Defend Your Right to Vote! Flash Mob April 19, National Day of Protest

On April 19th, 1775, "the shot heard round the world" marked the beginning of the American Revolution.  The colonists in Lexington and Concord fought to defend their rights as English citizens against the tyrannical rule of a mad king.  On April 19, 2025, Americans throughout all 50 states of the United States will take to the streets in peaceful protest to defend their rights as American citizens against the tyrannical rule of a wannabe king and the Republican leaders in his thrall.

Let's join the patriots who will be protesting on April 19 by taking a shot of another sort -- a Flash Mob photo shoot in the center of Toulouse.  We will focus on a right that is now being threatened, especially for us overseas Americans:  our right to vote.  

The Republicans claim that the "Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act" or "SAVE Act" is needed to keep non-citizens from voting in U.S. elections, something that is already illegal and extremely rare.  In fact, the Orwellian-named act is a voter suppression bill that makes registering to vote more difficult.  If passed into law, it would require all Americans to go in person, birth certificate and passport in hand, to a voter registration office in their state to prove their citizenship in order to be eligible to vote. On-line and mail-in voter registration would no longer be permitted. Anyone who changed their name, including married women who took their husband's name, would need to provide additional documents to prove that the name on their birth certificate and their current name refer to one and the same person, yet each state would set its own rules for the additional documents required. Democracy Docket reports that the Save Act "could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters and badly undermine US democracy" https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/house-passes-save-act-voter-suppression-law/. 

The Save Act passed in the House on April 11 and is expected to be debated soon in the Senate.  Please call your senators today to demand that they filibuster this bill.  Your ability to exercise your right to vote may depend on it.  

Then join us for a photo shoot on Saturday, April 19, at 4:00 PM on the allées Jean Jaurès, "ramblas" side (walking away from Place Wilson and across the boulevard Strasbourg). 

April 19 is shaping up to be a decisive day of resistance in the US.  Let's keep the peaceful resistance going by showing up and supporting the Americans fighting for our rights.  To misquote a certain revolutionary musical, let's not throw away our shot!

WHEN

Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 04:00 PM Paris Time

WHERE

Metro Jean Jaurès
Ramblas side of the Metro
31000 Toulouse 31000
France
Google map and directions

CONTACT

Scott Stroud