EARLY VOTING BRAH
Friends,
It’s that time of year again.
For those of you who don’t know, Louisianabrah began as You Can Ring My Bel the day after Orleans Parish recorded a DISMAL 38.5% voter turnout in the gubernatorial primary back in October. John Bel (who we did not love) was down 100,000 votes against Eddie Rispone and that shit just wasn’t going to fly. Ole Balogna Rispone thought he had it in the bag, but we said NAH BRAH. And in just one short month, Orleans Parish increased voter turnout in the runoff by 29% and John Bel won by roughly 40,000 votes.
We did what we had to do—and good thing we did because I don’t need to explain to you the mess we would be in right now if Rispone had won—and now we have to do it again.
We’ve seen a lot of bullshit go down the last few weeks in the Louisiana Legislature and a lot of you have asked me—What can we do? How can we vote these people out? Most of them (Dodie Horton, Bossier Parish) aren’t even in our districts.
The answer is simple: you can prove that you’re here.
And you’ve already started. With every single email, phone call, post, repost, tag, comment, like—you have made a difference. You have:
helped pass an exemption on a tampon and diaper tax that has failed for YEARS
helped reduce rampant giveaways when Stuart Bishop tried to make it rain on corporations
helped convince the Governor to veto HB 197, which would have criminalized peaceful protests
helped pass a resolution asking Jefferson Parish cops to wear body cams
helped pass a resolution authorizing a task force on police training, screening and de-escalation when just 8 days before a nearly identical resolution had been called “racist” and “offensive" (shout out to gal pal Dodie)
But now you have to take the next step. You have to cast your vote in the July 11th election—the presidential primary. Yeah, I know. Louisiana always goes red in presidential elections so it feels like it doesn’t count. But if we don’t vote, then they can’t hear our voice. If we don’t vote, then we aren’t here.
Because here’s the thing-this pressure we’re applying is big. It’s huge. But it’s not going to mean anything if we don’t turn out with the exact same energy at the polls. If we don’t show up at the polls, they don’t have an incentive to listen when we make our demands. If we don’t vote, they’ll just say we make a lot of noise but we don’t show up.
So, let’s make some noise at the polls, yall. Because we might not be able to vote out Dodie. But we can vote out John Kennedy. And Bill Cassidy. And Jeff Landry. And Jim Donelon. And Kyle Ardoin. And Leon Cannizzaro. And they know that. Do not underestimate the power that we have. Do not underestimate the feat that we pulled off voting in a Democratic Governor TWO TIMES IN A ROW in a ruby red state, in this political climate we’re in. We did that. And they know we can do it again.
EARLY VOTING
Take advantage of early voting! You never know what can happen the day of the election, so get it done!
Early voting lasts from June 20-July 4th (except on Sunday, June 28th)
There are four early voting locations open every day of early voting from 8:30 am to 6 pm. Anyone can go to any location, no matter what your voting precinct is. The locations are:
CITY HALL, 1300 PERDIDO ST., #1W24, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70112-2127
ALGIERS COURTHOUSE, 225 MORGAN ST RM#105, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70114
VOTING MACHINE WAREHOUSE, 8870 CHEF MENTEUR HWY, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70127
LAKE VISTA COMMUNITY CENTER, 6500 SPANISH FORT BLVD, 2ND FLOOR MEETING ROOM, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70124
When you go to the polls to cast your vote in an election, be sure to take one of the following:
a driver's license,
a Louisiana Special ID,
LA Wallet digital driver's license, or
some other generally recognized picture ID that contains your name and signature.
Voters who have no picture ID may complete and sign a Voter Identification Affidavit in order to vote; however, it is subject to challenge by law. (but like also can we talk about this language that I took verbatim from the SOS website?)
Important dates:
Tuesday, July 7, 2020: Request for a ballot by mail for the 07/11/2020 election must be received by 4:30 p.m. CST except military and overseas voters
Friday, July 10, 2020: Mail ballots for 07/11/2020 election must be received by 4:30 p.m. CST except military and overseas voters Request for a ballot by mail for military and overseas voters for the 07/11/2020 election must be received by 4:30 p.m. CST
Saturday, July 11, 2020: Election Day - Polling places are open 7 am to 8 pm for the 07/11/2020 election. Mail ballots for the 07/11/2020 election must be received from military and overseas voters by 8 p.m. CST
If you are over the age of 65 or meet other criteria, you can request an absentee ballot. More information on voting by mail here.
You can fill out a COVID absentee ballot here, but make sure you meet criteria.
Check out the Secretary of State website for more info, or download the Geaux Vote mobile app.
Louisianahbrah isn’t endorsing anyone at the local level, but pls note we uphold an eternal always and forever iron clad anti-endorsement of Donald Trump.
These are the names you’ll find on the ballot (if you’re a registered Democrat) for the presidential primary:
Michael Bennet, Joseph R. Biden, Michael R. Bloomberg, Steve Burke, "Pete" Buttigieg, John K. Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Bernard "Bernie" Sanders, "Tom" Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, "Robby" Wells, Andrew Yang
You will also most likely have candidates for DSCC and DPEC on your ballot:
The Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) is the governing body for the Democratic Party of Louisiana and has sole responsibility for the affairs of the Louisiana Democratic Party. The DSCC helps elect Democratic candidates in local, state, and national elections, conducts the Democratic National Committee delegate selection process, promotes and builds the state party, fundraises, conducts research on judicial or executive issues, and maintains voter relations, education, and leadership programs.
Democratic Parish Executive Committees (DPEC) have the general responsibility for Democratic Party affairs at the local level. They are under the jurisdiction of the DSCC and DNC. They are responsible for the endorsement of local candidates, as well as for building Democratic infrastructure within their communities.. DPECs elect statewide and local Democratic candidates, promote Democratic Party activities, hold a minimum of 4 meetings per year, communicate with the Democratic State Central Committee, fundraise, and affiliate with local organizations.
We highly encourage checking out your sample ballot before heading to the polls so you can have a game plan ahead of time. You can find yours at geauxvote.com or on the Geaux Vote mobile app.
TWO CALLS TO ACTION
1-policing
Support HR 9 and SCR 7. Their last stop is the House Floor. Please email your State Representative and ask him/her/prolly him to vote YES on both.
HR 9 by Rep. Rodney Lyons would request the Jefferson Parish cops wear body cams
SCR 7 by Senator Cleo Fields is now merged with HR 13 by Rep. Ted James and creates a task force on police training, screening, and de-escaltion. **You’ll remember HR 13 as the resolution that Rep. Dodie Horton called the “most racist document she had ever seen”**
Find your legislator here. It will be the person who is listed as your Louisiana House District member. Click on the person and send them the following:
SCRIPT:
Dear Rep. _________,
Please vote YES on HR 9 and SCR 7 to hold law enforcement accountable and to stop the killing of black men and women.
Thank you,
Name, zip code
2-tort reform
WTF is tort reform? Good question.
It’s pretty complicated, but basically tort reform is an attempt to reduce the ability of victims in personal injury cases to seek and receive damages. Specifically in Louisiana, Republicans have claimed that passing tort reform will lower car insurance rates because it will limit auto accident lawsuits. SB 418, the tort reform golden goose egg, was passed in the regular session, but then vetoed by John Bel. Mainly because, although Republicans claimed that its passage would lower auto insurance rates, not a single insurance agency testified that this was, in fact, the case. Instead, it just protects insurance companies and makes it harder for people hurt in car accidents to recover lost wages and pay for excessive medical bills.
But don’t worry, the Republicans have once again brought a whole slew of bills—in addition to a bunch of resolutions by Rep. Seabaugh to try and override the Governor’s veto, should he dare to do that again—that will limit the ability of people to go to court and pursue damages . When Rep. Miller described Seabaugh’s endeavor to override the Governor’s veto as “bringing a suicide vest to the situation, Seabaugh responded:
“I’d prefer a bill to be signed and stop having to do this. But if he’s going veto the bill, this is really only one of the bullets left in the gun.”
All of this while also not guaranteeing that car insurance rates go down bc they say tort reform is the number one priority of the people of Louisiana and that’s how they roll. Yeehaw.
If you are so inclined, email the people leading the charge and tell them what your actual priorities are.
EMAILS:
schexnayderc@legis.la.gov, cortezp@legis.la.gov, talbotk@legis.la.gov, miguezb@legis.la.gov, garofalor@legis.la.gov, seabaugha@legis.la.gov, millerg@legis.la.gov, sen28@legis.la.gov, hewitts@legis.la.gov
SCRIPT:
Dear Legislators,
It has come to my attention that you believe the number one priority of the people of Louisiana is tort reform. As a person of Louisiana who was today years old when I found out what tort reform was, I can assure you that is not the case.
My number one priority is (fill in the blank)
Please stop wasting your time and my resources on this legislation and this bogus narrative.
Sincerely,
Name, zip code
COMPLETE THE 2020 CENSUS
That’s it. That’s the tweet.
See yall next time
Louisianahbrah