Abstract:
Absentee Ballots” and or “Mail-in ballots” or “Drop-Boxes” create problems for democracy. That’s what the Supreme Court is grappling with today as Republicans push massive voter suppression laws across the country, admitting that they can’t win without making it harder for Black and Brown Democrat leaning people to vote. And guess what? They may be Right!
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“Absentee Ballots” and or “Mail-in ballots” or “Drop-Boxes” create problems for democracy. That’s what the Supreme Court is grappling with today as Republicans push massive voter suppression laws across the country, admitting that they can’t win without making it harder for Black and Brown Democrat leaning people to vote. And guess what? They may be Right! Let’s not pretend that Mail-in voting didn’t create a unique situation in especially Black households where Black-men and many young people do not vote. But they live in households that do. The Mammas organize and lead the family votes in the home. In 2016 Mrs. Hilary Clinton didn’t have the privilege of Mail-in ballots that would ensure that enough Black vote turned out on Election Day for her and the Democrats. That’s the problem; Black and Brown Democratic leaning people don’t usually get involved in the politics of voting.
They are suspicious of political leaders and the system that have largely disenfranchised them. The conclusion for them is that nothing really changes in the society, irrespective of who is in charge, does nothing to ultimately change their plight. The GOP made sure that this pessimism was cemented and fermented in the minds of Black and Brown voters, especially during the Obama presidency. Even after Mr. Obama fought to pass the Affordable Care Act and cut taxes for the poor mainly Black and Brown people and the working class during the economic recession which began in 2008, despair and doubt about elections and Obama remained. Black and Brown people became even more withdrawn from elections, and the massive democratic campaigns to get them to exercise their voting rights, which was only obtained since 1964, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Obamacare became law and the Black working class saw their taxes cut much to the chagrin of the GOP who had failed to defeat Obamacare and pass major healthcare bill themselves. A Feat that they wanted to achieve, and not a Black Obama, for that would surely win over their base and others while sewing and inculcating a false perception that leads to an attitude of indifference in Black people’s minds about elections.
The conservative plot was to obstruct President Obama so that he gets nothing done. In effect, this would have and did create the perception that nothing changes even under a change of party of having a Black President. So that by the 2012 and 2016 US elections fewer Black people turned out for Democrats to vote compared to 2008. There was simply no taste for politics in the minds of Black and Brown people anymore and this was a winning moment for GOP. Therefore, as we moved closer to the 2020 elections, the Democrats did their homework to understand how and why (Black and Brown) people voter do not vote, especially within Black and Brown neighborhoods. They probably found that the negative perception of change and politics within the Black, Brown and young community, and the BLM protests, provided a challenge but also an opportunity for Democrats.
The question then became, how do Democrats win an election where our (Black and Brown) voters are disillusioned and have become indifferent. Further, talking negatively about Trump as a strategy to get people to vote Democrat and against Mr. Trump didn’t provide any lucrative solution for Dems who were outmatched by Trump’s supporters. The fact is that Trump had a solid base comprised mainly of White and conservative supporters that was unmoving and would guarantee his victory. Moreover, overturning an enthusiastic Trump base whose turn out for elections seemed insurmountable would have proved a daunting and loosing task given the disillusionment of their Black and Brown voters. Further the economy was doing relatively well, under Trump preCovid-19, and even Black people were intrigued by Trump who was willing to invest in Americans and provided some red meat programs for Blacks and a stimulus package; that Black and Brown people took advantage of and got more than they bargained for.
Biden and Kamala didn’t provide any hope either. Mr. Biden was seen as a bit decrepit and Ms. Harris couldn’t even launch a successful presidential primary campaign as she abruptly ended her primary campaign and was accused by some campaign staff as being too strict. The opposition argued that Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris never had a strong record of supporting Black and Brown people as Mr. Biden was classified as racially indifferent to Black people and Ms. Kamala’s record as a former Prosecutor highlighted her harsh stance against black people given the heavy penalties on small Black crimes. As a result, the COVID-19 Pandemic, that caused cities to lock down and created a life of “social distance”, provided the answer which allowed Democrats to explore how they could utilize this opportunity to get the votes they needed to overturn the enthusiasm and strong Trump base. The tectonic changes that led to remote working and living meant that voting could be done remotely as well, and Democrats may have ceased the chance to turn that to their advantage. Since Black men and young people don’t vote as much, but their Mammas do, who were influenced by the “Me too” movement and was already against Mr. Trump who they saw as misogynistic, getting them to vote was easy. In addition, A Black woman member on the ticket whom Black women could identify with provided an indispensable factor in their plot. The Black woman heads the home and changing the venue and technique of voting would facilitate a unique situation…. Target Black and Brown households but mainly the Mammas and promote Mail-in or Absentee voting so that the Mammas would lead the voting.
The conspiracy here is that idea that the Mammas would ensure that their sons and partners and adult young vote. Whatever this looks like, we do not know, but we have heard of situations in the Hood, in the privacy of Hood-talk and or Black-talk where some young men alluded that they voted for the first time but didn’t really see the paper as their Mammas worked on the Ballot paper for them. This is an allegation which cannot be proven as within the community you don’t snitch and the home is largely private and what goes on in the privacy of the home is between the households. The GOP and Mr. Trump may have unearth this but proving it is difficult. The Democrats were able to get out the vote through a system which left more questions than answers and provide for irregularities and fraud which is difficult to prove, because, which household or family will “out” their Mamma whom they cherish as the “head-cook and bottle washer” (Breadwinner). So today, the GOP are seeking to minimize the possibility of the Mammas or “OG” (Ole Head in African American Hood Culture) or family members voting for their loved ones in the households. Indeed, it is difficult to safeguard against fraud with Absentee without proper checks and balances.
However, there has always been Absentee ballots where citizens and military workers overseas are able to Mail-in their votes. But Absentee voting was never an issue as the numbers of Mail-in votes coming from overseas were not significant enough to overturn an election result unless the election was, very and minutely, close. But the2020 US elections proved that Absentee ballots without proper identification and safety against irregularities may provide an opportunity for fraud.
Article by: Rev. Renaldo C. McKenzie, author of Neoliberalism – Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance | PayPal
Author of the upcoming book: Neoliberal Globalization Reconsidered, Neo-Capitalism and the Death of Nations.
Doctoral Candidate at Georgetown University, Adjunct Lecturer, Jamaica Theological Seminary and Creator and Host of The Neoliberal Round by Renaldo McKenzie Podcast and YouTube Channel.
This article was first published in The Neoliberal Commentary on LinkedIn, March 16, 2021 and The Neoliberal Blogs, March 16, 2021 and was part of a Lecture on American Politics for the Course Caribbean Thought and PostColonialism and Politics. The article is also available in Renaldo McKenzie’s Academia.edu.
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