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July 25. 2012
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Page 7
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Martin
Cleaning
Service
CHPONÎC
FOOT
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
IN
AIOUTH
Minimum Service CHG
$45.00
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may be applied
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more $30.00 Each Area
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y i opj
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Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
Our Vote Could Again Tip the Scales
Voter registration is critical
by M arc H. M orial
T he list o f 2012
swing states - states
where neither presiden
tial candidate currently
has a clear majority -
include Ohio, Wiscon
sin, P e n n sy lv a n ia ,
Florida, Nevada, Iowa,
Virginia, North Carolina and Colo
rado.
W hichever candidate carries
these “battleground” states will
likely win the election. That is why
the two nominees are making a lot of
campaign stops and targeting mil
lions of advertising dollars in these
states in order to bring undecided
voters to their side.
But according to a new report
released this week by the National
Urban League Policy Institute, we
need to add another state to this list
— the State of Black America.
That’s right, just as in 2008, when
African-American voters went to
the polls in record numbers and
were a deciding factor in the elec
tion of Barack Obama, the black
vote could again tip the scales ei
ther way in 2012, depending on how
many register and vote.
Our report, “The Hidden
Swing Voters: Impact of
African Americans in 2012”
reveals that due to a signifi
cant increase in voting, black
Americans tipped the 2008
presidential election out
come in the swing states of
North Carolina, Virginia, In
diana and Florida.
For example, the additional Afri
can Americans who voted in North
Carolina in 2008 compared to 2004
were nearly nine times the margin of
victory in North Carolina - an addi
tional 127,000 African Americans
voted, and the margin of victory
was 14,177.
Conversely, our report shows
that if African American voter turn
out falls back to the 2004 rate of 60
percent as opposed to the record
2012 rate of 64.7 percent, then the
President will have difficulty repeat
ing his wins in the critical swing
states of North Carolina, Ohio and
Virginia.
Voter registration is also a critical
factor. African-American registra
tion lagged turnout in 2008, but when
registered, African Americans were
the most likely to vote.
Our report shows that if overall
African-American registration rises
to 78.3 percent (the 2008 African-
American rate in Maryland), up from
the 2008 rate of 69.7 percent, and
turnout is as it was four years ago,
an estimated additional 3 million
African Americans will vote. That
could have a huge impact on the
outcome of the election.
Our report confirms the potential
voting power in black America. The
2008 election showed that, for the
first time, blacks were at the table in
the democratic process, with voting
turnout nearly equal to and, in some
instances, surpassing, whites.
But once is not enough. This
upcoming election presents an op
portunity for blacks to secure their
seat at the table.
That is exactly the purpose of the
National Urban League’s “Occupy
the Vote” campaign. In addition to
fighting back against those who
would deny any citizen the right to
vote, we are issuing a clarion call to
reawaken the hidden swing voters
in the state of black America.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the N a
tional Urban League.
503-288-0033
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