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CLEVELAND, OH -- February 23 -- Community leaders in Cleveland will honor Congressperson Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 at Laborer’s Local 310 Hall, 3250 Euclid Avenue. The Honorable Tubbs Jones will receive the Backbone Award for her courageous challenge to force a highly unusual House and Senate debate in January on the certification of Ohio’s presidential electors. The event prompted national live news coverage for being only the second such challenge in U.S. history. Tubbs Jones is currently sponsoring the common-sense “Count Every Vote Act” (co-sponsored in the Senate by Barbara Boxer and Hillary Rodham Clinton), which addresses the current crisis of confidence in our electoral system through comprehensive election reform such as: requiring a voter verified paper ballot, requiring the Federal Election Assistance Commission to issue standards that ensure uniform access to voting machines, designating Election Day a federal holiday, and much more. "Stephanie Tubbs Jones represents a group of Congresspeople who have recognized that our elections do not belong to the candidates - they belong to the people,” says The Backbone Campaign’s Executive Director, Bill Moyer. “Premature concessions, unequal access to an non-verifiable ballot, and political operatives supervising elections and vote counting have severely damaged public confidence in this most basic ritual of our democracy."
Tubbs Jones joins such previous Backbone Award recipients as former presidential hopefuls Howard Dean and Congressperson Dennis Kucinich. The Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition, the Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor and the NAACP National Voter Fund are sponsoring the award ceremony, during which film footage will be shown of the hearings held in Columbus called by the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones and Reverend. Jesse Jackson. The Backbone Campaign is a citizens organization that provides creative tools to the progressive movement. Its “spank and thank” strategy incorporates everything from awards to citations. What one receives depends on their commitment to progressive values. The Backbone Campaign has become nationally known for its use of political theater to advance a progressive agenda. In addition to its awards, citations and thank yous, the campaign website hosts a platform creation and framing tool, and a “Backbone Cabinet” progressive shadow government roster. The last adventure of this creative campaign was a trip to Washington D.C. with a 70-foot giant spine, which it delivered to the Democratic National Headquarters the day after inauguration. To learn more about the Backbone Campaign or to request an appearance of the 70 foot Backbone puppet, go to: http://www.backbonecampaign.org ###
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