No Matter Who Wins, The Election has been stolen… And the war continues Join us Wed. Nov. 3 Union Square 5-7pm BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW! End the Colonial Occupation of Iraq, Palestine, Haiti, and Afghanistan We Need Money for Jobs, Housing, Healthcare & Education! Not for War & Occupation! US Hands Off Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Korea, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sudan & Everywhere! The choices for young people - particularly in communities of color, are joblessness and police brutality, or the military. Recruiters are stepping up recruitment of youth in working class high schools throughout the country! We can't depend on Bush or Kerry to end the war with no end. Only a mass movement can stop this madness! Whoever wins, the People have been disenfranchised Whichever candidate wins on Election Day, the fact remains the people have been locked out of the political process. The election has a multi-million dollar entrance fee--only candidates financed by the super-rich have any chance of getting elected. Neither candidate speaks for the people—both are owned by Wall Street. Neither candidate speaks for the millions who do not have health insurance. Neither candidate speaks for working people who need a living wage. Neither candidate speaks out against police brutality, racial profiling, and the Patriot Act. Neither corporate candidate can speak for the people--we must continue to build a movement in the streets that will raise the issues of working and oppressed people. Racism and the Stolen Election Across the country, vote fraud, voter intimidation, and dirty tricks are being used to suppress the vote, particularly the votes of people of color and immigrants. Robert Kutner, writing for the October 20 Boston Globe, stated, "The Republicans are out to steal the 2004 election -- before, during, and after Election Day. Before Election Day, they are employing such dirty tricks as improper purges of voter rolls, use of dummy registration groups that tear up Democratic registrations, and the suppression of Democratic efforts to sign up voters, especially blacks and students. "On Election Day, Republicans will attempt to intimidate minority voters by having poll watchers threaten criminal prosecution if something is technically amiss with their ID, and they will again use technical mishaps to partisan advantage." In Nevada, where the two presidential candidates are in a dead heat, Republican operatives are attempting to purge about 17,000 voters from the rolls. Voters Outreach of America, run by Nathan Sproul, an Arizona GOP political consultant whose firm, Sproul & Associates, has been paid nearly $500,000 by the Republican National Committee to do "voter outreach," is facing a voter fraud investigation for allegedly destroying voter-registration forms they had collected from Democratic voters. Similar allegations have surfaced in Oregon and West Virginia, where the group has been active. In Florida, Republicans are being accused of dirty tricks, intimidation, and poll fraud. According to the New York Times, officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement – which reports to Gov. Jeb Bush – have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an "investigation" that has frightened many voters. Many of the elderly black voters who were question by state police officers are members of the Orlando League of Voters, which has been effectively in mobilizing the city's black vote. In Kentucky, Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, and other "swing states" the Republicans have made plans to station thousands of “vote challengers" at the polls to intimidate voters and challenge votes, especially in largely African-American precincts. In Ohio, using tactics reminiscent of the "Jim Crow" days, the GOP is sending thousands of recruits to polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters. The challenges could be made on four main grounds: whether the voter is a citizen, is at least 18, is a resident of the county and has lived in Ohio for the previous 30 days. In Philadelphia, Republican operatives made a last ditch attempt Friday to relocate 63 polling places – many of them in Black neighborhoods – all of them in districts where Democrats have an advantage. Civil rights and labor unions have brought suit in U.S. District Court in Newark, saying the GOP is violating a consent decree, issued in the 1980s by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise and still in effect, that prevents the Republicans from starting "ballot security" programs to prevent voter fraud that target minorities. Judith A. Browne, acting co-director of the Advancement Project, which filed the lawsuit along with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the Republican "challenges were, and currently are, used to disenfranchise minority voters." Bush & Kerry: Pro-War, Pro-Business Millions in the U.S. and around the world have demonstrated against the war in Iraq. Many among them hoped that the Democratic presidential candidate would champion peace. But instead of saying he'll end the war in Iraq, Kerry has said repeatedly, "we cannot lose in Iraq," and has called for 40,000 more troops. In Sadr City, Samara, Fallujah and Baqubah, hundreds have been killed in recent U.S. strikes and raids. The US military is preparing for an assault on Fallujah and other areas held by the resistance. To date, at least fourteen to fifteen thousand Iraqis have been killed and over eleven hundred U.S. soldiers have died. No matter who is elected, the death toll will continue to climb at a horrific rate. In Haiti, over the past several weeks the interim government of Gérard Latortue has dramatically increased the level of repression against the people of Haiti, especially supporters of Fanmi Lavalas. Since the February 29, 2004 coup, and the kidnapping by U.S. Marines of President Aristide, thousands of trade union, community and Fanmi Lavalas activists have been murdered and thousands more have been imprisoned. In Palestine, the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza has resulted in hundreds of Palestinians either dead or injured. Neither Bush nor Kerry has said one word in opposition to this murderous assault. In fact, they blame the Palestinians for trying to defend their land while at the same time proudly proclaiming their support for the Israeli government. Under Bush, discrimination against South Asian, Arab- American, Muslim and other immigrants and people of color continues, and the USA Patriot Act has been extended. Massive military spending is draining badly needed resources, and as Bush quietly guided the $446 billion Pentagon budget through congress, Kerry didn't utter a word of protest. Health care facilities are closing, community colleges have suffered cuts in staff and programming, and the availability of jobs is less hopeful with each day. Bush & Kerry sell themselves as pro-big business, pro-free trade, and fans of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's monetary policies. These are the same policies that have resulted in growing unemployment, the falling standard of living for working people, and the disappearance of union jobs that pay a living wage. We must continue to build a mass movement to say: BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW! End the Colonial Occupation of Iraq, Palestine, Haiti, and Afghanistan We Need Money for Jobs, Housing, Healthcare & Education! Not for War & Occupation! US Hands Off Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Korea, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sudan & Everywhere! Wed. Nov. 3 Union Square 5-7pm http://www.iacenter.org 212-633-6646