We live in troubled times. If you read Revelation (which I do), you might think, you haven’t seen anything yet. Just wait. But, while we face a mostly non-kinetic war, it is a war nevertheless. It is raging in our country and worldwide. We know how it turns out in the long run; that’s the point of Revelation. But it’s how to live now, and what to expend our energy doing, that is the question—or at least the question I’m looking at today.
This isn’t really a post about election integrity; that is
just the story behind the point. So, here we go.
On Monday nights I frequently listen to Catherine Engelbrecht’s podcast on Locals.com (also found a couple of other places). Election integrity has been a big issue of mine since at least 2010. That was when her organization True the Vote started—locally, here in Houston, Texas. This week she told her story of how they got started.
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| Catherine Engelbrecht on her weekly podcast. screenshot from here |
She and a handful of friends (I don’t know all the names,
but I have gotten to know some of them) met at a pub and talked about what they could do
to make things better in the community. This was around 2008. One of the first
things they decided to do was work an election, something she and others hadn’t
done before. Then they got back together and talked about their experiences.
Some of them had had a good experience, doing their civic duty, in and around
people of different political beliefs, but all trying to do a good job.
But others had a different experience. This was a primary
election (so I’m assuming around March 2008, a presidential election year). Our
friends were working the Republican polls right next to the Democrat polls. Often
such places are separated, placed in different rooms, or maybe different hallways
of a school. But sometimes circumstances put them in the same room; I’ve
experienced both.
There were a number of people who came in and confided to
their Democrat clerk or judge, “I don’t remember who I’m supposed to vote for,”
and the Democrat poll worker would tell them. In the open. Clearly illegal.
This would affect the Democrat voters, but not the
Republicans, so why worry? Because, if that is what they were doing while they
were being watched, who knows what they were doing where they weren’t being
watched.
Anyway, by 2010 Engelbrecht and friends had formed True the Vote, a 501(c)3, to recruit and train poll watchers—not workers, but observers. I think it was within their first year, 2010, the first time I was a poll watcher, trained by True the Vote.
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| True the Vote flyer, from 2011. Image first used here. |
I had previously worked as a clerk at the polls a couple of
times. I had also been a delegate to the district and state conventions
multiple times by then—in multiple states I had lived in. I had taken my
homeschooled kids to the state capitol to do citizen lobbying many times. I had
been an active citizen. But clearly the election integrity problems needed to
be addressed. They were serious. So I stepped up, with an army of volunteers.
I was a poll watcher for several elections. Then, in 2014 I
became a precinct chair and have worked the polls ever since. Typically I have
someone else (lately it has been my husband) be the Presiding Judge, and I am a
clerk, because I can’t handle the 17-hour day arriving at 5:30 AM to get the
polls open at 7:00, so I come in later and stay through take-down and return of
equipment and ballots.
Since the Democrats took over Harris County elections in 2018, we have had one disastrous election after another. After their elected county clerk stepped down in 2020 (worries about COVID, she claimed, but there was a lot of suspicion of fraud), the county commissioners court (democrat majority) took elections out of the hands of the elected county clerk and gave it to an appointed elections administrator. The ones they chose were disastrously awful—incompetent to the point of it looking deliberate. As Alan Vera used to say, “Incompetence is the perfect camouflage for malfeasance.” In our 2022 election they failed to provide ballot paper to a number of polling locations—coincidentally in high Republican areas. Ours would have run out of paper along with the many others, but our tech support happened to have an extra couple of boxes in his vehicle, and he gave us one. Without it, we would have run out long before the county elections people delivered another box just an hour before closing.
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| The map, built by Russ Long, showing that polls without enough paper coincided with Republican voting locations. Screenshot from here. |
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| from an HCRP meeting February 13, 2023, showing where voters were turned away from polling places for lack of ballot paper |
The state legislature got rid of the elections administrator for counties of our size (specifically, really, just our county) and returned our elections to the county clerk this year. The clerk is still a Democrat, because we haven’t won a county-wide election since they took over the elections, coincidentally. For this November’s election, we got notified that my husband is assigned as the AJ (alternate judge) at our usual polling location. We have always been the PJ (presiding judge). This privilege is based on who the precinct voted for as governor; my precinct voted for Governor Abbott, the Republican, so we are entitled to be the PJ, which means running the polling location and hiring the workers. The AJ is there to provide oversight from the opposing party, and typically gets to bring along a clerk if we are allowed to hire enough people. This privilege is according to state law, so the County is breaking the law. By depriving us of our entitled PJ status, it means I and the others who regularly run our polls—and we do it better than most, because of our experience—will not get hired. I gather we’re not the only precinct they’ve done this to.
There’s an HCRP (Harris County Republican Party) meeting on
Monday; I’m hoping they’re going to deal with this problem, which I and others
have reported. Who knows what other fires need to be put out, a mere month before election day.
This is a long way of saying—after a couple of decades of
doing my civic duty—and more than a decade of doing a whole lot more than most—our
situation is still dire, probably worse than when we started. This is even
though we, as the public, are more aware than we have ever been. We can be
censored and labeled as domestic terrorists for saying so, however. The Biden
administration is pushing for even more censorship of messages they do not
approve of.
Engelbrecht was telling her story Monday to get people to
see that they don’t need to set out to create a national organization or
movement. They just need to act locally. That is what she did. And the Lord led
her and others, one step after another, to do more—until they became a target on the national stage in this fight for free and fair elections.
Yes, act locally. Do what you can.
But we are in the midst of the book of Revelation. Do not expect that your efforts will be what it takes to bring back our constitutional republic, as much as we want that.
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| La Bête de la Mer, a medieval tapestry depicting John the Revelator seeing the dragon and the sea beast from Rev. 13, used previously in this post |
My purpose in this post today is to encourage—myself and
others—to do what we can, regardless. We’re not living in times that allow us
to be comfortable. But we also do not live in times where our all-out effort
will win the day. The Savior alone will win the day. Our part is to make sure
we are fighting the war on His side. We do not want to be on the wrong side, nor
can we be on the sidelines, as though we don’t care which side wins.
We’re not talking about political sides here. We are talking
about choosing good over evil.
Election illegalities are a small part—with sometimes a
large outcome, as we saw in the 2020 presidential election—of the overall war
against evil. We’re seeing unprecedented things: the indictment on specious
charges of a former president/current presidential candidate. The current
office holder shows obvious signs of dementia but is insisting he’s running
again, while an impeachment inquiry is open—because of the obvious, large,
tangled web of influence peddling, which I would term treason, if I had a say.
The UN just met this past month, attempting to give large
and sweeping powers—giving up our sovereignty—to the very World Health Organization
that lied and failed us (purposely?) during the COVID pandemic. Who in their
right might would think it’s a good idea to give more power to a worldwide
entity that has already proven themselves untrustworthy?
These issues are all national or global. We can give our
opinions to lawmakers, but that’s about the limit of our power on that level.
So, locally is where we can have the biggest impact. And there’s plenty to deal
with at the state and local level. Besides election integrity, there’s:
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Education
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Parental rights
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Child trafficking
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Drug trafficking
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Border security (in a border state where the
federal government has purposely failed us)
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Crime and punishment
There’s plenty more. Very locally, there’s the school board
and the HOA board. I talked about our school board race in my last post. Tonight was a work session of the school
board, ahead of Monday’s official public meeting. I tuned into the livestream
for a while, but my attention wandered. (This post wasn’t done, for one thing.)
Paying the needed attention to school issues could be a full-time endeavor.
Today, while I was walking my dog, I had a conversation with
an HOA board member, about the two board races up for election this year. She’s
a nice, retired lady, a year into being on the board, willing to hear what
neighbors have to say, but also a bit frustrated that more people don’t step up
to make things better in our very local community. I live in a “newer” section
of the neighborhood, where we’ve been for 24 years. She is in an older section,
been there 32 years. While I feel safe walking our streets, even in the dark,
she no longer feels that way at her end of the subdivision. There’s a house on her street where they’re pretty sure drug deals are going on. People are wondering if not
just drug trafficking, but also human trafficking is happening there. We’ve
heard about a lot of catalytic converter thefts in the neighborhood, as well as
tire thefts. As the neighborhood ages, more of it turns into rentals, with less
upkeep of the property and, unfortunately, more propensity for crime.
Homeownership doesn’t always prevent crime, but it’s a signal of more care for
the property, and a lot of good goes along with that (which is just one reason the idea that by 2030 you will own nothing is disturbing). There are discussions between
the HOA and the MUD (municipal utilities district) about whose money should be
used for what projects. Money is involved—our very local money.
But there is only so much a person can give their attention
to. The more local, the more it is likely to affect your daily life, so you might
want to focus there. But, as Catherine Engelbrecht was suggesting, you probably
do need to look around and ask God, “What would you have me do?” Then take a
step, connect with others, inform others, work together for the good of the
community. If you accomplish something good in your community, it might stave
off the influx of evil from a less local source.
In the community circles where I’ve served, I’ve met a lot
of really good, committed Christians, giving tirelessly to make things better.
They are an example and inspiration to me. I am “not weary in well doing” (Galatians
6:9), but I am often physically weary, facing limitations of age and health. So
I have to ask more judiciously what the Lord would have me do. Writing and
sharing information here is just one thing, and it’s very small. I’m continuing
to participate in various ways when I can, within my limits.
I trust that, while what I do will never be enough to change
the world, it makes me a little better. And all of us making
ourselves a little better—that will sustain enough good in the world to help us
survive until Babylon falls and our Savior reigns.
Our tools of defense during that great fall will be faith,
patience, and courage[i].
That is what we are strengthening in ourselves during this time when doing our
little part is never enough to bring Babylon down. That will happen. What we’re
doing is protecting ourselves from falling with those evil forces.
Simply, look around you and do daily the good the Lord leads
you to do.
[i] Richard
Draper and Michael D. Rhodes, The Revelation of John the Apostle, © 2016,
p. 941. This is an excellent commentary on Revelation, carefully explaining
translation from the Greek, done by Brigham Young University professors, with
added insight from other Latter-day Saint scriptures and writings. It is
nevertheless their opinion and not necessarily the views of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. The book is long and detailed, and I do not
understand the Greek, but the commentary is enjoyable to read, and I would appreciate
such a commentary on a great many other books of the Bible.
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