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.
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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.
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