General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsACLU: Remembering Dr. King's Defense of Voting Rights
During the summer of 1964, a coalition of civil rights groups and almost a thousand student volunteers converged in Mississippi to register African-American voters. The Mississippi Summer Project was met with unrelenting violence: 1,000 arrests, 35 shootings, 30 bombed buildings, 35 burned churches, 80 beatings, and at least six murders. The following year, to sustain the focus on the plight of African-American voters in the South, civil rights leaders marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. On March 25, 1965, the final day of the march, Martin Luther King Jr. vowed to continue fighting for the right to vote, earn, and learnall without racial barriers:
Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until no American parent has to skip a meal so that their children may eat. (Yes, sir) March on poverty (Let us march) until no starved man walks the streets of our cities and towns (Yes, sir) in search of jobs that do not exist.
Let us march on ballot boxes, (Lets march) march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena.
Let us march on ballot boxes until the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs (Yes, sir) will be transformed into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. (Speak, Doctor)
Less than five months later, on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act became law. By both prohibiting tactics designed to eradicate the African-American vote and allowing federal examiners to register voters, the laws effects were felt almost immediately throughout the South. Within months of its passage, a quarter of a million new black voters had been registered, one third by federal examiners. Within four years, voter registration in the South had more than doubled. In 1965, Mississippi led the nation in both African-American turnout 74 percent--and the number of African-American leaders elected. By 1969, the impact was even more salient: African-American turnout in Tennessee was 92.1 percent; Arkansas, 77.9 percent; and Texas, 73.1 percent.
Dr. Kings words resonate even today, as do the events leading up to his speech in Montgomery. Turnout in the 2008 election was the most racially diverse in American history, closing the longstanding gap between white and non-white voter participation. Shamefully, lawmakers nationwide responded to this historic moment by reinstating barriers to every step of the voting process. Under the barely defensible banner of electoral integrity, these reactionary legislators willfully ignored the realities of the modern franchise and launched an assault by:
Restricting the types of identification required to vote even though African-Americans, especially lower-income, are far less likely to possess the required documentation;
Cutting early voting periods, when, in 2008, minority voters took advantage of them in record numbers; and
Severely restricting voter registration drives, upon which minority and especially lower-income voters are far more likely to rely.
- more -
http://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/remembering-dr-kings-defense-voting-rights
Holder Stands Up for the Right to Vote
http://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/holder-stands-right-vote
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)live to suppress the vote.
bigtree
(86,004 posts)"Rights are not self-executed. I only owe the government allegiance that owes me my protection." - Col. R.G. Ingersoll, an opponent of the doctrine of state's rights in the 1800's
For the most part, black individuals in America weren't afforded rights until after the Civil War when states were forced to accept federal guarantees to blacks as a condition of readmission to the Union. The 14th and 15th amendments were important milestones for the realization of those rights, but they were just abstractions without the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act to provide the basis for federal enforcement of these rights. Without the consistent logic of federal primacy and state compliance in the execution of federal law no federal action can be expected to prevail. Americans need more than just good faith assurances that rights are guaranteed. Rights must be backed by defensible law . . .
Obama Administration Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum
Austin, TX ~ Tuesday, December 13, 2011
___ In 1965, when President Johnson signed the landmark Voting Rights Act into law, he proclaimed that, the right to vote is the basic right, without which all others are meaningless.
Today, as Attorney General, I have the privilege and the solemn duty of enforcing this law, and the other civil rights reforms that President Johnson championed. This work is among the Justice Departments most important priorities. And our efforts honor the generations of Americans who have taken extraordinary risks, and willingly confronted hatred, bias, and ignorance as well as billy clubs and fire hoses, bullets and bombs to ensure that their children, and all American citizens, would have the chance to participate in the work of their government. The right to vote is not only the cornerstone of our system of government it is the lifeblood of our democracy. And no force has proved more powerful or more integral to the success of the great American experiment than efforts to expand the franchise.
Despite this history, and despite our nations long tradition of extending voting rights to non-property owners and women, to people of color and Native Americans, and to younger Americans today, a growing number of our fellow citizens are worried about the same disparities, divisions, and problems that nearly five decades ago LBJ devoted his Presidency to addressing. In my travels across this country, Ive heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from many Americans, who often for the first time in their lives now have reason to believe that we are failing to live up to one of our nations most noble, and essential, ideals.
As Congressman John Lewis described it, in a speech on the House floor this summer, the voting rights that he worked throughout his life and nearly gave his life to ensure are, under attack
by a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, and minority and low-income voters from exercising their constitutional right to engage in the democratic process. Not only was he referring to the all-too-common deceptive practices weve been fighting for years. He was echoing more recent concerns about some of the state-level voting law changes weve seen this legislative season.
Since January, more than a dozen states have advanced new voting measures. Some of these new laws are currently under review by the Justice Department, based on our obligations under the Voting Rights Act. Texas and South Carolina, for example, have enacted laws establishing new photo identification requirements that were reviewing. Were also examining a number of changes that Florida has made to its electoral process, including changes to the procedures governing third-party voter registration organizations, as well as changes to early voting procedures, including the number of days in the early voting period.
Although I cannot go into detail about the ongoing review of these and other state-law changes, I can assure you that it will be thorough and fair. We will examine the facts, and we will apply the law. If a state passes a new voting law and meets its burden of showing that the law is not discriminatory, we will follow the law and approve the change. And where a state cant meet this burden, we will object as part of our obligation under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
read entire speech: http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2011/ag-speech-111213.html
What's the Democratic party doing to protect and defend our votes?
Voting Rights Institute of the Democratic National Committee is a permanent organization created to monitor developments in election law, advocate to make voting more accessible, and provide guidance on voting rights and election administration issues. This work is integrally tied to our Party's platform, which commits to fully protecting and enforcing the fundamental right to vote.
The Democratic National Committee is dedicated to ensuring that the process of voting remains open and fair for all eligible Americans. We continue to work to defeat any legislative or political effort that erodes the most fundamental of American rightsthe right to vote.
Under the leadership of its chair Donna Brazile, the Voting Rights Institute focuses on the protection and expansion of voting rights in a variety of ways, including:
Voting Rights Policy Development
Research and Publication
Voter Protection Organizing
Redistricting Support
Voting Rights Litigation Support
read more: http://www.democrats.org/about/voting_rights_institute
The National Lawyers Council of the Democratic Party
works to support President Obama's agenda, promote and protect the right to vote, and engage Democratic attorneys in a variety of ways. Sign up to receive information on relevant events, legislation, calls to action, and leadership opportunities throughout the year.
read more: http://my.democrats.org/page/s/national-lawyers-council-sign-up?source=Demsfooter
The Accountability Project is a platform for you to hold candidates accountable for their claims, their public statements, and their campaign tactics. No matter where you live, you can:
If you have a video camera of any kind, or even a cell phone that records video, you can document Republican candidate events, including speeches, forums, and public meetings.
You can submit copies of candidate mailers, emails, and attack ads.
You can also report upcoming public events in your area, so that other volunteers can document them.
read more: http://my.democrats.org/page/content/ap/home
DNC Protect the Vote Initiative:
http://www.protectingthevote.org/?source=DNC_HQB