Sorority offered free drinks to members to vote in Tuscaloosa City Board of Education race

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By Melissa Brown | mbrown@al.com al.com
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on August 28, 2013 at 8:00 AM, updated August 28, 2013 at 4:52 PM

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Vans, limousines and at least one bus were seen picking up people along University of Alabama's sorority row Tuesday afternoon, shuttling them to and from the District 4 polling station a few blocks away. (Melissa Brown/al.com)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- A University of Alabama Greek organization offered incentives to members in exchange for voting in the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education election, according to an email obtained by AL.com Monday.

The email, sent to sorority members residing in District 4 from a ranking member of the chapter's executive board, encourages members to vote for Cason Kirby and Lee Garrison in exchange for incentives including free drinks at two local bars and limousine transportation to the polls.
Kirby challenged incumbent Kelly Horwitz for the District 4 seat and Garrison ran for board chair against Denise Hills. Both were elected by slim margins in Tuesday's election, though neither Horwitz nor Hills conceded the race by the end of the day.
(All punctuation and emphasis is found in the original email.)
"In a list that was e-mailed to me this weekend, y'all are the only [members] registered in the specific district that are allowed to vote," the email states. "Cason Kirby, a past SGA president of the University of Alabama is running for the City Board of Education, and Lee Garrison a UA Alum is also running."
"They would really appreciate/need your vote to win this election. It's going to be really tight, and it is SO IMPORTANT that they get the Greek Vote. I told both of them that I would do my best to make sure that I got every Chi O that was registered to the polls. There is a big incentive for you going as well!!"
The email goes on to list five "incentives," including that both the sorority and individuals who vote would receive points to go toward UA's Panhellenic and the sorority's in-house point systems, which reward participation within the system.
In addition, the author states "they rented out Innisfree and Moe's" -- two downtown Tuscaloosa bars -- and wristbands good for one free drink at each venue and free cover would be made available to members who showed an "I Voted" sticker to the sorority representative.

[See also: PAC money, student voter fraud allegations lead up to contentious school board elections]

On Tuesday night, many Innisfree patrons wore matching wristbands, though no wristbands were offered at the front gate. Cason Kirby was seen celebrating his election with friends and family.
A variety of vehicles, including stretch limousines and a large passenger bus, were seen along sorority row Tuesday, shuttling passengers to and from the District 4 polling station several blocks away.
Students have been more vocally involved in this year's school board campaign than in years past, with the College Democrats canvassing on behalf of Kelly Horwitz and several sororities and fraternities displaying Cason Kirby placards in their front lawns.

On Friday, TV station WVUA reported that 10 unrelated people are registered to vote in a single family home in District 4.
WVUA reports that a resident in the home said his "fraternity pledge brothers" are using the house as a residence to vote, but don't actually live inside the home.

16 Nov 2012 at 3:11 PM

Posted in:Election Law, Lawsuit of the Day, Minority Issues, Racism, Texas

Lawsuit of the Day: Texas Lawyer Argues That Minorities Were Too Stupid To Understand Ballot Initiative They Just Passed

By Elie Mystal

Wait, that’s the wrong answer.

It’s been great fun to watch archconservatives wake up and realize what country they’ve been living in this whole time. Minorities vote too. Single women don’t like being called sluts. Gays and lesbians are everywhere. And people can understand that sometimes, taxes are necessary.
The emerging American consciousness — from both Democrats and Republicans — that if we want government to do things we have to pay for them with taxes, has been particularly fun to watch. In Austin, Texas, there was a ballot initiative which contemplated raising property takes to in order to pay for “a medical school in Austin and other health care projects,” according to the Austin American-Statesman. And it passed!
But that didn’t sit well with some Texans. Don Zimmerman, treasurer of the Travis County Taxpayers Union political action committee, argued that the initiative — called Proposition 1 — was discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. Zimmerman and his attorney argued that Prop 1 was confusing to minorities who “have lower reading comprehension than whites.”
Maybe so, but I sho’nuff can spy me a racist when I done read one….

If this wasn’t happening in open court, I’d think that some troll made up the arguments offered by Zimmerman and his lawyer. From the Austin American-Statesman:

Stephen Casey, the lawyer for Zimmerman, his PAC and two minority voters, said he is exploring options, including the possibility of appealing to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He argued before Yeakel Wednesday afternoon that the ballot language amounted to “cheerleading” and that minority voters, whom he said have lower reading comprehension than whites, were more likely to find the wording confusing.

Aren’t you just dying to see what language was very clear to white voters but way too confusing to minority voters? Me too. Here’s the proposition, as it appeared on the Travis County ballot (click to enlarge):

Now the question isn’t whether or not you or I can understand this passage. We can because we’ve had legal training, are intelligent, and I just told you in the opening what this passage means.
The question, presented by Zimmerman and Casey, is whether or not minorities, by dint of their particular pigmentation, are at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding this measure as compared to whites. Zimmerman and Casey are arguing that minorities living in Austin can’t read as well as whites, simply because they happen to be minorities living in Austin.
Needless to say, the judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, denied the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction against the property tax.

“The court holds that plaintiffs have failed to establish a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits … (and) have an almost impossible burden to demonstrate that the Voting Rights Act provides them the opportunity to challenge the language of Proposition 1,” Yeakel said in his 11-page decision.

The Voting Rights Act is there so people can’t make laws arbitrarily declaring some people too stupid to vote. Luckily, there’s nothing stopping the courts from summarily dismissing lawsuits filed by the truly ignorant.
Judge rejects effort to prevent medical school proposition from taking effect [Austin American-Statesman]

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• Tags: Don Zimmerman, Election Law, Judge Lee Yeakel, Lawsuit of the Day, Minority Issues, Racism, Stephen Casey, Texas, Voting Rights Act

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