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This comes courtesy of the Ruckus Society in Oakland.. This election will be heavily watched and unfortunately it has been bringing out the worse in people.. here are some scenarios that could possibly happen and somethings you can do to deal with them. Keep these in mind and good luck tomorrow..

D

The Ruckus Society Election Action Memo:
Scenarios, Targets and Messaging:

This memo is intended to cover a variety of potential election scenarios, and what non-partisan action targets and messaging could look like on Election Day.


In every scenario, we assume there are some voters who will face challenges in their voting process. In fact, this is already happening. From voter roll purges to poll worker limitations to machine "glitches" to race-related hate crimes, it's happening already.


Documenting and reporting efforts, including 866-OurVote, Twittervotereport. org, No Stolen Elections, Video the Vote and Election Defense Alliance are in effect. However, we also have to take action to change history in real time.


We feel the ideal response to instances of voter disenfranchisement is a collective one - legal support, video documentation, the support of on-the-ground voter organizers, and escalated action until the issue is resolved.


There will be legal responses, and we've posted information on how to support those on our site. This contingency plan is for situations where negotiation and pure efforts of getting out the vote fail, and we want to escalate attention enough to rectify the situation in real time.


Our action experts will be available to advise and support folks as needed, and where we can we will match local experts to groups who want that support.
We've also posted an action kit at www. ruckus. org/electionaction to support effective actions by autonomous groups. The kit includes basic info about nonviolent direct action, an action planning manual, a list of action ideas, a creative visuals manual, and more. We invite folks to use this action kit along with this scenario memo to create some amazing actions.


Let us know about your actions and we'll post them on our site.


What we have thought through here are some examples of scenarios, frames and targets.


- Scenario 1: Obama, McCain or McKinney wins clearly, there's no challenge or significant story of election issues.


o What to expect: People will be celebrating or processing, and not focused on actions around election issues.


o Plan: Document, document, document· In 2006 it was made clear that in a moment of momentum or apparent victory, folks put on blinders to systemic electoral problems or potential election fraud. The more powerful work at that point will be in building a case for future election planning.


o Exception: In a situation where Obama wins, there could be hate crime retaliation.


" Action need: Show solidarity with black and/or Muslim (or other targeted) communities.

" Idea: Pro-active actions, especially human shields in places where tensions are high.


- Scenario 2: The integrity of the election is called into question with significant proof/documentation/witnesses, but a winner is called before election issues are resolved.


o What to expect - chaos, closed doors, unheard of new rules, media convolution of the situation and confusion/anger/despair in our communities.


o Plan: Call for No Concessions, and draw attention with video and actions to the abuses. This is primarily a media campaign, to keep the story live.


o Targets:
" Polling places:
" long line? Street theater, song, hip-hop and mini-rallies to encourage voters to stay till they get to vote

" voters being challenged at the polls? Legal support.


" County clerk offices and media outlets

" Votes not being counted, or numbers not matching exit polls - human blockades where votes are being counted to make sure those counting the votes don't leave till all votes are accounted for.


" If the vote has to be resolved by the Supreme Court, messaging: "Election, not Selection.
"

- Scenario 3: The integrity of the election is called into question so severely that no winner can be called.


o What to expect - chaos, anger, confusion/despair in our communities, apathy.


o Plan: This is the scenario where citizen action will be the most important. We absolutely have the power to stop business as usual in our cities with targeted actions and civil disobedience.
Our plan of action will need to be appropriately suited to the situation at hand, so stay posted at www. ruckus. org.


o Message: Make visuals that are specific to your community using this formula:

" "Insert issue/community" deserves a fair election - "instruction". Folks can drop in the issue/community that is most compelling to the folks they are working with, and the instruction that makes most sense locally.
Examples:

" "Higher education deserves a fair election! Count every vote!"

" "New Orleans deserves a fair election - Count the proxies!"

o Targets: If the decision moves to the federal level, then we will need to influence our state officials to hold the line, so we'll target capital buildings, Secretary of State offices, and major public and recognizable venues.


Of course our hope is that the problems are minimal, and reflect an under-resourced electoral process more than malicious intentions by folks hoping to unfairly influence the election. However, it is in our best interest to be prepared for every possible outcome, particularly considering recent electoral history. This is not the time to sit by and watch. Our communities, and our brother and sister communities around the world, are depending on us.


Good luck!
Ruckus Society

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