The midterm elections have been a “no holds barred” kind of election with right-wing forces trying to change the rules in the middle of the games. An example is gerrymandering, changing voting districts to favor one’s candidates.

“There are certain places that effectively gerrymandered Black districts out of existence,” Ashton observed. “And the Supreme Court with its recent ruling in Callais, caused certain jurisdictions to believe, ‘Well, in that case, there is nothing to stop us from making Black districts go away. And we’ll use the magic word partisan. And as long as we say this is all partisan, then the courts will simply allow us to do whatever we like with Black voting districts.’ And the court won’t even question the motive behind it with the idea that there should be a presumption of good faith on the part of the legislature. And some courts that seem to think that presumption of good faith is irrebuttable and cannot be overcome, no matter what evidence is put before them.”

The Trump administration has been trying to exert its will on the American election process. Ashton believes in the rule of law and so no matter what Trump proclaims, it is the laws of the United States that rule what will occur.

“The truth is, the president has no part in elections,” Ashton said. “Elections are run by the states. There are laws that are put in place by Congress. The laws passed by Congress have not changed. What we have seen is this administration trying to basically impart its will onto the election process through executive orders, through lawsuits, which for the most part, have failed so far including suing 30 states to try to get their confidential voter information only to have every state that has ajudicated those lawsuits to rule against the Dept. of Justice. So right now, DOJ is 0-26. That’s what we’ve seen if you’ve seen this administration through executive orders or through some types of lawsuits. For example, they filed a lawsuit last week, 19 days before the election, trying to get California, particularly Los Angeles County, to segregate out ballots that they receive from voters who are listed on flash drives that the federal government sent to the county. The county said it has no intention of doing that. As a matter of fact, the government doesn’t even say that they have proof that these people on this list are not citizens. They merely say that they are ‘likely’ non-citizens. No idea what the basis is for that, whether they’ve actually done anything to truly make sure that these people are not citizens. They are just saying, ‘For the time being, don’t count their ballots. We’ll try to figure it out later whether their ballots are entitled to be counted.’ And that’s not the way elections work.”

And Ashton feels that federal and state law will prevent Trump from intimidating people at the polls.

“One is the idea of ICE and armed federal agents being at polls,” Ashton said. “We filed a lawsuit against DHS, ICE, the FBI and DOJ to prevent that. And actually, there is a federal law that prevents armed civilian agents or armed military soldiers from being in polling places. There is a federal law against that. But also there is a separate lawsuit, a separate issue about DOJ monitors. In the past, DOJ monitors went to polling places, particularly in areas where they thought that these local governments might be trying to discriminate and prevent people from voting. This go around, this is a different incarnation of the DOJ and it appears that their view may be, ‘We’re sending out monitors to these polling places to prevent people from voting’ because they are not concerned about protecting the right to vote. Instead, it seems they are more concerned about this fictitious notion of voter fraud.”

Indeed, the purpose of the Office of Civil Rights has been turned on its head.

“The Office of Civil Rights, particularly with regards to elections, their goal was to make sure that people could vote,” Ashton emphasized. “Their goal was to make sure there was no discrimination and that groups were not being disenfranchised. This Office of Civil Rights seems to have abandoned that mission completely. Instead, they are engaged in a witch hunt trying to track down non-existent fraud, to prove something that never happened. They are trying to prove that there is this problem with the American elections and that you cannot trust them. First of all, even sending that message from the federal government, whatever branch, is a dangerous and reckless message to send. Americans need to know that their elections are secure. In fact, American elections have been secure for quite some time. So the idea of trying to convince people that they are not, I think is a disservice to the average American and the average voter who needs to know that when they cast their ballot, their ballot, in fact, counts and they are exercising a right that will have an impact. That is how elections actually work and have actually worked for many years. So the idea of trying to convince people of this falsity that elections are rigged are dangerous and a disservice to democracy and the American people.”

Ashton feels that there is a lot at stake in the midterm elections.

“I think you’re looking at the policy for the next two years,” Ashton said. “Whoever controls Congress is going to determine what the law can be. If acts or bills don’t pass through the House of Representatives, they don’t become law. Depending on who wins, it may force bipartisanship and people to actually reach across the aisle and for Congresspeople to work collaboratively with other members of Congress regardless of what party affiliation there is. It may prevent certain laws that would hurt poor people or hurt those with disabilities or hurt kids in special education or hurt minorities or hurt those who are already disenfranchised in some way. I think that is at stake. Anyone who tells you it doesn’t matter whether you vote or not is either intentionally spreading disinformation or they are woefully ignorant.”

It’s also about the judges. In particular, the NAACP has relied upon the judicial system to enforce civil rights laws.

“One of the things is that for years the civil rights movement has depended upon court action in making sure that there were judges who would enforce the law,” Ashton said. “I think we saw a lot of changes in how the law was being interpreted including having years of precedence thrown away over the last 6-7 years, in part because of who was elected to office and could therefore appoint judges. And some of the biggest changes that we’ve seen with regard to the Voting Rights Act or with regard to women’s autonomy over their bodies, those have been discarded in large part because who won at the very top of the ballot who then put in place judges who would rather than look necessarily at what the law said, would instead look at their political viewpoints and look at their worldview and say, ‘We’re going to change the law to fit that.’”

And so there is a lot at stake and every vote counts.

“Since 2018, there have been hundreds of elections in this country that have been decided by 10 votes or fewer,” Ashton said. “Go vote no matter who you are, no matter whom you vote. It is important. The NAACP is non-partisan. But we do want every American to be able to vote, particularly we have a focus on Black Americans. But we want everyone, all eligible voters, to be allowed to vote. So I would say that the biggest message I want to make sure that people have is that your vote does matter. If your vote were worthless, there wouldn’t be people trying to steal it from you. There wouldn’t be people trying to disenfranchise you. Those people who would do that to you know how important your vote is. And it is important that each and every voter knows how important his or her vote is as well.”

And so to avoid all of the Election Day drama and threats to the integrity of nthe election on November 3^rd, Ashton urges people to vote early.

“The NAACP encourages voters to get out and vote early,” Ashton emphasized. “Cast your ballot. Get it done. Have it over with so that you’re done long before Election Day. But I think on Election Day, what we are telling people is, ‘Make sure you get to the polls. And if you are in line before the polls close, even if they close while you are still in line, you must be allowed to vote. And at the very least, do not leave that polling place until you have cast at least a provisional ballot. But also check your voter registration to make sure you are up-to-date and that you are still registered. And if you’re not still registered, go ahead and register if you can, particularly in states that allow same-day registration.”

People have given their lives for the right to vote. To honor them, exercise it.