12th ANNUAL RAINBOW PUSH AND CEF
CREATING OPPORTUNITY CONFERENCE
November 3-5, 2011
Hilton Garden Inn, 275 Baker Street, Atlanta, GA 30303
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011
4:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Registration – Private Dining Room
4:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. - Opening Reception - Doing Business with Georgia Power – Great American Grille
Participants: Kenneth Huff, Glenda M. Stinson, David Moody
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2011
9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Registration - Oceanic Pre-Function
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mortgage Modification Assistance
Atlantic
Participants: Trina G. Heathington, Janice L. Mathis
10a.m. to 4 p.m. VENDORS – Oceanic Pre-function
9 – 10 Press conference/Corporate Study – PDR
Participants: National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees, Robert Patillo
10 a.m.-12 p.m. Workshop – Business Growth and Development: Franchising and Access to Capital – Pacific I
Participants: Clinton Barrow, Kelvin Hicks, Louis E. James, Michael Jackson, Greg Calhoun, Randolyn Jones
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Workshop - Making Global Connections – Pacific II
Participants: Joe Beasley, James G. Patterson
12:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. MINISTERS’ LUNCHEON AND SEMINAR
Facing Hard Times with Faith and Hope
Oceanic Ballroom
Participants: Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Dr. Marvin Moss (Cascade), Rev. Kenneth Alexander (Antioch North), Bishop William Sheals (Hopewell), Rev. Jerry D. Black (Beulah), Rev. Jasper Williams (Salem), Rev. Cameron Alexander (Antioch North), Georgette Dixon, Stephon Ferguson, Axel Adams
2:30 P.M. – 4 p.m. Workshop - One Thousand Churches Class for Pastors, Hands on Banking, VITAS, Financial Literacy, Social and Economic Justice Pacific I
2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Workshop - Stop the Violence – Save the Family
Pacific II
Participants: Stefan Gresham, Dr. Lorraine Jacq White, Fred Watson, Dominic Stokes
2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Doing Business in DeKalb County Atlantic
Participants: Sherman Golden, Stan Watson, Bruce McMillian
6:00 P.M. - VIP SPONSOR’S RECEPTION- Panoramic Room
7:00 P.M. – KEEP HOPE ALIVE GALA – Oceanic Ballroom
Participants: Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., April Kelly-Drummond, Munson Steed, M. Alexis Scott, Marvin Nunnally
Performers: Earth Tone Lyrix, The Wardlaw Brothers
Honorees: Ms. Wanda Smith – Woman of Vision, The Hon. Andrew Young – Bridge Builder, Ms. Rita Samuels – Fannie Lou Hamer Award, Mr. Clayvon Croom – Trade Bureau Member of the Year, Ms. Leona Barr Davenport – Torchbearer, Ms. Jennifer Ffrench Parker – Journalist of the Year, Mr. Roger Bobb – Entrepreneur of the Year, Ms. Debra Antney – Entrepreneur of the Year.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2011
9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Registration – PDR
9 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. College Fair – Oceanic Pre-Function
Participants: Ms. Kawanya Isom
10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. VENDORS – Atlantic Pre-function
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Workshop – Pacific I
Mortgage Modification Assistance
Participants: Hugh Rowden, Wells Fargo, Chase
CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Sports and Entertainment Workshop – Atlantic
Participants: Dewey McClain, Horace King, Mel Pender, Diane Larche, Rene Jackson, Breanna Fort, Andrea Riggs
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Regional Leadership Summit – TBD
Participants: Honorable Elected Officials - Corrinne Brown, Keith G. Heard, Sharon Beasley Teague, Roger Bruce, Stan Watson, Gail P. Davenport, Robert Brown, Alisha Thomas Morgan, Rashad Taylor, Gloria Tinubu
12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. SPORTS LUNCHEON – Oceanic Ballroom
Award Recipients: Dewey McClain, Clayton State Women’s Basketball Team
Participants: Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Nicole Watson, Kristen Davis, Dextor Clinkscale, Horace King, Mark Patterson
2:30 – 4:30 p.m. Jesse Jackson 70th Birthday Tribute – Bridging the Generation Gap – Talent Showcase – Oceanic Ballroom
Participants: Goode Acting Studio, Sisters of Today and Tomorrow, Stewart Foundation, STARS, Stone Mountain High School, Best Academy, SBGG, College Bound, Broadway S.T.A.R.S., Morris Brown College, Jefferson County High, Redan High, Marthanna Living Way, WXAG-AM, Orrin Hudson, Hank Stewart
ADJOURN
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Death Penalty Abolition
Ga. Death Penalty Opponents Discuss Tactics
Updated: Thursday, 22 Sep 2011, 11:32 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 22 Sep 2011, 10:21 PM EDT
•
George
Franco
Video by George Franco/MyFoxAtlanta
Supporters of Troy Davis insist the case will only strengthen their argument to abolish the death penalty, but death penalty advocates say the right man was put to death.
With the world watching, tensions flared and emotions went from elation to deep disappointment as protestors first thought Troy Davis’ life had been spared but later learned the Supreme Court did not halt his execution. His death pushed supporters to try to abolish the death penalty.
Davis was executed by lethal injection Wednesday for the 1988 murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer. In his final statement, Davis maintained his innocence.
“We intend for Troy’s name to stand for, in history, the beginning of the end of the death penalty,” said Janice Mathis of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition
The activist group rainbow push coalition met Thursday to devise a plan to do just that. They say doubt in the Troy Davis case, witnesses who recanted and questionable ballistics evidence will help convince more people that the death penalty is wrong.
“We're hoping ultimately, that the state of Georgia legislatures. as well as the federal legislature lawmakers review the death penalty and ultimately abolish it completely,” said Richard Holmes of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Jeff Wiggs, president of the Dekalb Fraternal Order of Police says only defense attorneys were going public with their doubts about details in the Davis case involving the murder of Savannah police officer Mark McPhail.
He says when more all information comes out, he believes most Americans will stand behind the death penalty decision.
“I think the majority of the people if they really took themselves away from all the atmosphere and all the hype and all the media coverage of this and really sat down and thought about it, most people, they want justice,” Wiggs said.
Members of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition say they are working with state lawmakers to try to convince members of the legislature to take a second look at the death penalty in Georgia.
Some of the roughly two dozen people at the meeting said they needed to register to vote new supporters who joined their cause over the Davis case. Joe Beasley of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition says members of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles should be ousted because they did not commute Davis' sentence.
Updated: Thursday, 22 Sep 2011, 11:32 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 22 Sep 2011, 10:21 PM EDT
•
George
Franco
Video by George Franco/MyFoxAtlanta
Supporters of Troy Davis insist the case will only strengthen their argument to abolish the death penalty, but death penalty advocates say the right man was put to death.
With the world watching, tensions flared and emotions went from elation to deep disappointment as protestors first thought Troy Davis’ life had been spared but later learned the Supreme Court did not halt his execution. His death pushed supporters to try to abolish the death penalty.
Davis was executed by lethal injection Wednesday for the 1988 murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer. In his final statement, Davis maintained his innocence.
“We intend for Troy’s name to stand for, in history, the beginning of the end of the death penalty,” said Janice Mathis of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition
The activist group rainbow push coalition met Thursday to devise a plan to do just that. They say doubt in the Troy Davis case, witnesses who recanted and questionable ballistics evidence will help convince more people that the death penalty is wrong.
“We're hoping ultimately, that the state of Georgia legislatures. as well as the federal legislature lawmakers review the death penalty and ultimately abolish it completely,” said Richard Holmes of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Jeff Wiggs, president of the Dekalb Fraternal Order of Police says only defense attorneys were going public with their doubts about details in the Davis case involving the murder of Savannah police officer Mark McPhail.
He says when more all information comes out, he believes most Americans will stand behind the death penalty decision.
“I think the majority of the people if they really took themselves away from all the atmosphere and all the hype and all the media coverage of this and really sat down and thought about it, most people, they want justice,” Wiggs said.
Members of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition say they are working with state lawmakers to try to convince members of the legislature to take a second look at the death penalty in Georgia.
Some of the roughly two dozen people at the meeting said they needed to register to vote new supporters who joined their cause over the Davis case. Joe Beasley of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition says members of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles should be ousted because they did not commute Davis' sentence.
Peachtree Street Project
Herndon Plaza
100 Auburn Avenue
Suite 101
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-525-5663 or 5668
Fax: 404-525-5233
ATLANTA RAINBOW PUSH COALITION AND ALLIES DEVELOP PLAN TO SUPPORT ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY
(Atlanta, GA – September 22, 2011) In the wake of the Troy Davis execution, the Southeast Region Rainbow PUSH Coalition urges members and supporters in Georgia to work to abolish the death penalty in Georgia and across the nation. On Tuesday, Rainbow PUSH convened a Town Hall Meeting to begin plans for a grassroots abolition effort. The meeting was chaired by Janice L. Mathis, Esq. with participation from Dr. Richard Cobble, President of Concerned Black Clergy, Joe Beasley Foundation and Helen Butler, Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda,
1. Voter registration and education specifically aimed at young people on the issue of the death penalty, including Internet and text
2. Enlist support of celebrity spokespersons
3. Web and Internet presence aimed at attracting young supporters
4. Build strong ties and coordinate efforts among advocacy groups, including Amnesty International and Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
5. Unify and activate members of the clergy
6. Support state and federal legislation to outlaw the death penalty
7. Maintain regular contact with elected officials and provide a tool to voters to evaluate legislative voting records
8. Present suggestions for reform to the Georgia Criminal Justice Reform Council
9. Support legislation and regulation to provide more public access to Pardons and Parole deliberations
10. Participate as NGO’s in international forums, such as the United Nations, to highlight US death penalty issues
11. Encourage the legislature to study the use of the death penalty and eyewitness testimony in Georgia and adopt a moratorium on death penalty executions and prosecutions until the study is completed. Adopt the ABA recommendations, at a minimum.
12. Educate the public about the race and class-based history of the death penalty
According to Janice L. Mathis, regional VP of Rainbow PUSH indicated, “Existing safeguards are inadequate. The only way to assure that innocent people are not executed is to abolish executions. Our system cannot achieve the moral certainty required to assure fair and accurate imposition of the death penalty. Existing legal standards of proof and evidence are insufficient and unlikely to change.”
While we build a coalition for abolition, we will support reform measures like Congressman Hank Johnson’s Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act. Johnson, along with Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia and John Conyers of Michigan urged the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board to grant clemency to Davis. In 2006, the American Bar Association assessed the death penalty in Georgia and recommended a moratorium. To view the report, including problems with the Georgia death penalty and recommendations for reform, visit http://sentencing.nj.gov/downloads/pdf/articles/death2.pdf
The discussions and action will continue at weekly meetings of the GCPA, CBC and monthly Rainbow PUSH Coalition meetings. To get involved, call Richard Holmes, chair of the RPC criminal justice committee at 404 525 5663, or visit rainbowpushatlanta.org.
Herndon Plaza
100 Auburn Avenue
Suite 101
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-525-5663 or 5668
Fax: 404-525-5233
ATLANTA RAINBOW PUSH COALITION AND ALLIES DEVELOP PLAN TO SUPPORT ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY
(Atlanta, GA – September 22, 2011) In the wake of the Troy Davis execution, the Southeast Region Rainbow PUSH Coalition urges members and supporters in Georgia to work to abolish the death penalty in Georgia and across the nation. On Tuesday, Rainbow PUSH convened a Town Hall Meeting to begin plans for a grassroots abolition effort. The meeting was chaired by Janice L. Mathis, Esq. with participation from Dr. Richard Cobble, President of Concerned Black Clergy, Joe Beasley Foundation and Helen Butler, Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda,
1. Voter registration and education specifically aimed at young people on the issue of the death penalty, including Internet and text
2. Enlist support of celebrity spokespersons
3. Web and Internet presence aimed at attracting young supporters
4. Build strong ties and coordinate efforts among advocacy groups, including Amnesty International and Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
5. Unify and activate members of the clergy
6. Support state and federal legislation to outlaw the death penalty
7. Maintain regular contact with elected officials and provide a tool to voters to evaluate legislative voting records
8. Present suggestions for reform to the Georgia Criminal Justice Reform Council
9. Support legislation and regulation to provide more public access to Pardons and Parole deliberations
10. Participate as NGO’s in international forums, such as the United Nations, to highlight US death penalty issues
11. Encourage the legislature to study the use of the death penalty and eyewitness testimony in Georgia and adopt a moratorium on death penalty executions and prosecutions until the study is completed. Adopt the ABA recommendations, at a minimum.
12. Educate the public about the race and class-based history of the death penalty
According to Janice L. Mathis, regional VP of Rainbow PUSH indicated, “Existing safeguards are inadequate. The only way to assure that innocent people are not executed is to abolish executions. Our system cannot achieve the moral certainty required to assure fair and accurate imposition of the death penalty. Existing legal standards of proof and evidence are insufficient and unlikely to change.”
While we build a coalition for abolition, we will support reform measures like Congressman Hank Johnson’s Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act. Johnson, along with Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia and John Conyers of Michigan urged the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board to grant clemency to Davis. In 2006, the American Bar Association assessed the death penalty in Georgia and recommended a moratorium. To view the report, including problems with the Georgia death penalty and recommendations for reform, visit http://sentencing.nj.gov/downloads/pdf/articles/death2.pdf
The discussions and action will continue at weekly meetings of the GCPA, CBC and monthly Rainbow PUSH Coalition meetings. To get involved, call Richard Holmes, chair of the RPC criminal justice committee at 404 525 5663, or visit rainbowpushatlanta.org.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
States Rights Redux
States Rights is code for discrimination. A century and a half ago, some states asserted the right to leave the union. As any first year law student knows, partnerships are destroyed when partners withdraw. To avoid destroying the union, we fought the nation’s bloodiest conflict and admitted traitors back into the country on generous terms. After all, Southern dead paid in blood for their defense of the peculiar institution.
Fifty years ago, all Americans were free, but blacks were routinely denied the ballot and women had held the franchise for only a generation. Some states blocked access to the ballot with the same ferocity and on the same grounds that they stood in school house doors with ax handles – states rights. Denial of the ballot was premised on the right of states to control all election processes and procedures.
By eradicating widespread disenfranchisement in Dixie and in urban areas outside the Old South, the Voting Rights Act proved to be one of the most effective pieces of federal legislation ever enacted. It ranks with the 14th Amendment and the Commerce clause in changing the lives of Americans everywhere – for the better.
Like any new device, it took time for blacks and progressive whites to fully utilize the Voting Rights Act. Section V is a powerful tool and a near-anomaly in the law, requiring prior Department of Justice approval before states or other covered jurisdictions can make changes to voting processes and procedures. But its power derives from the circumstances surrounding its implementation. Some jurisdictions were so determined to deny minority groups the right to vote that they could not be trusted to manage their own elections. Eventually, the Jackson campaigns of 1984 and 1988 ushered in a new era of black political participation with thousands of black elected officials suing to create single-member districts where minority voting strength could be felt and breaking down the barriers to voter registration.
Motor Voter was an important milestone in the march toward full enfranchisement. Gone were the last vestiges of voter intimidation and courthouse-only registration. Potential voters could register at the public library, in school, at public agency offices and in door-to-door campaigns mounted by activists. And they could document their citizenship and residency in dozens of ways: utility bills, passports, birth certificates, student i.d. cards were all acceptable forms of identification.
But now, frightened by the country’s demographic realities and emboldened by a rightwing federal judiciary leftover from the Reagan-Bush era, some radical conservatives are raising the terrible visages of voter suppression and states’ rights once again. The battlefields are familiar, yet different this time around. All-white enclaves that surround Atlanta are seceding from Fulton County to avoid black political power. Republican-controlled legislatures are packing black voters into segregated districts to create even more partisan influence, with an avowed aim of running whites completely out of the Democratic Party. More than thirty states, led by Georgia, have enacted draconian voter i.d. laws, despite miniscule evidence of voter impersonation fraud. Industrial states are punishing union members to break the most reliable source of progressive organizational and economic clout.
Thirty-five years ago Earth Wind and Fire sang, “When Will We Ever Learn?” When it comes to states rights vs. minority voting rights, apparently the answer is “never.” Fortunately, coalitions of conscience are coming together across the nation. Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan are refusing to allow voter suppression to push our nation quietly back into the bad old days of minority rule. Blacks, Latinos, women and labor union members are no longer junior associates – they are senior partners in the American experience.
Fifty years ago, all Americans were free, but blacks were routinely denied the ballot and women had held the franchise for only a generation. Some states blocked access to the ballot with the same ferocity and on the same grounds that they stood in school house doors with ax handles – states rights. Denial of the ballot was premised on the right of states to control all election processes and procedures.
By eradicating widespread disenfranchisement in Dixie and in urban areas outside the Old South, the Voting Rights Act proved to be one of the most effective pieces of federal legislation ever enacted. It ranks with the 14th Amendment and the Commerce clause in changing the lives of Americans everywhere – for the better.
Like any new device, it took time for blacks and progressive whites to fully utilize the Voting Rights Act. Section V is a powerful tool and a near-anomaly in the law, requiring prior Department of Justice approval before states or other covered jurisdictions can make changes to voting processes and procedures. But its power derives from the circumstances surrounding its implementation. Some jurisdictions were so determined to deny minority groups the right to vote that they could not be trusted to manage their own elections. Eventually, the Jackson campaigns of 1984 and 1988 ushered in a new era of black political participation with thousands of black elected officials suing to create single-member districts where minority voting strength could be felt and breaking down the barriers to voter registration.
Motor Voter was an important milestone in the march toward full enfranchisement. Gone were the last vestiges of voter intimidation and courthouse-only registration. Potential voters could register at the public library, in school, at public agency offices and in door-to-door campaigns mounted by activists. And they could document their citizenship and residency in dozens of ways: utility bills, passports, birth certificates, student i.d. cards were all acceptable forms of identification.
But now, frightened by the country’s demographic realities and emboldened by a rightwing federal judiciary leftover from the Reagan-Bush era, some radical conservatives are raising the terrible visages of voter suppression and states’ rights once again. The battlefields are familiar, yet different this time around. All-white enclaves that surround Atlanta are seceding from Fulton County to avoid black political power. Republican-controlled legislatures are packing black voters into segregated districts to create even more partisan influence, with an avowed aim of running whites completely out of the Democratic Party. More than thirty states, led by Georgia, have enacted draconian voter i.d. laws, despite miniscule evidence of voter impersonation fraud. Industrial states are punishing union members to break the most reliable source of progressive organizational and economic clout.
Thirty-five years ago Earth Wind and Fire sang, “When Will We Ever Learn?” When it comes to states rights vs. minority voting rights, apparently the answer is “never.” Fortunately, coalitions of conscience are coming together across the nation. Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan are refusing to allow voter suppression to push our nation quietly back into the bad old days of minority rule. Blacks, Latinos, women and labor union members are no longer junior associates – they are senior partners in the American experience.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
WHY IS VOTING GETTING HARDER?
From the New York Times
June 5, 2011
They Want to Make Voting Harder?
One of the most promising recent trends in expanding political participation has been allowing people to vote in the weeks before Election Day, either in person or by mail. Early voting, which enables people to skip long lines and vote at more convenient times, has been increasingly popular over the last 15 years. It skyrocketed to a third of the vote in 2008, rising particularly in the South and among black voters supporting Barack Obama.
And that, of course, is why Republican lawmakers in the South are trying desperately to cut it back. Two states in the region have already reduced early-voting periods, and lawmakers in others are considering doing so. It is the latest element of a well-coordinated effort by Republican state legislators across the country to disenfranchise voters who tend to support Democrats, particularly minorities and young people.
The biggest part of that effort, imposing cumbersome requirements that voters have a government ID, has been painted as a response to voter fraud, an essentially nonexistent problem. But Republican lawmakers also have taken a good look at voting patterns, realized that early voting might have played a role in Mr. Obama’s 2008 victory, and now want to reduce that possibility in 2012.
Mr. Obama won North Carolina, for example, by less than 15,000 votes. That state has had early voting since 2000, and in 2008, more ballots were cast before Election Day than on it. Mr. Obama won those early votes by a comfortable margin. So it is no coincidence that the North Carolina House passed a measure — along party lines — that would cut the early voting period by a week, reducing it to a week and a half before the election. The Senate is preparing a similar bill, which we hope Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, will veto if it reaches her.
Republicans said the measure would save money, a claim as phony as saying widespread fraud necessitates ID cards. The North Carolina elections board, and many county boards, said it would actually cost more money, because they would have to open more voting sites and have less flexibility allocating staff members. Black lawmakers called it what it is: a modern whiff of Jim Crow.
More than half of the state’s black votes were cast before Election Day, compared with 40 percent of the white votes. A similar trend was evident elsewhere in the South, according to studies by the Early Voting Information Center, a nonpartisan academic center at Reed College in Oregon. Blacks voting early in the South jumped from about 13 percent in 2004 to 33 percent in 2008, according to the studies, significantly outpacing the percentage of whites.
One of the biggest jumps was in Georgia, where, over the objections of several black lawmakers, the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a bill in April that would cut back in-person early voting to 21 days, from 45 days. Florida just cut its early voting period to eight days, from 14. Florida also eliminated the Sunday before Election Day as an early-voting day; election experts note that will eliminate the practice of many African-Americans of voting directly after going to church.
Outside the region, the Republican-dominated Legislature in Ohio, a perennial battleground state, is about to restrict early voting, a move that Democrats say amounts to voter suppression and discrimination.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia now allow some form of early voting, a relic from the days when everyone seemed to agree that more voters were better for democracy. Republicans have recently decided that a larger electorate can hurt them.
June 5, 2011
They Want to Make Voting Harder?
One of the most promising recent trends in expanding political participation has been allowing people to vote in the weeks before Election Day, either in person or by mail. Early voting, which enables people to skip long lines and vote at more convenient times, has been increasingly popular over the last 15 years. It skyrocketed to a third of the vote in 2008, rising particularly in the South and among black voters supporting Barack Obama.
And that, of course, is why Republican lawmakers in the South are trying desperately to cut it back. Two states in the region have already reduced early-voting periods, and lawmakers in others are considering doing so. It is the latest element of a well-coordinated effort by Republican state legislators across the country to disenfranchise voters who tend to support Democrats, particularly minorities and young people.
The biggest part of that effort, imposing cumbersome requirements that voters have a government ID, has been painted as a response to voter fraud, an essentially nonexistent problem. But Republican lawmakers also have taken a good look at voting patterns, realized that early voting might have played a role in Mr. Obama’s 2008 victory, and now want to reduce that possibility in 2012.
Mr. Obama won North Carolina, for example, by less than 15,000 votes. That state has had early voting since 2000, and in 2008, more ballots were cast before Election Day than on it. Mr. Obama won those early votes by a comfortable margin. So it is no coincidence that the North Carolina House passed a measure — along party lines — that would cut the early voting period by a week, reducing it to a week and a half before the election. The Senate is preparing a similar bill, which we hope Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, will veto if it reaches her.
Republicans said the measure would save money, a claim as phony as saying widespread fraud necessitates ID cards. The North Carolina elections board, and many county boards, said it would actually cost more money, because they would have to open more voting sites and have less flexibility allocating staff members. Black lawmakers called it what it is: a modern whiff of Jim Crow.
More than half of the state’s black votes were cast before Election Day, compared with 40 percent of the white votes. A similar trend was evident elsewhere in the South, according to studies by the Early Voting Information Center, a nonpartisan academic center at Reed College in Oregon. Blacks voting early in the South jumped from about 13 percent in 2004 to 33 percent in 2008, according to the studies, significantly outpacing the percentage of whites.
One of the biggest jumps was in Georgia, where, over the objections of several black lawmakers, the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a bill in April that would cut back in-person early voting to 21 days, from 45 days. Florida just cut its early voting period to eight days, from 14. Florida also eliminated the Sunday before Election Day as an early-voting day; election experts note that will eliminate the practice of many African-Americans of voting directly after going to church.
Outside the region, the Republican-dominated Legislature in Ohio, a perennial battleground state, is about to restrict early voting, a move that Democrats say amounts to voter suppression and discrimination.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia now allow some form of early voting, a relic from the days when everyone seemed to agree that more voters were better for democracy. Republicans have recently decided that a larger electorate can hurt them.
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