Posts Tagged ‘Voting Rights’
Working to restore voting rights to returning citizens ahead of the general election
The voting rights for people with some felony convictions have been restored in the state of Alabama. However, many in the Black community still face many barriers to voting. Alabama did not inform citizens of the new 2017 law, so those affected are not aware of their right to vote. This is happening in other states as well.
Read MoreSpecial News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Tennessee Passes Law That Would Punish Protestors By Taking Away Their Right to Vote
Republican lawmakers and a Republican governor have green-lit a new law in Tennessee that makes it possible for people to have their voting rights revoked as punishment for participating in protests.
Read MoreThe Lost Promise of Reconstruction
Eric Foner draws parallels between our tense political climate and the end of the Reconstruction Age, overviewing the backward steps our country has taken as we move further from the promises of Reconstruction.
Read MoreGOP Lied About Using Racial Data To Gerrymander, Lawyers Say
North Carolina Republicans lied to a federal court in 2017 when they claimed that they didn’t use racial data about voters as they drew new electoral maps. The daughter of a GOP master of gerrymandering gave the files to a voting rights group, Common Cause. That group has now filed suit in court.
Read MoreBrian Kemp says he’s Georgia’s next governor and Democrats say prove it
With legal wrangles opening and Abrams showing no signs of conceding, the race to becoming Georgia’s next governor is a bitter contest with historical significance and national political repercussions. Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor of any American state. Kemp seeks to maintain Republican dominance in a growing, diversifying Deep South state positioned to become a presidential battleground.
Read MoreVoter Suppression
Georgia officials have begun to enforce the “Use it or lose it” law, removing over 107,000 from voter rolls. Voting rights activists see the law as a new voter suppression tactic, which has been an issue in the South since the beginning of African American Suffrage. Stacy Abrams, a black GA legislator, is running for governor in the state.
Read MoreIs There Voter Suppression In 2018? Here’s What It Could Look Like In The Midterms
Voters should be prepared to face obstacles to voting in the 2018 mid-term elections based on the 2016 charges of voter suppression.
Read MoreGeorgia election board plots Jim Crow-like assault on black voting
Nine polling locations in predominately black and rural areas may be shut down. The Voting Right Act itself is in danger of being gutted, as well.
Read MoreTo Be Equal Give Us the Ballot: Restore the Voting Rights Act
In America Voting is a Right! However, still today communities of color are faced with an onslaught of legislation and other political tactics to further disenfranchise and deny certain communities nationwide the rights to exercise this privilege to vote and be represented within their communities.
Read MoreEfforts by Counties and Towns to Purge Minority Voters From Rolls
Sparta, Georgia, is purging its voter rolls of African Americans. Before the 1965 Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Supreme Court, this is precisely the sort of electoral maneuver that once would have needed Justice Department approval before it could be put in effect. And this is but one of many places in the USA where such seemingly small but effective efforts at voter suppression are taking place ahead of November’s presidential election.
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