By Dave Lunger
A group of concerned citizens are collecting signatures to include an item regarding illegal immigrants and Massachusetts driver’s licenses. Governor Baker was ready to sign the law granting the driver’s licenses, but only if the licenses issued were marked different in some way. The Governor vetoed, and the legislature’s answer was to override his veto. Now, we The People are putting a referendum on this issue for the ballot this November. With this referendum on a path to 40,120 signatures, Eldridge and his team have organized efforts to interfere in our canvassing to prevent us from getting the requisite signatures through intimidation and what is in MA Supreme Judicial Court case law referred to as ‘Heckler’s Veto’. A heckler’s veto occurs when the government accepts restrictions on speech because of the anticipated or actual reactions of opponents of the speech. See Batchelder v. Allied Stores International, Inc (1983), and other subsequent and related cases.
On Saturday, July 2 Senator J. Eldridge (Democrat from Acton) came to our canvassing event at Cabela’s in Berlin, not to shop, but to suppress the canvassing. Eldridge worked our left door table, and his cohort at the right door table. I was the lead at the left, and my friend, the lead at the right, with 4-6 canvassers total. Eldridge and his crew had a pre-planned strategy – they stand in personal space (inches to feet), clearly within hearing/talking distance (hovering) around our tables.
Many potential petition signers that I observed were engaged by Eldridge before pen could be put to petition to persuade them not to sign. Sometimes Eldridge was successful; sometimes he was not; sometimes the now-annoyed signer engaged Eldridge in opposition. Compared to his cohort, Eldridge was somewhat more soft-spoken, albeit still impeding, and unbecoming of a MA State Senator. My friend’s side was a bit different – the intruder’s demeanor was much more intrusive – initially, she’d stand further away. However, when a petition signer approached the table, she would then swoop in significantly more clashingly and stridently, to prevent the signature. All in all, Eldridge and cohort arrived approximately at noon and stayed through 3 pm, give or take. Our canvassing was from 11 AM to 4 PM.
The following day, Sunday July 3, Eldridge did not return, however his cohort did. Being just one, she stayed at the right door table, where my friend canvassed. The MO of impeding signatures was similar.
The next weekend, on Saturday July 9, Eldridge returned at the starting hour of 11 AM, and stayed through approximately 3:30 PM. Doesn’t our State Senator have better things on his schedule to do than to obstruct the people’s civil right to canvas? This by far was the ‘worst’ day – it was a ‘Zoo’. Eldridge had approximately 6 obviously trained individuals to interfere, including his campaign Treasurer! Their tactics evolved – our tables were fully covered by them, often straddled with opposition on the left and right side of a table, close enough to even sit on it (I have pictures of this!). No signers could make it to our petitions without some engagement from their opposition. On our canvassing side, first we had help from Secretary of State candidate Rayla Campbell and other supporters who stopped by. At some point, the store manager called Berlin Police. Two patrol cars came and stayed for over an hour. The Police remedy was geared away from State and Federal Civil Rights, and more toward store access concerns, and our tables were shifted away from the entrance to exit-only doors. Our opposition followed us, and their harassment continued. Police, still on the scene, moved us once more, further away (and annoyingly into the hot Sun). The opposition followed us. Signers from this point were generally those that knew of the canvassing from radio and websites, signed and departed, not even going into the store. We no longer had any access to canvassing the People going into the store.
So, in summary, the Eldridge Interference Strategy was to stand apart at the ready, and then move closer and verbally interject, over our discussion with our petition signers to create a state of confusion and obfuscation. Anybody on their way into the store to shop doesn’t expect this, doesn’t need this, and in many cases felt harassed. Many presumed the opposition was with us, as part of our team, and were not willing, nor should they need to, sort out who was who.
This was not only happening in Berlin on repeated weekends, but many other locations across the state. Therefore, on July 25, the Chair of the MA Republican Party filed lawsuit against Senator Eldridge and others. A separate federal lawsuit was filed aimed at Attorney General Healey for not doing anything to prevent these state and federal civil rights violations.
Bottom line is, we must and shall get this referendum on the November ballot, despite the obstacles. If you have not signed, please do so at your earliest convenience prior to the end of August 24 canvassing window.
Massachusetts Superior Court lawsuit (Federal lawsuit is similar):
It is shocking to see Jamie Eldridge trying to block a ballot box initiative. However, it does make sense when you realize that the driver’s license law supports the long term goals of the Progressives. Illegal immigrant amnesty is their long term goal and will offer a continual chokehold at the ballet box, for the rest of us. This law is a step in that direction. It will reward those who break the law, at the expense of American citizens. The picture of Eldridge trying to block signatures shows a party operative who is trying to control power. He knows that his suit is intimidating to others and he wants to coerce them into complying with his point of view. He has come a long way since his first election, when we ran as an outsider. Now he is a corrupt insider, trying to defend his turf.
The referendum to repeal the driver’s license law (so called: Work and Family Mobility Act) will be on the November ballot. Enough people were able to push past Eldridge, to put over 40,000 signatures together. In November, they will have their say.
America is currently being overwhelmed by illegal immigration. 250,000 people per month, cross the southern border. Others come by plane, for a purported vacation, but never leave. Our borders are simply not being protected. If this pattern continues, we will degrade into a third-world country, because there are no first world countries, without firm borders. Instead of safeguarding our state and upholding its laws during this difficult time, our corrupt MA legislature lowers the bar and invites an outsized portion of the problem to our state. They assume that the newcomers will vote for them. So they give away the state, to ensure their power. It is as simple as that. Like all Marxists they are obsessed with power and they know how to achieve it. This is why they insisted that the illegal immigrant driver’s license be identical to the MA resident driver’s license. Governor Baker wisely tried to stop this and to put some sort of designation on the non-citizen licenses. They refused this limitation, because it would obstruct their true goal, to ensure their leftist power. If nothing changes, starting next summer, MA state driver’s licenses will be given to anyone. They will not be restricted to citizens and they will not be a way to define citizenship, for voting purposes. The law will have effectively usurped the power of MA citizens to control their elections. Smart people and smart governments establish firm boundaries. This horrible law does the opposite. The people must assert their power on November 8 and vote against it. Vote to repeal the Work and Family Mobility Act. Vote to preserve the integrity of MA elections.
Jamie Eldridge is being challenged this fall as well, by Anthony Chistakis of Sudbury. Eldridge and his terrible laws, including the Work and Family Mobility Act, should be replaced. Personally, I will never vote for him again because he only serves himself. It is time to give Eldridge a break from politics, for his sake and for our own. Vote to repeal the Work and Family Mobility Act and to vote to replace Jamie Eldridge, on November 8.
Relevant articles:
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2022/08/18/effort-to-repeal-immigrant-drivers-license-law-hits-milestone-ahead-of-ballot-deadline
https://patch.com/massachusetts/wayland/state-sen-eldridge-will-face-2022-challenge-wayland-republican
Bravo, keep up the good work, lets stick it to the corrupt single party state of MA which does not represent the people of MA.
You’re mad our state senator … talked to his constituents?
No, he is mad our state senator was trying to prevent his constituents from collecting ballot petition signatures from his other constituents. If the shoe were on the other foot, our state senator would be crying racism, white supremacy, white privilege, and the Beacon would run headline stories for four weeks so they could fill their pages. As things stand in our country, being a Democrat means never having to say you’re sorry.