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Race Relations, Class, and Voting Rights

Stop the Vote--By Any Means Necessary

A new year always brings reflection. I found myself reflecting on what a difference a year could make—how the results of a single lawsuit (Shelby County vs. Holder) could turn America in an entirely different direction and usher in an era of the most radical loss of American voting rights since Jim Crow rule was made illegal.

I had been thinking that in a democracy, every citizen should have equal access to the ballot and that people should actually want their fellow citizens to be able to vote, regardless of their political stance. How wrong I had been.

The Voting Rights Act was based on the understanding that without oversight, powerful people in many cities and towns would implement restrictions to keep undesired people from the ballot and these disenfranchised voters would most likely be unable to afford the legal costs of fighting any new restrictions. The Shelby lawsuit implied that this oversight was no longer needed in many areas because they weren’t doing what they used to do. This newsletter reminds us that this premise could not be further from the truth.

As you review below the many changes in voting rules since the gutting of the Voters Rights Act, I pray that everyone will become increasingly concerned over this loss of access to the ballot and this assault on real democracy. The Voting Rights Act can only by fixed by Congress so whom you elect has never been more important. Standing back silently as one group is denied access to the ballot is an open door to the denial of another group and next time, you may be a member of the targeted group….

History teaches us that oversight of changes in voting laws is critical to the protection of all voters.

Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

I'm glad history matters to you!

Speaker, Author, Race Relations Strategist
History Matters Institute, A Division of the Scott Brown Group, LLC
www.cleoscottbrown.com

Voting Restrictions

Registering Voters: 10 states have introduced bills to limit voter registration efforts.

College Voters: 24 states have implemented rules to make it harder for college students to vote. For example, in Texas, students can no longer use college IDs but they can use their gun licenses. Early voting and regular voting locations on some college campuses have been closed to make it more difficult for college students to vote.

Early Voting: 8 states have passed laws cutting back on early voting days and hours. In many states, statistics show that a high percentage of African Americans vote during the early voting period. For example, in NC, where restrictions on early voting were implemented, 7 out of 10 African Americans voted early in 2012.

Voter IDs: 15 states have new photo ID laws slated to take effect in 2016; 9 states already have laws in effect. Voter fraud was the explanation for the need for photo IDs. In Texas, legislators used their two cases of “voter fraud” as the basis of a new ID law that immediately disenfranchised 600,000 Texas voters who did not have the required photo ID. Similarly, 100,000 African Americans lack the required DMV-issued ID required in North Carolina. Across America, 11% of all Americans lack a required photo ID.

Getting the Required IDs & Getting to the Polls: Low income persons are twice as likely not to have the appropriate IDs and a high number of them live far from the closest office that issues photo IDs and since they are non-drivers, transportation to these offices is often expensive or not available. After passing a voter ID law, last year the Alabama state legislature voted to close 31 DMV offices which included offices in the counties with large black populations including many poor rural counties where transportation to another DMV office in a town much further away would be most difficult. After much protest, the governor offered to open the DMV offices one day a month. In another state, polling places were moved away from bus lines in some poorer communities making it difficult to get to the polls.

Felons: Only three states permanently take away the right to vote from someone who has a felony conviction, although they have completed their term of punishment. Last year, in Kentucky, rights for 140,000 non-violent felons were restored by the governor but in December, the new governor announced he would revoke these rights once again.

Campaign Financing: The budget passed by Congress included some non-budget related restrictions on what could be done to allow the public to know who was actually financing the things we see and think during campaigns. The SEC was prohibited from continuing work on a rule that would require corporations disclose to its shareholders how much they spent to influence elections. The IRS was prohibited from continuing work on a project that would have clarified the rules for non-profits who currently spend hundreds of millions in political spending without disclosing their donors. Oddly, the ban was through fiscal year 2016, which would not allow time for new rules for financial disclosures to be made before the presidential election.
(Statistics from Brennan Center for Justice)

Forward

Remembering the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

--Dr. Martin Luther King

Give the Gift of Wisdom

Stories & Lessons from 100 Years of History Starting from Slavery

Witness to the Truth
By John H. Scott & Cleo Scott Brown

"Witness to the Truth" Reader Comments:

I have learned more in that book than in any history I have ever read. Young Adult Reader (LA)

….timely lessons are learned starting at page one of the book…..(I must confess I read it in one day…I just couldn’t put it down).

If someone were to ask me which two books to read regarding the civil rights era, yours would be one. Author & Historian (VA)

Essence Best Seller
River Reads Summer Reading Selection,
Ouachita (Monroe, LA) Parish Libraries 2008
Purchase your copy here.

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About Cleo

Cleo Scott Brown, author of Witness to the Truth, speaks nationally on race relations, black history, and voting rights, helping audiences connect the past with the present. She has also lived her subject, and like her father, who is the central figure in her book, she believes that her experiences have been for a greater purpose. Learn more about Cleo here.

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