Release Your Power: VOTE

YOUR FRIDAY FACT – 11/6/2020
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Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

THE ELECTION IS OVER AND . . . WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN!

Now that the loooooooong, contentious 2020 Election Season is (almost!) over, we can take a breath - - - and keep on working! In the spirit of the Carpenters’ song, we’ve only just begun. As important as elections are, they are the starting point of our civic engagement, in which we must stay actively engaged.

Find a cause (maybe 2 or 3) and run well your race with intention and courage so that at your journey’s end you can pass the baton to the next generation of Righteous Warriors. As President John F. Kennedy said about sending a man to the moon, this must be undertaken, not because it’s easy because it is hard. And it is necessary for the health and well being of the United States of America.

Finally, let’s liberate our ears and minds from the filthy language that has almost become fashionable. Courageously and purposefully choose to refrain from using and enduring vulgar, disrespectful words that pollute the air, burden our spirits and poison our souls.

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Felicia Rose Smyth, my Social Media Manager; Anthony Brown, Jeanette Wilson Jordan and Lu Anne Peters my Facebook Posting Partners; and you, my readers. Thank you and may God continue to bless you!

YOUR TUESDAY TIP ON MONDAY 11/2/2020
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Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY – REMEMBER TO VOTE!

It’s been a loooooooong journey and a seemingly longer year. However, we are on the eve of Election Day 2020. Tomorrow is your day to vote if you chose to vote in person on Election Day. Call 866.687.8683 if you have problems casting your ballot. Please be reminded that if you requested Vote By Mail ballot and you vote tomorrow, your vote will be a provisional one, even if your ballot never arrived to your address.
Be sure to pack your patience, lift your voice in prayer, bring your charged-up cell phone, water, snacks and a chair, and most importantly, bring your current, government issued ID. Check with your county Board of Elections to determine what additional documentation you need to bring to the polls.

“ . . .when the document was completed on the 17th of September 1787, I was not included in that ‘WE, the People’ . . . But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision, I have finally been included in ‘WE, the People.’” Barbara Jordan

I COULD NOT VOTE UNTIL . . .

YOUR FRIDAY FACT – 10/30/2020
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Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot!

ATTENTION! Mail-In Voters: Check with your county Board of Elections to get an update on the status of your ballot. Cuyahoga County Voters can check at: www.443vote.com, click on the Track My Ballot tab and follow the directions.

Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/

Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]

YOUR TUESDAY TIP 10/27/2020
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Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

A VOTER’S QUESTION –
IS THERE AN INITIATIVE ON THE 2020 BALLOT TO ELIMINATE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?
The short answer is NO. The Electoral College was created by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It was a compromise between delegates who believed that Congress should elect the President and those who believed that American voters should do so. Because it is a part of the U.S. Constitution (Article II – Section 1) it can be eliminated only by a constitutional amendment.
The amendment process has two parts:
· Proposal – 2/3 of both Houses of Congress must vote on the proposed amendment
· Ratification – 3/4 of the state legislatures must approve the proposed amendment
Once any amendment is proposed and ratified, it is binding on all states regardless of their ratification vote.
Do not sign a petition or donate money to any campaign claiming to eliminate the Electoral College. Neither of these campaign methods will reach their stated goal.

Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot

YOUR FRIDAY FACT – 10/23/2020
Presented by
Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

21ST CENTURY VOTER SUPPRESSION
The oldest modern democracy in the world is plagued by the 233-year-old disease of voter suppression. While the targeted communities have changed over the years, the goal is the same today as in previous centuries: keep certain people from voting. WHY? It’s all about power and the refusal of some people to share it. Voter Suppression in the 21st century has taken the form of:
🗳🗳🗳

THE ANTEDOTE – VOTE ANYWAY
Bring your government issued ID and other documents as required; charged up cell phone; water and snacks; chair; prepare to wait until you vote. You may have time for a card game with your new friends who are in line with you.
In the spirit of an old spiritual, “DON’T LET NOBODY TURN YOU AROUND”. Too many people sacrificed too much to secure your right to VOTE for you not to use it.
Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot!
ATTENTION! Mail-In Voters: Check with your county Board of Elections to get an update on the status of your ballot. Cuyahoga County Voters can check at: www.443vote.com, click on the Track My Ballot tab and follow the directions.

Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/
Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]

YOUR PRE-FRIDAY FACT – 10/22/2020
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Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

YOUR TUESDAY TIP 10/20/2020
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Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

VOTER LITERACY TESTS
As we learned from Your Friday Fact (10/16/2020) Voter Literacy Tests were one of several tools used by some states of the former Confederate States of America to deny the right to vote to formerly enslaved Americans and their descendants. Do remember that enslaved Americans were prohibited from learning to read/write, and the schools many of their descendants attended (if they did) were very poorly prepared for their mission. Would you be able to pass this Voter Literacy Test and vote?

Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot! And . . . purchase your VOTE! T-shirt from:
https://manage-classroom.com/cmsmc/index.php/vote.html
Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]

Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/

YOUR FRIDAY FACT – ‪10/16/2020‬
Presented by
Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

19TH/20TH CENTURY VOTER SUPPRESSION

Formerly enslaved Americans experienced the swift and brutal death of unborn hope as Federal troops withdrew from the former Confederate States in 1877. Among the first actions taken by the “Old South” were creative ways to circumvent Amendment 15 which extended the right to vote. They firmly believed that EVERY VOTE MATTERED and moved to suppress the vote of African American men.

Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot! And . . . purchase your VOTE! T-shirt from:
https://manage-classroom.com/cmsmc/index.php/vote/vote-t-shirts.html
Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]
Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/

YOUR TUESDAY TIP 10/13/2020
Presented by
Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

IF . . .

IF all the stars of the U.S. flag were removed for all of the eligible voters who are not registered, and the red strips were removed for all of the registered voters who do not vote, and the blue field was removed for voters who do not care, what remains is a white flag of surrender.

Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot! And . . . purchase your VOTE! T-shirt from:
https://manage-classroom.com/cmsmc/index.php/vote.html
Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]

Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/

YOUR FRIDAY FACT – 10/9/2020
Presented by
Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

EXPANDING WE, THE PEOPLE – PART II
Last week’s Friday Fact discussed the expansion of the 1787 Community of We, the People through the extension of the right to vote to 3 different, sometimes, overlapping communities of U.S. citizens. Today we will learn how the We, the People Community expanded via the removal of barriers to the right to vote.

Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot! And . . . purchase your VOTE! T-shirt from:
https://manage-classroom.com/cmsmc/index.php/vote/vote-t-shirts.html
Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]
Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/

YOUR TUESDAY TIP 10/6/2020
Presented by
Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

DOWN BALLOT VOTING
Every four years, We, the Voters of the United States select our President and Vice President. Great emphasis, time, effort, money and media coverage are spent on the presidential campaign from the Primary Election Season into the General Election. This very important election too often overshadows other elections, some that are much closer to where and how we live our daily lives. It may surprise you that every year, somewhere in the United States there is an election.

https://campuselect.org/voter-education/candidate-issue-guides/
https://www.rockthevote.org/ #
https://ballotpedia.org/Elections
https://www.vote411.org/search-by-topic?tid%5B%5D=1&tid_1%5B%5D=24

YOUR FRIDAY FACT – 10/2/2020
Presented by
Release Your Power: VOTE! ®

EXPANDING WE, THE PEOPLE – PART I
The Community of We, the People was very small when the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified two years later. In fact, most people living in our Nation at the time were excluded from that Community. This exclusion was due to a patchwork of restrictive voting laws and age-old, unaddressed, unexamined traditions. Today we will learn about three amendments that began the slow, long and arduous process of expanding the Community of We, the People through the extension of the right to vote.


Remember: Release Your Power: VOTE! ® Every Election ~ Down the Ballot! And . . . purchase your VOTE! T-shirt from:
https://manage-classroom.com/cmsmc/index.php/vote/vote-t-shirts.html

Questions about Elections, the Constitution, American History or American Government can be submitted to:
[email protected]

Nationwide Voter Registration & Election Information
https://866ourvote.org/