Early voting has started in Iowa!  Find your polling location and early voting information at your county auditor’s office.  Find your county auditor for where you live here. 

Saturday I attended the Iowa City Indivisible #NoKings #VoteEarly rally on the UI pentacrest (you can scroll down to see yesterday’s post). Weather was beautiful. Energy was high. Several speeches from candidates and local officials and activists.  I captured brief remarks from our friend Ed Flaherty, long time peace activist and member of Veterans for Peace, Local 161, Iowa City.

Ed Flaherty spoke about Trump’s war, the importance of voting, and calling for the release of a local UIHC employee and mother of young children, Fatou Traore. Christina Bohannan, candidate for congress in IA-01 has called for her to be returned home to her children.

“We need to bring Fatou Traore home,” Bohannan said in a social media statement. “Fatou was arrested and detained by ICE a few days ago, and was sent to Louisiana to await deportation to Sierra Leone, a country with which she has no ties…Fatou has not committed or been charged with committing any crime. She is a hardworking employee of UIHC and has young children who are US citizens. We should secure the border and deport violent criminals, not law-abiding, hard-working mothers.” – Des Moines Register

Veterans for Peace distributed information about what you can do to help.

Some additional info. from Vets for Peace:

Armistice Day observance Wednesday, November 11, 10:45 AM, ped mall stage, Iowa City.

Public is invited to rededicate ourselves to the work of peace.

A few more signs from the #nokings #voteearly event on Saturday.

Photo: Trish Nelson

Photo: Trish Nelson