OAKLAND RALLY DEMANDS, COUNT THE VOTES!
By David Bacon
CFT United, 11/65/20
https://www.cft.org/article/
oakland-rally-demands-count-every-vote
The polls closed in Hawaii, the westernmost voting site in the U.S., at 1am, Eastern Time on November 4. At 2:28, less than two hours later, President Trump sent out a Tweet announcing that he’d won the election. Millions of votes had yet to be counted, especially those cast by people voting early because of the coronavirus. But Trump demanded that counting stop, and made false charges of election rigging. He immediately filed suits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia to stop the count, and then defied his own logic by demanding a recount in Wisconsin.
In response, people across the country came into streets and public places to protest, and to demand that all votes be counted before announcing whether Trump had won. On Wednesday morning, in fact it seemed more likely that former Vice-President Joe Biden had accumulated enough votes in the Electoral College to claim victory. Nevertheless, he demanded that counting continue until all votes were tallied.
At noon on Wednesday in Oakland a crowd of several hundred people held homemade signs, and raucously cheered speeches denouncing Trump’s move to, in effect, steal the election. Chants of Count the Votes! repeatedly reverberated across Oscar Grant Plaza, in front of Oakland City Hall. The front of the building itself was draped with three enormous orange banners with the same words, painted by David Solnit, an artist whose work is a constant presence at California social justice protests.
Teachers were a visible presence, in blue tee-shirts emblazoned with the AFT logo, and «Count Every Vote» on one side and «Democracy Defender» on the other. Members of the California Federation of Teachers were encouraged to come to the rally, and to others planned in coming days, by the union’s Executive Council, which passed a resolution on Friday before the election outlining its commitment to defending democracy.
The Oakland rally was addressed by Jovanka Beckles, a former member of the Richmond City Council who was just elected to the AC Transit Board of Directors. A prominent member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance and a candidate endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Beckles told the crowd that the only way to ensure that the results of the election will be respected is for people to make their voices heard in large numbers. «We’re the only ones who can truly make sure every vote counts,» she said.
Saabir Lockett, Director of the Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy (FAME), prefaced a prayer by saying, «This is about going on the offensive with love, light, and righteous resistance. Everyone?-?no matter what creed, race or gender?-?has a right to have their vote counted. Any declaration of victory without counting all votes is a slap in the face to democracy and to the everyday hardworking people who believe in the process.»
More actions like the Oakland rally will take place in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and other cities as part of the Protect the Results network, a nationwide coalition.