To: Tennessee State Legislators* 9/24/12
Subject: One
Question: What would your children say?
I awoke this morning after a restless night in which voter
suppression played out in conversations in my mind.
For weeks leading up to this morning, I had been involved in
this issue as a recorder of activities protesting the voter I.D. law and the
actions of the Knoxville Election Commission in closing a voting site of sixty
years based on one bogus complaint.
I video-recorded speakers at rallies in Krutch Park and made
special trips to register on video the complaints of Knoxville citizens who
were victims of this abuse of the legislative process. I recorded
- Citizen
Mark Harmon as he stood on the handicap access ramp of Belle Morris
Elementary School to make the point of its existence to challenge the
Commission’s contention that they closed it for lack of access. I recorded
him at the designated alternative, the Cox Center, with its obvious lack
of parking, some twenty spots at a site where almost 1300 voters will
attempt to cast ballots. I recorded his observations of Gloria Johnson,
local resident and also a Democratic candidate for state office who
pointed out that residents had just now received new voter cards with the
new polling site on them, many of whom would just put them in their
wallets without a thought and show up at Belle Morris School on voting
day, only to be redirected, and who then may not vote when they cannot
park in the new location.
- Citizen
Brian Stevens, a professor at the University of Tennessee, who held in his
hands two photo I.D.s: one, his own faculty I.D. which is accepted as
proof for voting, and an almost identical Student I.D. which is not. He
made his case that the reason for the difference is to keep a distinct
group from voting.
- A
woman who spent an entire day taking her 90+ year old aunt from place
after place to gather up the five pieces of information her poll worker
said was needed in order for her to continue to vote, as she had done
without incident since 1948.
The recordings are many, and they
are posted on various internet social media sites, so you’d think I’d be happy
that I did my part. But the voices of the disenfranchised are ringing in my
mind still. And, this morning, I awoke thinking, what do legislators tell their
children about cheating, about lying and stealing. Because, each one of them,
and they together as a group decided to cheat the voting process, to lie about
their reasons for doing so and, in the process steal the votes of thousands of
individual citizens whom they promised to serve. What will you, State Senator
Steve Southerland from Morristown, tell your children about the virtues of
honesty, integrity and honor and how they guide your actions as a legislator,
now that your vote is recorded? You must be so proud.
*
Representatives voting aye were: Alexander, Brooks H, Brooks K, Butt, Campbell, Carr, Casada, Cobb, Coley, Dean, Dennis, Dunn, Elam, Eldridge, Evans, Floyd, Forgety, Gotto, Halford, Hall, Harrison, Hawk, Haynes, Hensley, Hill, Holt, Hurley, Johnson C, Johnson P, Keisling, Lollar, Lundberg, Maggart, Marsh, Matheny, Matlock, McCormick, Miller D, Montgomery, Niceley, Pody, Powers, Ragan, Ramsey, Rich, Sanderson, Sargent, Sexton, Shipley, Sparks, Swann, Todd, Weaver, White, Williams R, Wirgau, Womick, Madam Speaker Harwell
Senators voting aye were: Bell, Campfield, Crowe, Faulk, Gresham, Haile, Johnson, Kelsey, Ketron, McNally, Norris, Overbey, Southerland, Tracy, Watson, Woodson, Yager, Mr. Speaker Ramsey
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