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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2012)
Page 8 June 27, 2012 A Travesty of Voter Suppression Fighting back so everyone can vote M arc H. M orial Thanks to rising citi zen outrage and efforts like the National Urban L eague’s “Occupy the V o te” cam paign, the v o te r - su p p re s s io n m o v e m e n t is facin g m ounting resistance. As we reported several weeks ago, voter suppression laws in Florida designed to purge voter rolls and make it more difficult to register voters, have now been chal lenged by the Justice Department. There is also a new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives which takes direct aim at some of the most egregious voter suppres sion tactics being employed or considered in dozens of states throughout tfae nation. These tactics include elimination of Elec tion Day and same-day registration, reduc- by tions in early voting periods and absentee voting opportunities, and new restrictions on voter registration drives. The measures could prevent millions of eligible voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote and they disproportionately affect our service members, people with disabilities, minorities, young people, seniors and low income Americans. As we approach the 2012 presidential election, we should be encouraging more, not less voting by the Am erican people. In the 2008 presidential election about three million Americans were turned away from the polls due to voter registration problems. And an estimated 51 million Americans eligible to vote are not regis tered. Still there are those who are determined to keep even more people from voting. This is a travesty, it’s un-American and it dishon ors the sacrifice of generations o f voting rights foot soldiers who fought and died to guarantee every citizen the right to vote. Sponsored by Representatives John Lewis (GA), John Conyers (MI), Steny Hoyer harder for millions o f eligible voters to (MD), James Clybum (SC), and Robert register or vote. Brady (PA), the Voter Empowerment Act In describing the bill in a recent op-ed in (H.R. 5799), would fight back by ensuring the Hill newspaper, Congressmen Conyers equal access to the ballot box, protecting the and Brady write, “The bill declares that a integrity o f voting systems and mandating voter shall not be denied the right to vote accountability for fair elections. unless the challenge is corroborated by Am ong its provisions, the bill calls for independent evidence, and it also prohibits m odernizing the voter registration sys persons other than election officials from tem , including allowing for on-line regis challenging a voter’s eligibility based on tration. It would require universities that voter caging and other questionable chal receive federal funds to encourage stu lenges.” dents to register; set standards for voting John Lewis, a veteran o f the civil rights m achines; sim plifying the registration pro m ovem ent, who was beaten during the cess for overseas military service men 1965 “Bloody Sunday” voting rights march and wom en; and authorize sam e-day reg in Selma, A labam a, added, “The ability to istration. vote sh o u ld be easy , a c c essib le and The legislation would also empower the sim p le...W e should be m oving tow ard a Election Assistance Commission to ensure more inclusive dem ocracy, not one that high standards and fair elections, and re locks people out.” We agree. move barriers for people with disabilities. Occupy the Vote. Pass the Voter E m The Voter Empowerment Act is the most pow erm ent Act now. serious attempt to date by Congress to Marc H. Morial is president and chief protect voters from the recent onslaught of executive officer o f the National Urban restrictive voting measures that make it League. Breathing a Sigh of Relief on Immigration Obama’s DREAM Gambit M atias R amos W hen H om eland S e c u rity S e c re ta ry Janet Napolitano an nounced she was in structing all her agen cies to stop autom ati cally deporting young undocum ented im m igrants and grant them work perm its, I breathed a sigh o f relief. The new policy closely resem bles the Developm ent, Relief, and Education for Alien M inors (D REA M ) Act. It says that those undocum ented im m igrants who cam e to the United States before they turned 16 and have lived in this country for more than five straight years while staying in school and out o f trouble may legally work. It m eans that m em bers o f nationwide immigrant networks like United We Dream, the National Day Laborers Organizing N etw ork, and the N ational Im m igrant Youth Alliance could be applying for work perm its as early as August. by Jjorilanb (Ohseruer The new policy was unveiled June 15 and took effect imm ediately. President Barack O bam a him self affirm ed it in a Rose Garden speech that afternoon, ex plaining that "it m akes no sense to expel talented young people who, for all intents and purposes, are Americans." This certainly applies to my brother, who will probably tap this new im m igra tion policy. Facundo is a 23-year-old un docum ented man with a com puter sci ence degree from the University o f C ali fornia, San Diego. He put him self through college with trem endous sacrifice and hard work. His program m ing skills are an asset for this country. How could the United States benefit from deporting him to Argentina, where we were bom ? Clearly, this is a perfect issue for Obam a to galvanize his reelection prospects and boost support for m any D em ocratic con gressional candidates in Novem ber. The DREAM ers, after all, offer an ideal way to highlight the real consequences o f Republican obstruction in Congress. And stopping the senseless deportation o f tal ented young people — including valedic torians — may deliver more Latino votes for Obama. Established 1970 USPS 959-680 __________________________________ 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 Charles H. Washington EDiroR.Michael Leighton D istribution M anager : Mark W ashington C reative D irector : Paul N eufeldt M uch o f his speech focused on the inability o f Congress to reach consensus on the DREAM Act. M ajorities in both the House and Senate supported the measure in 2010, but a m inority in the Senate that included 36 Republicans and five D em o crats blocked it. M itt R om ney's m uted resp o n se - is a p o sitiv e sign for D R E A M ers. It in d i cated that the new policy blindsided R epublicans, even if the usual ch orus o f an ti-im m ig ran t p o litician s q uickly d e nounced the m ove. Rep. Steve K ing (R- IA ), fo r exam ple, said he w ill sue the O b a m a a d m in is tr a tio n . S h e r if f Jo e A rpaio said he w as su sp icio u s o f the tim ing. R om ney, how ever, faces an uphill battle in g arn erin g enough L atino votes in c ru c ia l b a ttle g r o u n d s ta te s . He stopped short o f saying he'd reverse the policy if he w ere president. W ith sup port from the im m igrant rig h ts m ove m ent, hundreds o f th o u san d s o f young people could benefit from it before the end o f the year. By the tim e Rom ney m ight be sw orn in and reverse the policy, it w ould m ean taking on a highly n et w orked co m m u n ity w ith the potential to shift public opinion. And that w ouldn't be advisable. Despite this exciting news, the im m i grant rights m ovem ent is taking a wait- and-see approach. W hy are we skeptical? Last year. Im m igration and Custom s E n forcem ent (ICE) D irector John M orton announced another "prosecutorial discre tion" policy. T hat time around, there was little fanfare and the president never spoke about it publicly. A year later, the governm ent has dropped less than one percent o f the relevant de portation cases. T his new process will include the agency charged with process ing people for naturalization and citizen ship, along with ICE. Even those who aren't facing or fighting deportation will be able to present evidence docum enting how long they've lived in the United States and get work permits. Envision thousands o f new Am ericans lining up to get recognized as such. If that actually happens, it will improve O bam a's re-election chances and change thousands o f lives in the process. Matias Ramos is a form er undocu mented student and a co-founder o f the United We Dream Network. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication -is a member o f the National Newspaper Association- Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association E ditor - in -C hiee . 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