(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Threat is Real, On-going and Growing. Voter Protection is the Answer [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2026-04-09 I was supposed to write about last Saturday’s canvass in North Carolina — which had the second most volunteers show up on the day before Easter. Instead, i am forced to talk about my participation in efforts to combat KKK and Republican disinformation attempts to suppress the African-American vote here in Virginia. I wasn’t particularly interested in getting involved in Virginia’s Yes campaign, as Hope Springs from Field PAC has started canvassing again in 9 states (so far) in anticipation of the November elections. I thought i had my hands full. But we’ve been knocking on doors in VA-02 (and VA-01) for a couple of years now, so when i got a call from a volunteer who is a part of the NAACP in Virginia Beach and a couple of Black ministers in VA-02 about KKK activities in the area, i listened to their plea. You may remember that Hope Springs from Field saw a similar voter suppression by the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia in December of 2020 and many of our volunteers had heard how a Black farmer in southern Georgia had offered our volunteers the use of his drone to watch over (protect) canvassers in African-American neighborhoods for the next month. The story is apparently memorable and i’ve asked several of our Georgia Super Volunteers to join me in the next two weeks as i speak to Black Churches and other groups in southeastern and northwestern Virginia. Not sure why they asked me but i am always happy to brag about what our Hope Springs volunteers have accomplished and if it helps ease some voter fears, all the better. As i posted in December 2020, there is an active effort by the KKK to suppress the vote across the Black Belt and Southern Georgia. People have had these flyers mailed to them in the last few days, as well as left on their cars at African-American salons. Canvassers were shown the flyer by voters and have taken them to church services today. Starting voter protection efforts was already scheduled to begin this weekend, after voter registration was completed. That was the plan. But it wasn't predicted that voter intimidation efforts would begin so soon. Bringing swing state best practices to, well, an emergent swing state compliments existing efforts in the state. There are dozens and dozens of local civil rights and political organizations (just as there were in Alabama) but they all agree that Georgia voters have the right to vote safely and in a timely manner. These KKK voter suppression efforts aren’t new, and they have never really stopped. We’ve seen them in every Southern state we canvass in year election year. When Biden was president, we had confidence that they would be properly investigated and dealt with. KKK Lit drop in Clarke, Frederick, Loudoun, Shenandoah & Warren counties We no longer have that confidence. What is worse, is that the Klan seems to be coordinating their efforts with GOP to fight off the Fair Maps effort. “MAGA activists attempting to use misinformation to mislead Black voters has become a recurring trend.” [MS NOW] Voters across Virginia have received text messages and mailers from opponents of a proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution on redistricting that contain images and messages evoking 1960s Jim Crow-era segregation and the suppression of Black votes. Activists, politicians, and officials have condemned the campaign, which they say targets Black voters, as dishonest and manipulative. “At least three Virginia police departments are investigating the recent distribution of Ku Klux Klan material in several neighborhoods.” Local police departments, not the FBI. Not the DoJ Civil Rights division. Local police departments with limited resources investigating organizations way beyond their reach. Which, i suppose, is why i’ve been asked to speak to what voters can do to mitigate (and fight back) against them. And it is why i am bringing in Hope Springs reinforcements, so to speak, from our Georgia volunteers. Always good for people to see people who have fought back, won and happy to share their experience! Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors, serving as a resource to Elections Committees in Black Churches and partnering with local civics and civil rights groups to raise awareness of the fact that Democrats care about our voters and are working to protect their rights. We are thinking about how to mitigate Voter Suppression efforts, get around them and make sure we have "super compliance," both informing and helping our voters meet the requirements and get out and vote. Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopevoteprotect Hope Springs from Field was started by former Obama Field Organizers because field was the cornerstone of our success. Election Protection was central to the Obama primary effort in 2008 because we were running against a party favorite with strong roots in state and local party organizations and we needed to appeal to voters outside that framework. We are returning to the old school basics: looking for patterns, addressing issues that have come up in the past and making sure authorities know about issues that are likely to (or even just may) come up in this election. Especially in light of True the Vote activities in majority minority areas. Meanwhile, Norfolk Police announced Monday similar flyers from the Loyal White Knights had been found in driveways by residents in an East Beach neighborhood Sunday. Detectives believe these flyers could be related to a similar occurrence that happened on the Eastern Shore in June of 2020. Last week, authorities in Prince William County, Virginia said “several suspicious pamphlets depicting hate propaganda” were found at the ends of multiple driveways in the Gainesville and Bristow areas. Police said the pamphlets did not contain any threats and did not appear to target anyone specific in the neighborhood. The Loyal White Knights are based in Pelham, N.C., and include approximately 100 members, according to the Anti-Defamation League. [The Hill] The link between the KKK and MAGA, again, is nothing new. We saw that in the Georgia runoff, too. Tonight, Saturday night, porch lights are lit across the African-American neighborhoods in southwest Georgia. Trump is coming, and people are afraid his presence or words will spark violence, damage or just plain old acts of intimidation in their neighborhoods. For the last few days, people have been pulling out their phone tree lists to remind their friends and neighbors to share any reports of concern in their neighborhoods and turn on their porch lights tonight (and the next few nights until they feel the threat dims). We have learned from our own interactions with Trump’s DOJ just how little they care about attempts to strike fear into Black voters. “A Republican-aligned political action committee in Virginia called Democracy and Justice has used images and language from the civil rights movement to raise fears of gerrymandering, long wielded to marginalize Black political power.” Mailer from Democracy and Justice African-Americans make up nearly 20 percent of Virginia’s population. “A recent Washington Post-Schar School poll found that 79 percent of Black voters support the measure, the most of any racial group.” [WashPost] They are a cornerstone of the Democratic Party here and crucial to the referen-dum’s chances. Jones, Virginia’s first Black attorney general, said the mailers are disturbing, shocking, offensive and deceptive. “It’s very clear a MAGA-linked group that opposes the referendum is sending these mailers to Black voters, and they’re misusing very, very hurtful imagery from the Civil Rights Movement, even invoking Jim Crow, to weaponize one of the darkest chapters in our history, to scare people into voting no and help Republicans maintain a rigged map for 2026 so they can keep control of Congress,” Jones said. [...] The purpose of the mailers, Jones said, is to “suppress the vote. It’s to make sure that people don’t go make their voices heard during this election.” Hope Springs from Field volunteers are stopping from our normal canvasses in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. We hope to add Pennsylvania and Ohio to that list this weekend, if the weather cooperates. But the fact is this work allows us to connect dots and offer expertise in the area where these voters thought they were isolated and alone in these threats. other side of MAGA mailer It’s all part of our strategy to prevent these MAGA interference in the conduct of free and fair elections, in helping ensure that every voter can cast a ballot that is counted. Action like registering voters in historically suppressed counties. Chasing Ballots for VBM voters who didn’t complete the process. Free Voter Photo ID days for voters who don’t have one. Making sure Purged Voters weren’t erroneously deleted from the Voter Rolls. Extra communications with Newly Registered Voters. Hope Springs from Field has also been talking to our partners in Black Church Election Committees, who have been working with us already to help organize our Free Voter ID Days. We are doing everything we can think of pro-actively to circumvent the intended Voter Hassles envisioned by these proposals like the Save Act. 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