Center for Justice, as of March 24, 361 bills with restrictive voting provisions have been filed in 47 state legislatures this session. Fortunately, 843 bills have been filed to make voting access more expansive.

These dueling proposals demonstrate the partisan nature of this fight. Whether it is non-citizens, dead voters or Russian hackers, both parties should be committed to free, fair and secure elections. Faith in democracy is heightened when people believe their voice is counted and valued.

Both parties should be committed to free, fair and secure elections.

We should make it as easy as possible for every eligible voter to register and vote. Free and fair elections should mean each person is able to exercise their right to vote with few barriers and in a manner that ensures security. Any bill that restricts access and makes it more difficult for some to participate should provide rock-solid evidence of a problem and explain how the bill addresses it. Unsubstantiated accusations and hypotheticals are not enough, especially in light of our history.

Despite our partisan reality, recent polling shows broad agreement among the public on several measures that would make voting easier. Seventy-eight percent of Americans think early in-person voting should be available for at least two weeks before an election; 68% believe Election Day should be a national holiday; and 61% believe everyone eligible should be automatically registered to vote.

In many states, the law is moving in the opposite direction. Georgia and Texas are two states garnering substantial attention.

The law recently passed in Georgia was not as extreme as some of the proposed provisions, but it is problematic. Under the new law, there will be less time to request absentee ballots, fewer drop boxes with less accessible hours, local officials can no longer mail absentee ballot applications to all voters, and voters have half as long to request absentee ballots. The law also bans mobile voting sites, (polling places on wheels.) Such sites have been used only by Fulton County, which has the largest Black population in the state.

The most notorious change is the criminalization of passing out food and water to those waiting in line to vote. Why would anyone want to make it harder to stand in line to vote unless there was substantial evidence that handing out free pizza and water bottles was buying votes?

A better question might be, why are people having to stand in line so long that they need sustenance?

A better question might be, why are people having to stand in line so long that they need sustenance? The provision is more nefarious when the same law contains a mechanism for the state to take over elections from local officials. Will lines intentionally be made longer in particular counties or precincts, which will deter or suppress certain voters?

In Texas, 49 bills have been filed to restrict voting access or make voting more difficult. The two making their way through the legislature right now are SB7 and HB6. These bills would restrict the freedom of local communities to expand early voting and would make voter intimidation much more likely and difficult to stop. They also make it more difficult for those with disabilities to receive help voting.

During the presidential election of 2020, Harris County, which includes the incredibly diverse city of Houston, utilized 24-hour early voting locations and drive-through voting, which helped increase turnout by 10%. Voters of color made up more than half those who took advantage of these polling places. Although there has been no credible evidence of increased fraud, both these options would be outlawed by SB7. One can reasonably wonder if high turnout and minority participation are the problems these bills seek to solve.

Proponents justify these provisions and others by a stated need to prevent voter fraud. At best, such provisions could limit hypothetical voter fraud schemes. They are not responses to proven instances of voter fraud and will certainly make it more difficult for some to vote.

Independent analysis shows voter fraud in Texas this century is extremely rare: only 174 people have been prosecuted out of 94 million votes cast since 2005. The Brennan Center has a comprehensive list of studies that show similar results, including studies from Arizona State University, which show 10 cases of voter impersonation fraud nationwide from 2000 to 2012. According to a Houston Chronicle investigation conducted just two weeks ago, there are 43 people with pending voter fraud charges with the Texas attorney generals office. Only one of those is from the 2020 election in which more than 11 million votes were cast.

While voter fraud itself is almost nonexistent, the term is frequently used in political debate.

While voter fraud itself is almost nonexistent, and thus does not affect election outcomes, the term is frequently used in political debate. A recent Houston Chronicle editorial outlined an extensive history of racially motivated voting restrictions. In each case all-white primaries, poll taxes, re-registration and voter purges the stated justification of these clearly discriminatory laws was the same, to prevent voter fraud.

Voter fraud is exceedingly rare, and rather than impacting the outcome of our elections, it most often is used as the pretext for racially discriminatory and restrictive voting laws. We are therefore facing a conflict between fictitious, hypothetical fraud, and an undeniable history of racial discrimination.

No doubt the increase in bills that limit voting access or institute new restrictions are based in part on the widespread and entirely unsubstantiated allegations of massive voter fraud following the last presidential election. Rather than rebut conspiracies, Ill only point out that those who so fervently claimed fraud and promoted the allegations are now in court defending themselves from civil defamation lawsuits. Their most common defense no reasonable person would believe such claims. It was nothing more than political hyperbole.

Unfortunately, their made-up lies have real-world consequences. These claims, debunked in more than 60 courts, have become the basis of public policy.

The authors of such bills claim they are necessary because public faith in our elections has been shaken. But the same politicians who sowed seeds of doubt cannot now use that doubt as an excuse for new voting restrictions. People believe lies about the election because they keep telling them. Public policy should not be based on lies.

It is not surprising that politicians and parties want to protect their power, but we also should expect them to uphold democratic ideals when attempting to do so.

The corporate reaction to the new law in Georgia and proposed bills in Texas has been swift. I commend the computer CEOs and airline executives who have spoken up for democracy and in defense of historically marginalized voters.

Do we now expect more moral leadership from corporations than church leaders just so we dont offend the diehard partisans in our pews?

Shouldnt pastors and other people of faith do the same? Do we now expect more moral leadership from corporations than church leaders just so we dont offend the diehard partisans in our pews? I know it is not easy. Ive been quiet for too long and done too little myself. Im grateful for the pastors and people of faith who have spoken out, and I encourage you to join them.

Christians concerned about the common good, those trying to follow Jesus in his mission to free the oppressed, those who want to do justice, must be willing to engage. When it comes to voting, we should give particular deference to and speak up alongside those who find it harder to vote neighbors who work overnight shifts or multiple jobs to support their families, those with disabilities, and those without reliable transportation or child care.

We should hold those promoting changes to voting laws to a high standard. Suspicion from minority communities is well-earned, based in historical fact and justified.

Police violence against Black Americans has caused an awakening among many white Christians to the reality of systemic racial injustice. Those looking to engage in racial justice and reconciliation work should take this opportunity to fight voter suppression alongside our Black and Latino brothers and sisters. Our commitment to justice must be stronger than our desire to avoid partisan fights.

Stephen Reeves serves as executive director of Fellowship Southwest. This column appears concurrently on BNG and on the Fellowship Southwest website.

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Voting rights and the ninth commandment Baptist News Global - Baptist News Global

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These are treacherous times. Our principal institutions have been overtaken by the Left. We are fast approaching French Revolutionary levels. However dysfunctional and disturbed they may be, the Left rules us, and they grow more authoritarian and imperious as we speak.

The latest example of their audacity and command of our dominant institutions is the response to Georgias modest election law (SB202 or The Election Integrity Act). It included ID requirements for mail-in ballots, banned the practice of giving food or water to voters in line at polling stations, limited the number of drop boxes, and shortened early voting, none of which was racial or restrictive in the least. But the carefully orchestrated mass rollout of hair on fire outrage was classic Leftist agitprop, perfected through the decades. So absurd were the accusations that, absent an utterly compliant press, a political movement or party could never get away with it.

Shortly after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, President Joe Biden on ESPN referred to it as Jim Crow on steroids and supported Major League Baseball moving the All-Star game out of Atlanta where it was scheduled this year. MLB, indeed, rolled over instantly, moving the event to Denver. Not insignificantly, this years summer classic also planned to honor the memory of Hank Aaron, one of baseballs greatest players, who passed away recently and played with the Atlanta Braves. That Hank Aaron was a black man and that Atlanta is a black majority city that would be negatively impacted by the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars seemed not an afterthought. Biden later called the bill sick, un-American and an atrocity. Former President Barack Obama agreed with the sentiments as did the entire Democrat Party apparatus and its poodle media.

Voting Rights activists called for boycotting Georgia-based and other companies if they did not condemn the legislation. Prominent corporations and professional sports teams folded at breakneck speed. AFLAC, the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Coca Cola, Delta, Home Depot, JP Morgan Chase, Facebook, Citigroup, Merck, Cisco, Apple, Wal-Mart, Under Armour, Google, Twitter, Este Lauder, HP, Microsoft and ViacomCBS all succumbed to a sudden attack of wokeness and vigorously denounced the bill. Thus far, nearly 200 major corporations joined in. A group of 72 prominent black corporate executives, in an open letter published in the New York Times, condemned it. Several black civil rights groups including the Georgia NAACP, Black Votes Matter and Stacey Abrams Fair Fight, condemned the law as well. Lawsuits have been filed. The National Black Justice Coalition called on the PGA Tour to pull the Masters Tournament from the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia where it has been played since 1934.

LeBron James, NBA star, co-owner of the Boston Red Sox, and otherwise oppressed billionaire, too, voiced his support for MLBs decision to move the summer classic out of Atlanta, stating that he was now a proud part of the MLB family.

Lebron and many of the coalition of the irate have had no trouble doing business with the democratic Chinese Communist Party and their slave empire. Prominent liberal sports writers and figures, including the reliable Al Sharpton, also got on their soap boxes.

American Airlines and Southwest came out against a similar such election bill in Texas.

The various election laws passing through Republican states are a result of the election debacle that occurred on Nov. 3, 2020. Particularly in battleground states, election laws were unlawfully changed in the lead-up to the election, because of lawsuits by Democrat lawyers, generally bypassing the state legislatures who constitutionally have the final say on election law. Criticisms by leftist groups and the Democrat party invariably accuse the bills of being restrictive and causing voter suppression, by which they mean the suppression of blacks and other minorities.

The bills, of course, did nothing of the kind. They were intended to prevent election fraud, which Democrats depend on to win elections.

The over-the-top reaction to the Georgia legislation, however, is merely a prelude to the passage of the For The People Act (HR1 and S1), in which Democrats at the federal level, engaging in typical doublespeak, seek to nationalize election law and enshrine the changes they engineered in 2020 for perpetuity, thus ensuring a one party nation under Democrat rule forever.

How should conservatives respond?

It is up to the red states.

And the response should be vigorous and unapologetic. Each state dominated by Republicans, where Republicans hold both houses of the state legislature, of which there are 31, and then the trifecta, which would also include the governorship (24 such states), should pass election integrity laws. All should eliminate unsolicited mail in ballots, something done unnecessarily because of COVID, but allow for absentee ballots, as always, which must be verified well in advance with proper explanation (illness, disabled, out of state, in the Military).

Eliminate same day registration and motor-voter registration. Abolish computer systems. Return to paper ballots, hand counted with poll watchers from both parties present.

Require proof of citizenship. Limit early voting to two weeks or consider eliminating it all together. Mandate one election day, as was standard until relatively recently, not election season. Declare it a holiday. Clean up voter rolls regularly. And, of course, mandate photo ID, something that for Democrats, is akin to daylight for vampires.

The Democrats may never win a national election again.

But there is more.

No longer can conservatives allow companies and sports entities, professional or otherwise, to bully and abuse us.

It is time for red states to pass anti-bullying legislation against the Left and their corporate minions. Any company, sports entity and individual athletes or celebrities that disrespect our nation and flag or threaten to or implement a boycott of a red state for passing entirely legitimate legislation should be banned from all future and existing state contracts, tax breaks, set asides, anti-trust protections (where appropriate) and further business dealings with the state.

Legislation considered within the purview of the state, wholly reasonable, would contain laws and protections involving religious liberty, protecting children and students from the various and sundry depredations of Leftist theories and policies including such gems as transgenderism and critical race theory, bogus refugee and illegal alien resettlement, and, of course, ensuring the integrity of our elections.

Consider also forbidding companies, athletes, sports leagues and entities that have business ties with Chinas totalitarian regime from business relations or other benefits, tax breaks, and contracts with the state.

Attorney generals of red states should aggressively litigate against leftwing corporations and Big Tech that infringe on the rights of their states citizens including the enforcement of speech codes, censorship of conservatives, canceling (also known as crushing and destroying) individuals who espouse conservative or traditional beliefs, and otherwise prohibiting normal, free, and open expression. Similarly, they should file suits against corporations that engage in boycotts and threats against the state. Red states must coordinate their efforts.

Finally, Republican officials at all levels, state and federal, should demand that woke corporate hypocrites boycott the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

The conservative, pro-founding, pro-American, nationalist movement has for decades been inattentive to our culture and commanding organs, including corporate America. As a result, it has largely ceded them to the Left who have been diligently infiltrating them. They have completed their long march through our institutions and now control them, as they do the nation. But we still have power at the state level. We must fight back as viciously as the Left using the tools that we have.

That means the red states.

It is time to save the country, if it is to be saved at all.

Richard Moss, M.D., a surgeon practicing in Jasper, was a candidate for Congress in 2016 and 2018. Contact him at richardmossmd.com or Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send comments to awoods@aim mediaindiana.com.

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Red states: The last bastion - Seymour Tribune

Americans and the world are waking up to the news of Daunte Wright's death this morning, as another Black man has been shot and killed by police.

The 20-year-old died after he was shot by an officer during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.

The incident has sparked severe unrest late into Sunday night amid heightened tensions in the city as the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer charged in the death of George Floyd continues.

Daunte Wright's mother, Katie Wright, spoke to reporters on Sunday afternoon and said that her son called her when police had pulled him over for having air fresheners dangling from his rear-view mirror.

"I heard scuffling, and I heard police officers say, 'Daunte, don't run,'" she said. "Like a minute later, I called and his girlfriend answered, which was the passenger in the car, and said that he'd been shot and she put it on the driver's side, and my son was laying there lifeless."

In a news release, Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon said officers shot Wright after pulling his car over for a traffic violation, and discovering that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Tear gas and rubber bullets fired by officers in riot gear to disperse hundreds of protesters at the Brooklyn Center police department.

The local mayor Mike Elliott has declared a local emergency and enforced a curfew.

As Americans wake up, many high-profile voices and celebrities are reacting to the shooting and growing unrest in Minnesota.

"There isn't even anything left to say anymore," tweeted actress Ashley Nicole Black. "There is no more raising awareness. Everyone is aware. We simply live in a country that refuses to stop killing its citizens. RIP Daunte Wright, and prayers up for all who knew him."

Although she did not reference the shooting of Wright specifically, Bernice King tweeted on Monday morning: "A hashtag isn't a holistic view of a person's humanity. And a sound bite isn't someone's whole story."

The daughter of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. added: "Take care here. Hold your soul dear."

Comedian Travon Free wrote on Twitter: "The cycle continues. #DaunteWright."

CSI Miami star Omar Benson Miller tweeted: "This powder keg is going to erupt sooner than later & I just pray that the rebuild of America is better than the original model. #DaunteWright #SayHisName."

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi retweeted ACLU of Minnesota, writing: "Say his name: Daunte Wright."

Rapper The Game added: "R.I.P. Daunte Wright.... SMFH Minneapolis police have shot & killed a 20 year old black child over an insurance card."

Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Al Sharpton tweeted: "I just spoke by phone to the father of Duante Wright, the 20 year old killed by police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. NAN will stand w/ this family and demand justice in this matter."

"My heart aches for the family of Duante Wright, pulled over near Minneapolis and killed by the police," tweeted New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang. "As the Twin Cities awaits justice for George Floyd, how much can a community bear? Black Lives Matter today and every day."

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Bernice King and Other Celebrities Condemn Shooting of Daunte Wright - Newsweek

Rev. Al Sharpton leads prayer for justice for George Floyd

Rev. Al Sharpton led the family of George Floyd in a prayer for justice outside the Hennepin County Courthouse Tuesday, where the trial for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in Floyd's death, is taking place.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Rev. Al Sharpton led the family of George Floyd and others in a prayer Tuesday outside the Hennepin County Courthouse, where the trial of Derek Chauvin is taking place. Chauvin is the former Minneapolis police officer charged in Floyds death.

"We wept through many cases from Rodney King to Eric Garner to Michael Brownsome never reached the courthouse," Sharpton said. "But here we are now, in the shadows of a courthouse, praying for justice."

Among the attendees at the prayer were Floyd family attorney Benjamin Crump, Eric Garners mother Gwen Carr and former New York Governor David Paterson.

Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, said Tuesday that after his family and others get the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, which he believes will be a conviction, they will be able to breathe. Philonise spoke following a group prayer led by Rev. Al Sharpton outside the Hennepin County Courthouse, where the Chauvin trial is taking place.

Philonise Floyd, George Floyds brother, spoke following the prayer, saying, "After we get the verdict andwe get this conviction, well be able to breathe."

Sharpton, Crump and Carr were all seen inside the courthouse Tuesday morning with some members of the Floyd family, according to the pool reporter.Only one member of the Floyd family is allowed in the courtroom at a time, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Family members have been rotating who takes the seat in the courtroom each day.

Terrance Floyd, another one of George Floyd's brother was in the courtroom for the morning session on Monday. He told pool reporters listening to the testimony is difficult, but his family is staying strong through the trial.

Rev. Al Sharpton and the Floyd family kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd ahead of the Chauvin trial.

Last Monday, on the first official day of the trial, Sharpton, the Floyd family and others kneeled for eight minutes and 49 seconds in remembrance of George Floyd. Eight minutes and 46 seconds is symbolic of the amount of time Chauvin kneeled on Floyds neck during his deadly arrest on May 25, 2020, although prosecutors say it was actually nine minutes and 29 seconds.

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George Floyd's brother: 'After we get this verdict and we get this conviction, well be able to breathe' - FOX 9

Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Robert Manfred decided to move the All-Star Game on his own after holding extensive discussions with voting rights groups associated with Lebron James, Stacey Abrams and Rev. Al Sharpton, sources familiar with the move tell Fox News.

Abrams told a senior league official that she wanted him to denounce the Georgiavoting rights law, according to people with directknowledge of the matter. People associated with Sharpton's civil rightsorganization, and James's voting right group, "More than a Vote" also pressured league officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

After these conversations, Manfred believed the All Star game would be turned into a political event and players would boycott the game, these people say. Baseball sources say that Abrams current stance, that she is disappointed about the Georgia boycott, is suspect because she was among the most prominentpolitical operatives to pressure theleague to denounce thenew law. James has publicly supported the Georgia boycott.

People close to Manfred believe Abrams group and Sharpton also wanted theleague to support other issues, including voter drives and H.R. 1, the For the People Act sweeping election reform that recently passed the House.

"They wanted us to do more than just a pre-game ceremony...Baseball would have to be in the market for doing stuff involving voting rights," a senior MLB executive with direct knowledge of the matter tells Fox News.

Manfred decided the easiest way to deal with the matter was to leave Georgia, according to a source.

After Manfred made the decision, he told the eight-member executive committee before making the announcement, which surprised the 22 other teams. Manfred said the decision was made after discussions with the MLB Players Association and its Players Alliance.

GEORGIA VOTING LAW: READ FULL TEXT

The game will now be held in Colorado.

In a statement to Fox New, Abrams spokesman Seth Bringman downplayed her role in the entire matter. "In a single, 1-on-1 conversation with an MLB senior advisor, sheurged the league to keep the All-Star game in Georgia and to speak out against the law when they do,"Bringman said.

Abrams wrote on Twitter last week after the move was announced that she was "Disappointed @MLB will move the All-Star Game, but proud of their stance on voting rights. GA GOP traded economic opportunity for suppression. On behalf of PoC targeted by #SB202 to lose votes + now wages, I urge events & productions to come & speak out or stay & fight. #gapol"

She later released another statement. "Like many Georgians, I am disappointed that the MLB is moving its All-Star Game; however, I commend the players, owners and League Commissioner for speaking out," she wrote. "As I have stated, I respect boycotts, although I dont want to see Georgia families hurt by lost events and jobs. Georgians targeted by voter suppression will be hurt as opportunities go to other states."

Representativesfor James and Sharpton did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more:
MLB commissioner decided to move All-Star Game after pressure from Stacey Abrams on voting issues: sources - Fox News