By
regional standards, Tea Party forces in central Massachusetts are
about as aggressive as the far-right gets. Months ago, for example,
members of the Worcester legion publicly rebuked other Bay State Tea
Party outfits, claiming that they strayed too far off of debt reform,
and became preoccupied with less important social issues. More
generally speaking, when Worcester Tea Partiers want something, they
fight their tails off for it. And this election season, what they
seem to want more than anything else is to defeat Elizabeth Warren.
Enter
Bonnie Lund-Johnson – former leader of the Seven Hills Tea Party,
GOP state committeewoman for the First Worcester District, and the
Freddy Krueger in every voter advocate's nightmares from Boston to
Springfield. In all of her leadership roles, Johnson has been highly
successful in recruiting other conservatives to sign up as poll
workers. She says that Activate Worcester, a political action
committee that she helped form earlier this year, seeks to
counterbalance the intense glut of Democrats who run the polls in Worcester's
50 precincts.
Photo via Go Local
Though
Johnson led a similar charge last year with her Seven Hills brigade,
her Activate Worcester squad commenced this April with an event
featuring Senator Scott Brown. Billed as a “Become a Poll Worker”
summit, the meeting attracted about 200 people, many of whom were
interested in the PAC's campaign worker courses, which Johnson offers
in addition to the mandated training that the city gives. Activate
Worcester also provides lessons on how volunteers can be
“effective” poll observers.
“I
do trainings, but for different things,” says Johnson. “I train
observers in what they can and can't do . . . I train them on where
they need to sit, and what to look for. For me, I watch for how the
[inactive voters] are processed. I just think it's poor training –
in September, I saw an inactive be handed a ballot without filling
out a certificate. I've been to between 30 and 40 of our precincts,
and different precincts handle things in different ways. That's when
you know something's wrong.”
As
some critics expected – mostly on account of Activate Worcester's
ties to the controversial national campaign True the Vote – Johnson
and her allies spurred much outrage during the September primary
election. In the vicinity of one polling place in particular – at
the Murray/Wellington apartments, a low-income community – people
were reportedly harassed en route to cast their ballots. Speaking to
journalists, District 4 City Councilor Sarai Rivera said that several
of her constituents claimed that poll workers illegally asked them to
produce identification.
Rivera image via Worcester Mag
Of
course, the alleged uninvited actions of some poll observers were
perfectly legal – like instances in which Tea Party affiliates are
said to have photographed and videotaped voters at precincts. But
then there's the sleazier, grayer area shit, like deliberately
misinforming non-English speaking immigrants. Still, despite cries of
voter suppression, Johnson denies having nefarious intentions: “It
has been mischaracterized,” she says. “It's all absolute blatant
lies. Show me the proof. There is none. N-O-N-E.”
Framingham
resident, attorney, and activist
Deborah Butler is calling nonsense on Activate Worcester. She
says that the Worcester Election Commission – which chose not to
investigate any primary shenanigans – is tainted by members who are
Tea Party sympathizers. Last week, Butler filed a written statement
with the Secretary of State to secure an injunction against
the WEC from overseeing elections until a formal investigation is
conducted into “possible voter suppression and intimidation” at
the Murray and Wellington apartments on September 6.
While
Butler navigates legal avenues that won't likely yield results before
next Tuesday, Johnson is gearing up for battle. She says that
Activate Worcester will have between 60 and 80 men and women working
polls, and another 10 to 30 volunteering as observers. As a result,
rival groups from the left like Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts
are also preparing, along with the ACLU, for what promises to be a
long and tedious election night. And while Johnson says that her
group is staying in the Worcester area, her adversaries aren't taking
chances.
“I'm
well aware of what their tactics are – they're the only ones
getting people signed up as poll workers,” says Wilnelia Rivera,
political director for Neighbor to Neighbor. Rivera charges that
while Johnson claims to support clean elections, her derogatory
comments toward welfare recipients on the Activate Worcester Facebook
wall tell a different story. In the past, Johnson has been dually
critical of Neighbor to Neighbor, arguing that the tactics they use
to assist low-income voters in communities of color often violate
election laws.
Rivera
continues: “We hope that it's going to be smooth sailing, but we're
prepared for the same thing that happened in November – and besides
Worcester we're prepared for it in places like Boston and Springfield
. . . Activate Worcester doesn't agree with the kind of candidates
who our membership supports, so this really poses a huge challenge to
us. In the long run, what this indicates to us is that we have to
really learn how to work with allies so we can deal with this problem
here in Massachusetts.”
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