What's going on here points to a VOX Vice story.

On the morning of December 21, 2010, Lula Smart was preparing to leave for her job at Sears when she heard a firm knock at her front door. An array of law enforcement vehicles had amassed outside, and armed officers were fanning out around her house. Before that day, Smart had no rap sheet to speak of, only a master’s degree in criminal justice earned earlier that year. While she enjoyed her work in retail, Smart hoped to transition into a job more like that of her unannounced visitors, who would read her a dizzying list of felony voting fraud charges that amounted to more than 100 years in prison. Handcuffed, Smart soon met nine other incarcerated African Americans who had participated in a vigorous get-out-the-vote campaign ahead of an election the previous month. Three of those jailed had been elected to the local school board.

Their efforts had helped to win the first-ever African American majority on Brooks County’s Board of Education. But almost four years after that vote, dozens of felony fraud charges still overshadow the group, known locally as the Quitman 10 + 2 (two more were subsequently charged). In her living room, Smart points to the television where she first saw her orange-jumpsuit-clad mug shot on the nightly news. She is the only member of the group who has not yet seen a trial—or, more precisely, she’s had two mistrials and counting. Since receiving 32 felony charges, her hoped-for career in criminal justice has, obviously, stalled. She now works full-time at Home Depot and fills in part-time shifts selling shoes at the department store. Before the first trial, she contemplated suicide, but says her resolve has since grown.

Work to win an election to the school board and the SWAT-like team shows up at your door.

:-(

The DOJ should be all over this. Why they apparently haven't been is a mystery.

Cheers,
Scott.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2014/07/16/open-thread-1840/#comment-5057439

One woman is charged with the crime of carrying her legless father’s absentee ballot to his mailbox.

:-(

This is infuriating...

Cheers,
Scott.

Do you mean you don't hear about it (but it happens), or that it doesn't happen?

I think it's more of the latter when it comes to voting rights, running for office, etc.

There are, of course, examples of police brutality in NYC. But that isn't usually related to voting, or running for office, AFAIK.

[edit:] I guess Box is referring to stop and frisk. Yup, that's bad. But it's not related to voting or running for office - the topic at hand. And it's ending/ended and DeBlasio stopped an appeal of a verdict against it.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Scott.