Recent news reports have outlined how militia groups plan on being at polling places on Election Day. This is a reaction to the Current Occupant’s call to have them "monitored", which of course means intimidation, particularly at urban locations.
Turns out the militias are on the ball and taking into account states that have significant vote-by-mail infrastructure because today, at least two drop boxes here in Denver had men in tactical gear and masks “manning” the box.
“There were two men in tactical gear and wearing masks (NO Visible Weapons) standing near the ballot dropoff box. One of them asked me for my ID. I told him no, asked him to step aside, and he did. No confrontation, or other harassment.”
People were at this particular drop box earlier in the day and then went by perhaps an hour later. No sign of the “poll watchers”.
The state of Colorado and the city of Denver have a fantastic vote-by-mail program. Books in English and Spanish were mailed state-wide up to two weeks prior that explained the ballot initiatives. The city of Denver did something similar about a week later regarding voter plebiscites specific to the city.
Ballots were mailed on 9 October. Living in the city proper, I received mine the next day.
There are plenty of drop boxes.
This is a state that wants everybody to vote and be confident that their vote is counted, hence they have a robust program you can sign up for to track your ballot.
Easy, right? Well, not so much when faced with masked goons at a drop box, thus, when faced with this, what does one do afterwards?
We’re telling people to start by contacting the various, local election authorities:
Secretary of State: elections@sos.state.co.us
City of Denver: elections@denvergov.org
Alternatively, Denver residents can can call the 311 Non-Emergency number and talk directly to someone in the elections section. We’re also telling people to contact the local media, for example, Channel 9 News.
Other news outlets:
newstips@thedenverchannel.com,
yourtake@9news.com,
news@koaa.com,
youreport@cbs.com
Then, call the FBI’s Civil Rights Division that deals with voter intimidation: 800-253-3931.
Finally, for your locale, Georgetown Law School was so concerned, they put together a fact sheet that spells out the laws barring unauthorized private militia groups and what to do if groups of armed individuals are near a polling place or voter registration drive.
I’ve been voting since 1980 and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this could happen. And of course it’s happening in Smurf Blue Denver, that’s not a coincidence.