Help PFAW fight Voter Intimidation

[joefree1]

Tuesday's Florida primary provided People For the American Way Foundation with a tremendous opportunity to do a test run of our Election Protection project.

We put together, with our coalition partners, the Election Protection program in the aftermath of the 2000 elections, when an estimated four million voters nationwide were disenfranchised, and the nation suffered through the bitter election fiasco in Florida.

We can't let it happen again. Election Protection is designed to help every eligible voter cast a ballot that will be counted on Election Day; it is a program that educates, empowers and protects voters.

I'm proud to report that, thanks to the efforts of many, the trial run in Florida delivered excellent results. Hundreds of volunteers, including more than 75 trained lawyers and law students, were on hand in 60 targeted precincts to track voter problems and provide immediate help. The test supports the Election Protection coalition's plan to deploy 25,000 volunteers in some 17 states where minority voters are most at risk.

While we found a few scattered problems during the Florida primary, history tells us that the general election in November is when voters face the greatest risk of intimidation and disenfranchisement. That's when our forces will be needed most to protect voters' rights.

One central reason for the existence of Election Protection is the threat of voter intimidation and voter suppression. That very real threat is underscored by the devastating report released last week by People For the American Way Foundation and the NAACP, "The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America Today," and by recent news reports such as Bob Herbert's New York Times columns on the intimidation of scores of African-American voters by armed law enforcement personnel in the Orlando area.

Dirty tricks at the polls and voter intimidation and suppression have been with us for decades. But as our report shows, there have been many examples in recent years.

*
This summer, Michigan state Rep. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying, "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election." African Americans comprise 83% of Detroit's population.
*
In South Dakota's June 2004 primary, Native American voters were prevented from voting after they were challenged to provide photo IDs, which they were not required to present under state or federal law.
*
Earlier this year in Texas, a local district attorney claimed that students at a majority black college were not eligible to vote in the county where the college is located. It happened in Waller County - the same county where 26 years earlier, a federal court order was required to prevent discrimination against the students.
*
In Kentucky in July 2004, Black Republican officials joined to ask their state GOP party chairman to renounce plans to place "vote challengers" in African American precincts during the coming elections.
*
In 2003 in Philadelphia, voters in African American areas were systematically challenged by men carrying clipboards, driving a fleet of some 300 sedans with magnetic signs designed to look like law enforcement insignia.
*
In 2002 in Louisiana, flyers were distributed in African American communities telling voters they could go to the polls on Tuesday, December 10th - three days after a Senate runoff election was actually held.
*
In 1998 in South Carolina, a state representative mailed 3,000 brochures to African American neighborhoods, claiming that law enforcement agents would be "working" the election, and warning voters that "this election is not worth going to jail."

For those of us who cherish the accomplishments of the civil rights era, and who honor the memory of the men and women who sacrificed so much in the fight to secure voting rights for every American, our report is a timely reminder. We must stay vigilant. Threats to our voting rights have never wholly disappeared - they've just taken on new and more cynical guises, and are employed with new tactics. Constant vigilance is required.

That's why this is such an important year for Election Protection. With our more than 60 national coalition partners, Election Protection will provide services around the country:

*
A toll-free hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, for voters to access free, immediate and multi-lingual assistance with registration, voting and barriers at the ballot box.
*
25,000 trained poll monitors, including 5,000 lawyers and law students, to watch for problems and assist voters on the spot at more than 3,500 predominantly African American and Latino precincts in at least 17 states.
*
Civil rights lawyers and advocates to represent voters in lawsuits, preserve access to the polls, expose and prevent voter intimidation, and solve problems with new voting machines and ballot forms.
*
More than five million Voters' Bills of Rights with state-specific information for distribution in almost all 50 states.

This year, Election Protection is the nation's single largest and most far-reaching effort to protect voter rights EVER! And your support makes it possible.

Please help by volunteering to become an Election Protection volunteer and by making a generous tax-deductible contribution today.

Thank you for helping us make sure every voter can vote and that these votes will count!

Thank you,

Ralph G. Neas
President

Become an Election Protection volunteer:
http://www.electionprotectionvolunteer.org/pfaw

Support Election Protection with a contribution:
http://www.pfaw.org/go/EP_sponsor_2004