FREE Detroit - NO Consent: Subverting Detroit's Vote

FREE Detroit - NO Consent: Subverting Detroit's Vote - please read this!

Shuffling Polling Places, Voter Suppression in Detroit?

Shuffling up the locations to make it harder to get to where you need. Remember there are people with limited transportation options in Detroit.

Will the City Clerk be paying for a bus ticket to go from one location to the next? Is there a bus stop near the new spot that's on a bus route servicing the first? Bus transfers take time, and if you're going to the poll at the end of the day you very well may end up stuck (unable to get there or unable to return home afterward). Remember our bus system around the city shuts down some routes as early as 8pm.

Janice Winfrey, City Clerk
Photo: Stephen Boyle

The office of Detroit City Clerk is up for election. Current Clerk Janice Winfrey is running for reelection. D Etta Wilcoxson was dropped from the ballot and ordered to be returned to the ballot [Voice Of Detroit | Detroit News]. However when searching through City records of candidates Wilcoxson’s name does not appear as of August 6, 2012 - primary day.

Polling Locations Changed

Detroiters please plan your visit to the polling place and let your neighbors know of changes if there are any.

Old Location	New Location
New Greater Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 12545 Kelly	Wayne Elementary School, 10633 Courville
Nsoroma Institute, 20045 Joann Ave.	True Church Outreach Ministries, 19500 Schoenherr
Davis Aerospace High School, 10200 Erwin Ave.	Holmes A. L. Elementary School, 8950 Crane
Butzel Family Center, 7737 Kercheval	Marcus Garvey Academy, 2301 Van Dyke
Emerson School, 18240 Huntington	Northwest Campus of Wayne County Community College District, 8200 W. Outer Drive
Oakman Elementary School, 12920 Wadsworth	Christ Temple Baptist Church, 10628 Plymouth
Holy Redeemer, 5671 W. Vernor	Western High School, 1500 Scotten
Delray United Council, 7914 W. Jefferson	First Baptist Church of Southwest Detroit, 7642 Gould
Edward Duke Ellington, 8030 E. Outer Drive	William Beckham Academy, 9860 Park Drive

Information compiled from: The Detroit Free Press

Detroit City Council Districts

The primary election is coming up August 6, 2013 and candidates in each district will be reduced to those headed to the vote on November 5, 2013. Your candidate needs support to make it forward to the next stage of the voting process.

This is the first election using City Council Districts. Voter education is needed.

Step 1: Know Your District

The interactive map shown here is from Data Driven Detroit, which has a PDF containing detailed maps for each district. These are incredibly helpful in canvassing efforts. A simple map showing the districts is included below.

Vote VIP Slate video

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel VoteVIPslate. Our playlists feature videos from the proposal campaigns that we support.

The 2012 Michigan ballot contains critical issues in the proposals. Vote VIP Slate was created through collaboration with a number of groups and reflects those proposals most important for unity across the state.

MICHIGAN PROPOSALS

NO on Proposal 12-1, Emergency Manager Law (REPEAL PUBLIC ACT 4) "Public Enemy 1"
YES on Proposal 12-2, Collective Bargaining
____ on Proposal 12-3, Clean Energy 25 by 25 (did not have strong enough consensus)
YES on Proposal 12-4, Quality Home Care Council and collective bargaining for in-home care workers
NO on Proposal 12-5, 2/3 vote for New Taxes (proposal should not be on ballot)
____ on Proposal 12-6, Bridge issue (conflicts and feel proposal should not be on ballot)

DETROIT PROPOSALS

YES on Proposal C, Corporation Counsel
NO on Proposal E, Number of signatures required to petition for official position
NO on Proposal G, Gifts and gratuities
NO on Proposal P, Personal services contract after leaving City position
____ on Proposal M, Marijuana (could not reach consensus)
NO on Proposal S, School millage for operating expenses

CREDIT: Channel 33, WHPR TV for assisting in creating this video.

Voter Registration Deadline TOMORROW Oct 9

TOMORROW is the last day for VOTER REGISTRATION

We need to ensure the number of people coming out to the polls is as high as possible. Two groups of people may not realize they are ELIGIBLE to vote!

1. Young first time voters who will be turning 18 by November 6, 2012. You can be 17 now and register to vote. Download a button design and sport it around!
2. Felons who are not currently serving a sentence can register. It seems to be a common misconception since while serving time you are not able to vote.

Spread the word - you never know how many people you'll impact! Click a button below, download and share, or simply share the post :)

Arts and Activism Colliding

Post by Stephen Boyle

Vote VIP Slate is interested in working with communities around the State of Michigan. Many communities have events and those offer great face-to-face time to talk through the ballot proposals and find unity. Please call us at 313-338-8VIP(8847) or email votevipslate@gmail.com to arrange for speaking arrangements or materials to be distributed.

This weekend three activities are keeping me busy.

Friday - A Man Can Change #6 - The Upside of Down

Joel "Fluent" Greene is hosting an evening of artistic expression through performances of poetry and music. A big congratulations is due, since the future arrived in his family on October 3rd at 3:12am - a baby girl named  Olivia Elizabeth arrived.

Vote VIP Slate will have a table and Monica will have a few moments at the microphone during the event.
[ Facebook event link ]

Saturday - Occupy Detroit General Assembly

Next weekend on October 14 marks the one year anniversary of the Occupy Movement in Detroit. It began here with several thousand people meeting at Spirit of Hope Church on October 10 to organize. The afternoon of the 14th the march from the Spirit of Detroit to Grand Circus Park was held. Speaking went into the night and many conversations were held through the camp that was created. That camp remained standing until November 20. Watch the Occupy Detroit website for more information about the activities coming up.
Saturday October 6 at noon at 1515 Broadway
[ Facebook Event Link ] 
[ Google+ Event Link ]

Saturday October 14 at noon at Grand Circus Park, evening at 1515 Broadway

[ Facebook Event Link ] 
[ Google+ Event Link ]

Sunday - Occupy The Vote Detroit

Joe Black has been working for months to bring together speakers and talent to perform at the Redford Theater on Sunday from 6pm - 11pm. Vote VIP Slate will have space for discussion and voter registration will be available as well.
[ Facebook Event Link ]

YOU ARE ELIGIBLE

Two groups of people may not realize they are eligible voters, so please ask people to get registered if they match either of these criteria. They MUST REGISTER BY OCTOBER 9.

YOUNG VOTERS - Turning 18 by November 6

They may be 17 years old all the way up to November 5 and turn 18 that day, waking up to their first opportunity to vote and participate in setting the future through their selections.

FELONS NOT SERVING A SENTENCE

The second group may believe that being out on parole keeps them out of the voting booth. If you check with your parole officer you'll likely find that you can register to vote. It is only while actively serving sentence that you sacrifice voting rights.

Emergency Manager Law drops 17.3% state-wide support

The Detroit News & WDIV conducted a survey released August 20 through Glengariff Group which was to represent state-wide voter support for the six Michigan ballot proposals. One month later they are revisiting the poll and the most notable change is a drop of 17.3% for Proposal 12-1, The Emergency Manager Law.

Ballot proposals should have close to 60 percent or more support this close to the election if they hope to pass, Pollster Richard Czuba said. By that criteria, only Proposal 4 to regulate home health care workers and give them limited collective bargaining rights is within range at 56.2 percent, down roughly 6 percentage points since the August survey, he said.

From The Detroit News

We are happy to see the results for proposal 12-1 of the VIP slate in the poll, but feel the Governor, Treasurer, Attorney General, and their supporters will be mounting a heavily financed campaign to sway voter opinion in the six weeks ahead. Even if the law is repealed there is clear intent to create a similar new law by the Governor and Republican legislators.

Proposal 12-1 "Upholds the Emergency Manager Law" which places communities deemed financially at risk under control of either a state appointed emergency manager or under a consent agreement that brings both state and city together in managing a turnaround with assistance. This law strikes at principals that the Declaration of Independence was written, one of these being "taxation without representation". It also superceeds local law by placing new governing bodies over the people whom they did not elect and offers limited if any opportunity for the public to have voice in their governance.

Additional investigation of how well Emergency Managers have worked across the state has brought an understanding that that stabilizing financial commitments is the primary goal and costs will be born for citizens in loss of jobs, loss of services and reduced quality of life. Detroit Public Schools (DPS) has been under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (Public Act 72 of 1990) for the longest period of time. This document (linked) from the State of Michigan describes the power offered through Public Act 72. How permanent is the emergency that an entire generation has passed through DPS and the state still maintains control of a budget deeply in deficit.

 

Reviewing the remaining proposals that were polled shows area where the VIP slate needs to focus in collective bargaining / worker rights, and push for corporate tax reforms.

Proposal 12-2 "Protect Our Jobs" is preventing a rewrite of law that could remove collective bargaining rights for all workers. We can look back 100 years to see the labor conditions as a reminder of what working without labor rights would bring. Many would equate it to forced slave labor.

Proposal 12-4 "Quality Home Care Council and collective bargaining for in-home workers" will offer protection to seniors and disabled by furthering education and information dissemination through a council, and the bill would provide in-home care workers a state-wide platform for collective bargaining.

Proposal 12-5 "Limit enactment of new taxes by state government" creates a requirement for a super majority of both House and Senate for tax laws to be passed. This bill would make it harder to achieve tax reform directed at corporations that are using shelters to avoid taxes. It does not address removal of tax laws which would lead to unbalanced tax reforms in favor of wiping out taxes. Taxes are how infrastructure is maintained and grown for society. Corporations need infrastructure to operate but shifting the burden onto the backs of the working class by using the "creating jobs" position is inappropriate.

Proposals 12-3 and 12-6 are not included in the Vote VIP Slate based on finding as much support in the slate created as possible across the State of Michigan. We want to protect working families and seniors in Michigan. We hope you are a supporter of the slate as well and assist in distributing information. Each one can reach one as our duty as a responsible citizen.