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Being Puerto Rican is complicated in the capital of Ohio. My descendants come from the native islanders, the Taínos, Spain, and West Africa. Puerto Rico was originally known as El Boriquén and the natives Boricuas. Nowadays, the official language is Spanish with many words influenced by the Taínos.

The tradition is we speak in Spanish with our elders. Unlike my generation and younger we speak Spanglish among each other. Our gene pool is mixed. We are easily mistaken for people from other cultures. Our history involves colonialism, slavery, revolts and resiliency. Puerto Rico politics are complicated. It is a colony of the USA. The US Naval and Marine forces practiced missile bombing on the small islands around it. As a result, people began to suffer from cancer. Environmentalists and advocates have gone to jail by voicing their concerns demanding the demilitarization and clean up from the radioactive waste and missiles.

IN-PERSON ABSENTEE VOTING
Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Rd,, Columbus, Ohio 43229

DATES AND HOURS (subject to change)

October 5 - October 22 (Weekdays Only - Monday through Friday) 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

CLOSED - Monday, October 11, 2021

October 25 - October 29 (Weekdays Only - Monday through Friday) 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Saturday, October 30 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Sunday, October 31. 1:00 – 5:00 PM

Monday, November 1 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

ELECTION DAY - Tuesday, November 2

REQUEST ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION ONLINE AND BY MAIL

You are entitled to vote by absentee ballot in Ohio without providing a reason.

Absentee ballot applications may be obtained from the Franklin County Board of Elections or the Secretary of State. The Ohio Secretary of State’s website is www.voteohio.gov, and their phone number is 1-877-767-6446.
https://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/Voters/Absentee-Voting#

Can't Gerrymander Statewide Races

While the Republican's once a decade gerrymander hangs in the balance, it is well to remember that one class of races cannot be grotesquely reshaped. Statewide contests, which fully encompass the often jagged borders of Ohio, are immune to the stuff.  It would be wise for Democrats to concentrate on them.

A few months ago, I was sure that the Ohio Supreme Court would step in, slap the redistricting commission's and Ohio legislature's hands and force the creation of intelligently shaped districts that would have a slight Republican advantage after tossing out the horribly GOP-skewed ones. Three appeals to the high court already have been filed but any decisions will come in December at the earliest.

No less prominent journalists than cleveland.com's Andrew Tobias and Ohio University's Thomas Suddes are hinting that Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor will join the three Democrats on the court in voting 4-3 to throw out the gerrymanders and form fair districts. O'Connor went against the grain last decade, but was outvoted by her Republican colleagues.

On Saturday, October 2nd 2021 more than 1,000 people attended the Rally for Abortion Justice at the Ohio State House in Downtown Columbus as part of the 2021 National Women's March. Demonstrators in Columbus and at 600 other marches around the country showed up to support the right to access abortion care. The unpreceded Texas law banning nearly all abortions in that state shocked many advocates for reproductive health care.

Abortion access is under attack in Ohio as the 1st hearing for Ohio Senate Bill 123, a "trigger ban" that would criminalize abortions in Ohio, entered Senate Committee with support from two Republican sponsors on September 29th. Also the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear the Mississippi case which could overrule Roe v. Wade in the session starting this October 2021.

At the rally demonstrators held signs that read "My body, my choice" and "Anti-abortion laws are part of systemic racism," and "If you can't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?"

SB 117 and HB 351, two bills to repeal the OVEC coal plant bailouts from HB6, are currently stuck in committee and we need calls to the committee members to put pressure on them to pass these bills out of committee! Below are sample scripts and the numbers for all the committee members on the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee and the House Public Utilities Committee. I have also attached a PDF of this document, as well as a PDF with talking points for those of you who would like more information. Please feel free to personalize the script. It is helpful to make calls to all of the committee members, but if you are in one of their districts, please prioritize that representative and note when you call them that you are in their district.

Sunday, October 3, 2021, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

Sunday, October 3, 2021, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

It is entirely within the realm of possibility that hundreds of thousands of people have seen the amazing work of Ernest Withers, but didn’t know it. He was one of the most talented and prolific photographers of the modern-day freedom movement. A number of his images–including those of Martin Luther King, Jr., riding on an integrated bus in Montgomery, and the photo of Mose Wright, the extremely brave uncle of Emmett Till defiantly pointing his finger at the white man who kidnaped and killed the teenager–are beyond iconic. But Withers had a secret identity. A native black southerner, he was simultaneously an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in that same movement.

The event will be held October 2, 2021, 1-3 PM at The Linden Branch of the Columbus Metro. Library (2223 Cleveland Ave.) Click here to RSVP.
Residents, Business Leaders, And Elected Officials Come Together To Discuss Clean Energy Jobs, Public Health, And Environmental Justice
At a time when clean energy projects are developing across the state, Columbus Stand Up! and the Ohio Climate Justice Fund will host a community conversation in the Linden neighborhood of Columbus to discuss ways to advance an equitable clean future for everyone in Ohio. 

Ohio’s elected Republicans at all levels of government fail the public. It worsens rather than improves. They act against public health and safety; imitate reactionary policies in other states, often unrelated to Ohio; act unconstitutionally; misrepresent basic facts; and contradict the needs and wishes of their constituents. From free speech to voting rights and basic Covid protocols, they violate the law and common sense. While they consider themselves conservatives, they are actually right-wing radicals who violate the traditional respect for others and support for limited government (not wildly “banning” all they oppose). 

First, Republican state legislators create a public health crisis. They refuse to obey the state’s mask mandate or practice social distancing. They vote to override the governor’s and public health officials’ orders despite lacking expertise or any commitment to the public interest or general welfare. They expand gun “rights” while restricting abortion rights, ignoring experts’ testimony, federal and state laws, and the U.S. Constitution.