Happy 4rth of July!
As we reflect on our country’s independence this Fourth of July, do we really feel free? I attended a party on the 4th and Lee Greenwood’s song “Proud to be an American” played as the fireworks were set off. I couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in my eyes. Do we really “know that we are free?”
We have only the illusion of freedom. Our elections no longer are perceived as free and fair. Sixty-six percent of likely voters believe that cheating will affect the 2024 election. This is a tragedy as it may affect turnout. When we lose our voice at the polls, we have lost the foundation of our republic.
When there is no justice in our judicial system we have also lost. We are gradually and systematically losing our constitutional rights. Look at the control our local governments have over our children: A Washington bill would allow transgender medical procedures for minors without parental consent. The World Health Organization wants to take national sovereignty away in order to deal with pandemics and other world wide emergencies. Freedom of speech is being vilified as our own justice system calls anyone who speaks out against injustices “domestic terrorists.” How “free” are you feeling?
We are at war. A war of good versus evil, truth versus lies. The only way we win is to demand our freedom in a peaceful way. We just need our voices to be heard. We need to stand up for our constitutional rights particularly at the local level. We can’t tolerate the power-hungry machinations of a government that doesn’t seem to want to work for the people or abide by the constitution. This needs to be corrected and we need to wake more people up.
To that end, the #1 thing we should all be focused on are free, fair, transparent elections. Everything else is contingent upon that. If we fix elections, we can elect people who represent us and we can reshape our government to ensure they are adhering to the will of the people. Consider our current state of affairs as a four-alarm fire and everyone needs to start pouring water on it to put it out. The closer to the fire the better and the more people who are pouring water on it the quicker the fire will die out.
Our group as well as others across the country have been working hard to achieve just that and to show that there is progress on that front here is a list of Election Integrity Wins:
https://www.scsafeelections.org/news/big-wins-election-integrity/
We also continue to fight for transparency in our state with our lawsuit to gain access to the cast vote records. It has been a long and hard battle which will be resolved soon. We are finishing Discovery and have several motion hearings that need to be heard in July. We anticipate that we will go to trial in August. Unfortunately, a simple FOIA lawsuit metastasized into a larger suit due to delays and “lawfare.” This is what happens when citizens ask their government for transparency. This is a pattern that we are noticing across our state as well as with other states, particularly when it comes to elections. How can normal citizens hold their government accountable when they have to spend so much money to access public records? See this article for more information.
Cast Vote Record costs for lawsuit mounting
We have raised about $42K to date—this is amazing since we are a small grassroots group and have focused on individual donations from SC citizens. Costs for this will likely be roughly $70-75K. (current costs to date are roughly $60K). We appreciate any support you can give us. www.givesendgo.com/SCFOIA
Have a blessed Fourth of July holiday and continue to pray for our team as well as other grassroots efforts across the country.
Your dedicated SCSE Team