Statement of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
On December 11, 2000, the United States Supreme Court completed the
theft of the Presidential election.
The deepest wound was inflicted not upon the Gore candidacy
but upon democracy itself. The very foundation of democratic rule in
this nation, enshrined in the Constitution's declaration that WE
THE PEOPLE are the ultimate source of legal authority, has
beentrampled by a blatantly partisan Supreme Court. Its majority, led
by a triad of ultra-rightists, halted a recount of Florida's votes
and then cynically ran out the clock. The Court's action
obliterates any claim to nonpartisan defense of the Constitution
and validates Justice John Paul Stevens' statement that while
thewinner may never be known, "the identity of the loser is perfectly
clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial
guardian of the law."
The Supreme Court's ruling was the capstone of an effort by both
political and judicial forces to disfranchise tens of thousands of
voters. It reveals the empty vessel of deception and
antidemocratic practice upon which power rests in this nation. Staunch
Republican opposition to a statewide hand recount was based on fear that
its desire to minimize the labor and African American and other
votes would be exposed. Polling places in Florida's working class and
African American communities were saddled with ancient,
unreliable voting machines and inadequate staff. Access for people in
wheelchairs was unavailable in some locations. Haitian and
other non-English speaking voters were denied translators and
assistance.
A purge of alleged felons from Florida's voting rolls eliminated
thousands of eligible African American voters. Road blocks,
police intimidation, and racial profiling of Black males near polling
places kept scores from voting.Under the cruelly ironic guise of
upholding the constitutional guarantee of "equal protection," the
Supreme Court struck down the standard of recounting votes based
on determining the will of the
voter. Will the Court and all other branches now apply the same
principle of "equal protection" to disfranchised African Americans
who have fought for more than two centuries for the right to vote?
If such denial of the fundamental principle of the right to vote is
allowed to stand, this ruling will go down in history with the
infamous Dred Scott Decision which declared that Blacks had
no
rights that whites were bound to respect and Plessy v. Ferguson
which enshrined racial segregation.
The Florida story contains a profound lesson. The racist
treatment
of Black voters undermined the interests of working people of all
races who seek a more progressive direction. Stealing the
election
had far less to do with the candidates than with trying to
minimize and dissolve the influence of organized labor, African
Americans, and other progressive sectors. In coming days, we
will
be swamped with rhetoric about "unity and reconciliation,"
"rallying around the President-elect," etc. But "unity" behind
reactionary policies and assaults on the interests of working
people is not "unity," but capitulation to the right-wing and its
agenda.
We need unity to defend democracy. We call for heightened
cooperation in the hard days ahead among labor, African
Americans,
Latinos/as, Asian Americans, Native Americans, youth, seniors,
gays
and straights, independent progressives and progressive
Democrats.
We need collaboration among all who cherish democracy and
our
constitutional rights, all who truly value "equal protection under
the law," all who wish to see a peaceful, noninterventionist
foreign policy, a living wage, protection of social security and
other social programs, comprehensive and affordable health
care, an
end to the death penalty and the prison-industrial complex, and
the
restoration of basic democratic principles at the polling place
and
throughout society.
We, the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and
Socialism,
are prepared to work with others in a national campaign to
rescue
our electoral system from corruption and theft. We call for:
- public financing of elections;We call upon civil rights and civil liberties organizations to press for a federal investigation of the denial of voting rights and also call upon them to file suit in federal court to set aside the election on grounds that African American and working class voters were denied equal protection in seeking to vote.
- the establishment an equal and reliable system for voting from the ghettos and barrios to the high rent districts;
- instituting proportional representation and instant runoff voting;
- end winner-take-all allocation of electors and ultimately abolish the electoral college;
- require democratic access to mass media and debates; - enact universal voter registration;
-make election day a holiday;