In four days we complete our 2021, off-year election. The murder of George Floyd and systemic racism in the police have put Minneapolis on the world stage. Now, the world is watching to see how we Minneapolitans use our democratic freedoms to address the historic grievances of black Americans and other peoples of color. How we vote will be viewed as an indication of the strength of the American democracy.
Things don’t look good. Since 2016, that is no longer the case. Americans have been shocked by the Republican Party’s aggressiveness and blatant manipulation, disregard, of the truth. The attack on our democracy on January 6th and the ongoing disclosure of how Trump and Republicans have worked diligently for years to undermine our rights leaves us no doubt that our freedoms are in peril.
It is in this light that our election provides an example of the scope and power of our individual votes. There are three amendments on the ballot. Each touches a fundamental aspect of government that impacts all of us.
Question 1 asks where Minneapolitans want power to reside in our city government and changes the fundamental relationship between the Mayor and the City Council.
Minneapolis has an unusual government in that both Mayor and Council have equal powers. The amendment would reshape Minneapolis government into a federal model, with an executive Mayor, who sets goals and agenda, and a legislative Council that, handles implementation through laws and regulations. This has ramifications for the other two amendments.
Question 2 asks if we want to move from a traditional Police Department to a Department of Public Safety.
This would redefine the nature of policing, making it an integrated part of a larger department that approaches crime and safety as a public health issue. Currently, Police are asked to respond to situations for which they are not trained. This frequently leads to confrontations between the officers, the individual and the community. The Public Safety Department would provide crisis intervention social services of which policing is but one. This approach would reduce the number of calls police would respond to, freeing them to focus on the situations they are trained for, and lessening the potential for community conflict. Gradually, both police and our communities will learn to trust each other, leading to healthier relations between the two. This will improve the quality of services provided when police are required.
Question 3 asks if we want to implement rent control as part of a plan to increase affordable housing.
This question goes to the heart of the economics of rental property. How do we provide affordable housing for all Minneapolitans? New housing in Minneapolis like other cities is in the hands of developers and corporate investors whose aim is to make as much money as possible on their investment. The result is that new rental housing is too expensive for most working families, retirees, poor and disabled, regardless of race or ethnicity. This also drives up the rentals of existing units further worsening the problem. And all the time, housing gets less affordable for most Minneapolitans. Thus, we vote to determine how best to serve the common good.
So, in a single local election, we are given the opportunity to make fundamental changes to our city government’s structure and distribution of power; create a new definition for Public Safety and the role of the police; and promote affordable housing for the poor and people of modest income by moderating the power of developers, investors, and corporate owners. For now, all Minneapolitans can express themselves by voting on these weighty, contentious issues that can transform their lives. This is what democracy is all about.
This coming vote is unique and precious. There is a strong possibility that, across the nation, the Republican Party will find ways to contest the results of our local and state elections, attempting to sow confusion and doubt, not to mention change the results.
The mid-term election in 2022 will not be free. Republicans[1] have full control of both the Executive and Legislative branches in 23 states, and full control of 30 state legislatures while Democrats have 15 and 18 respectively.
This year there has been a concentrated, nation-wide effort to restrict voting. There have been 425 bills containing restrictive provisions introduced in 49 states. Of these, 19 Republican dominated states have passed 33 bills to restrict voting. Most erect obstructions to voting, such as limiting days and hours available for early voting, reducing the number of polling places, and such. However, 4 states, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, and Texas have gone much further, giving their legislatures or government departments the power to intercede and determine the results of elections. In effect, allowing them to ignore the will of the voters. [2]
While the Republicans have been trying to strangle democracy, 25 states have expanded access to voting, passing 62 laws containing voting rights elements. In 2021, 49 states proposed almost 1,000 bills with expanded voting provisions. However, the Brennan Center for Justice article pointed out, “But this expansive legislation does not balance the scales. The states that have enacted restrictive laws tend to be ones in which voting is already relatively difficult, while the states that have enacted expansive laws tend to have relatively more accessible voting processes. In other words, access to the right to vote increasingly depends on the state in which a voter happens to reside.”
Minnesota’s Republican Party marches lockstep with the national party, parroting the same dishonest arguments based on refuted accusations. This year the Republican controlled state Senate voted for a Voter ID law. They were blocked by DFL Governor, Tim Walz, and the DFL controlled House. To stay busy, Republicans have followed Mitch McConnell lead by stalling and blocking Governor Walz’s choices for his Cabinet, denying qualified leadership of various state departments. In the cases where an demonstrator has done anything to offend the Republicans, they have used the Senate to attack and hound them.
Most alarming is the recent disclosure that 60% of Republicans do not believe that President Biden is really the President, preferring to pledge their allegiance to Trump. The genuine threat posed by Trump, his supporters, and the Republican Party becomes clearer each day as the Insurrectionist leadership continues to crank up the volume and madness of the Big Lie.
A few days ago, at a Turning Point USA youth event in Idaho, a man asked the host, “At this point, we’re living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny.” And then “When do we get to use the guns?” The audience applauded. He continued, “No, and I’m not — that’s not a joke. I’m not saying it like that. I mean, literally, where’s the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” [3]
Is that what Minnesotan Republicans ask? I wish I could say no, but evidence suggests that there is a genuine threat in here at home too.
That is why, each one of us must vote to support democracy and our unalienable rights to participate in our government. The people and amendments we vote for must reinforce democracy. They will be the folks and tools that we will depend on to fight for our rights. Every vote cast to defend democracy and the right to vote, to promote economic, environmental, and social justice is a sign of our commitment to carry on the dreams of the Founders and all intervening generations of Americans. We will continue to fight for the American Experiment, the American Dream.
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Republicans to Have Full Control of 23 States, Democrats 15 (2021 Map). Americans for Tax Reform. 11/09/2020 https://www.atr.org/map?amp ↑
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Voting Laws Roundup: October 2021. The Brennan Center for Justice. 10/04/2021
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-october-2021 ↑ -
‘When do we get to use the guns?’: The ongoing danger of false fraud claims. Philip Bump, Washington Post. 10/27/2021
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/27/when-do-we-get-use-guns-ongoing-danger-false-fraud-claims/
The Image
The image is a composite, the sky and flag are individual images covered by Creative Commons usage. I manipulated both images and color corrected so that they would work together.
The Flag is by Mike Mozart, JeepersMedia, CC-BY.
The sky is by Fractal Artists, CC-BY.
The image above, Stormy Skies 2, is mine, CC-BY.