Fight for Our Future and Protect Our Vote
by Frank Panzarella, New Haven activist
During the current mid-term election, securing the rights of the people to vote has never been more important. The Trump fascist administration may use several tactics to undermine the elections. These include:
- Alleging fraud and compromised voting machines
- Pressuring election officials to change or cancel results
- Seizing ballots or voting equipment
- Federal election monitors to interfere with voting
- ICE presence near polling sites
- Troops at polling places
- Emergency Declaration
- Federal investigations and charges against election officials
- Congress’ refusal to seat election winners
(From A Reuters Special Report: Nine ways the Trump administration could interfere with the midterms, Oct. 14, 2026.)
It is up to states and the people to protect our right to vote.
If you are at the polls and believe you may have experienced or witnessed an election official violating your rights, you should do two things: (1) Contact the Secretary of the State’s Election Day Hotline at (866) 733-2463 and (2) Report it to the ACLU-CT at https://action.aclu.org/aclu-form/ct-election-protection.
We all are the eyes and ears on the ground. The ACLU, along with others like the Secretary of the State’s office, are monitoring the election for any issues that may impact voters. While the ACLU will not be able to respond to all intake messages, it will be regularly reviewing the concerns that you flag for it and will respond accordingly.
The State began early voting from Monday, Oct. 19 through Sunday, Nov. 1. The early voting takes place in New Haven at City Hall, 165 Church St., 2nd floor, and at Southern Connecticut State University, Wintergreen Building, 1 Wintergreen Ave. The voting hours on Oct. 27 and 29 are 8 a.m. through 8 p.m., and on all other days through Nov. 1 are 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. For other towns, check at your local town hall for early voting sites and hours.
Much of this information is from the ACLU. For its guide to Plan Your Vote, visit http://planyourvotect.org.
Our democratic rights depend on all of us to not be bullied by attempts to interfere with voting. Further, voting is only the first step and beyond that we must build resistance to the failure of capitalism to provide basic necessities for the people. Housing, healthcare, human and civil rights, and a living wage income must be guaranteed by a true government of the people. We must also stop Trump’s support for fascist governments overseas, and we must provide support for all oppressed peoples and suffering of the displaced. We must end the Trump war on women, people of color, immigrants, and others. If the Democrats win but fail to implement these changes then they must also be voted out and replaced with true democrats.