Organizing for America | Jolly's Blog: Independence Day - Remembering Angela and Celebrating Our Democracy

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Independence Day - Remembering Angela and Celebrating Our Democracy

By Jolly, a person of unyielding hope who helped elect President Obama - Jul 4th, 2008 at 8:58 am EDT

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On this Independence day, as I joyfully celebrate our freedom and the birth of this great country. I am also remembering that there is still a lot of work to do to perfect our union and to protect the democracy that those whom came before us fought so hard to secure. I am remembering in particular Angela, with whom some of our older members are already familiar (and whose story keeps me chasing people down the streets, bars and concert halls doing voter registration to this day).

During the primary season I was part of the attorney Promote the Vote voter protection volunteer force in Columbus, Ohio, West Philadelphia, PA and Rocky Mount, NC. In Rocky Mount, NC, I ended up driving a voter (Lakisha) to a polling location other than my assigned location since it sounded like she was getting the run around. This was late in the day (5ish) and I got to the other location to find a line of people in front of the presiding judge including a woman with tears streaming down her face at the front of the line. The woman was pleading with the judge that she HAD to vote for Senator Obama, that she had a small child and this was so important to her family. It turns out that the DMV in this largely African American district had registered a bunch of voters as Republicans. Thus, this life long democrat and Obama volunteer was only being offered a Republican ballot (which she refused to take). Thankfully, Angela didn't give up. She had originally left, but had come back to the polls after hearing Hill Harper on the radio saying that people shouldn't let anyone turn them away! We were able to convince the judge to give her a Democratic provisional ballot and Angela was able to vote her true conviction. Sadly, the judge said that this had been happening all day long and at least five other people had left without voting. Angela touched my heart and reinforced how important it is to vote and not let anyone take this right away from you. I also learned that its a good idea to double check your registration with the Board of Elections and make sure you are properly on the rolls! So for Angela, for those 5 others whomever they be, for Senator Obama and for this country, I will continue to do my part to promote the vote. Long live Democracy, Long live Independence.

If anyone would like to join me in a symbolic donation of $17.76 to the campaign this Independence Day, our group thermometer is now fired up and ready to go. http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/ObamaSupporterswithaMargarita

God Bless America and God Bless Senator Obama,
Jolly "Hopemonger"N

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