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Opinion Countering Voter Suppression Moves “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor J ERRY F OSTER Advertising Manager L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor P ATRICIA I RVIN D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers T he Supreme Court recently blocked an appeals court ruling that would have restored seven days of voting in Ohio. In just three sentences, the court reduced voting access for tens of thousands of Ohioans, in yet another effort to suppress the vote. In North Carolina, the appeals court granted an injunc- tion to restore same day registration and out of precinct voting. It didn’t strike down early voting restrictions because of time constraints, but did acknowledge that reducing early voting is a way to suppress the vote. If the North Carolina case goes before the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court is likely to lift the injunction against North Carolina, again making voting more difficult. When the Voting Rights Act was attacked, too many tuned out and turned off from the details, though leaders such as Barbara Arnwine of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law warned that we would begin to feel the effects of this legal setback with various forms of voter suppres- sion. The Lawyers’ Committee developed a “map of shame” to show the many states that had cur- tailed ballot access. Either more ID has been required, the days and times of voting have been changed, the number of polling places has been reduced, or other B ENNETT C OLLEGE Julianne Malveaux barriers have been introduced to curtail voter access. Those who would suppress the vote in 2014 have put those who advocate bal- lot fairness on notice. This year marks the first step toward a sup- pressed or stolen 2016 presidential election. The stakes are high, both now and in 2016. Presently, Democrats ber 4 (and in the weeks before, with early voting). President Obama’s effectiveness has been weakened by the John Boehner Congress that has thwart- ed the him at every turn. Although these last two years of the Obama presidency are lame duck years where little is likely to get done, the duck will be not lame, but par- alyzed, if the Republicans hold both the House and the Senate. President Obama’s only powers, then, will be the executive order and the veto. It is unlikely that the minimum wage will be adjusted upward, or that other economic fairness matters will be addressed if Congress is a Republican stronghold. This year marks the first step toward a suppressed or stolen 2016 presidential election hold the Senate, and provide at least some help to President Obama on issues of political and economic fairness. It is very possi- ble that Republicans will take the Senate; it is a foregone conclusion if people don’t vote this year. Republicans now hold the House of Representatives; their presence is the House is likely to increase without a strong vote on Novem- Lots of pro-democracy organi- zations are working to get out the vote for the 2014 elections, with local and state office as important as federal office. Secretaries of state, for example, are the chief elections officers for their state. As such, they have significant power around the mechanics of voting. They can decide to open more polling places, to have more (or fewer) voting machines avail- able, and to manage the details of voter registration. In Ohio, where a week of early voting has now been eliminated, Nina Turner, a charismatic African American state legislator with her efforts clearly focused on justice, is a can- didate for Secretary of State. Her election would be an antidote to voter suppression efforts in Ohio, and an inspiration for those who cherish election fairness. Imagine how different voting conditions would be if in states like North Carolina, Florida, and other “stars” on the Map of Shame had progressive Secretaries of State. Voter suppression is not new. We’ve seen grandfather clauses, poll taxes, and literacy tests as his- torical barriers to the vote. Now, we see a reduction in voter flexi- bility, with more ID requirements, fewer early voting days, and stricter rules about voter registra- tion. Still, those who would suppress the vote can do so only if we allow it by failing to vote. There are too many important elections to be decided, like Nina Turner’s in Ohio, for voters to stay home. Julianne Malveaux is a Wash- ington, D.C.-based economist and writer. She is President Emerita of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C.. The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2014 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds The Ebola Case in Dallas: A Blame Game A mid heightened concern in the U.S. about the fero- cious Ebola disease, two prominent Republican officehold- ers last week seized upon the proper concern over a Liberian national in Dallas testing positive for the virulent disease as a chance to show they think the GOP’s political cesspool has no bottom. Both Senator Rand Paul of Ken- tucky and Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, asserted that the president’s sending 3,000 troops to West Africa to aid those nations’ efforts to contain the spread of the virus there, was endangering America itself by exposing these troops to the virus, which they, in turn, would spread to other Americans once they got back to the states. Paul voiced his concern “about 3,000 soldiers getting back on a ship. Where is the disease most transmittable? When you’re in the close confines on a ship – we all know about cruises and how they get these diarrhea viruses that are transmitted very easily. Can you imagine if a whole ship of our sol- diers catch Ebola? I think because of political correctness, we’re not really making sound, rational, sci- entific decisions on this,” Paul told conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham. Paul didn’t specify what “politi- cal correctness” has to do with the vital global effort to prevent Ebola from spreading beyond its current “hot spots.” When the White House unveiled its plan last month to send the troops, it drew wide- spread agreement in Congress, including from the GOP’s Senate Minority Leader Mitch Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner October 8, 2014 L AST C HANCE Lee A. Daniels McConnell of Kentucky and Ohio’s John Boehner, the Speaker of the House. But then, it’s also nonsensical that Paul would liken a military transport ship – undoubtedly oper- ating under the strictest military happened. It’s here.” This, too, is the attempt to score cheap political points. To say that Ebola is “here” because one indi- vidual contracted it out of 300-plus million people in Ameri- ca, or even just among the citizenry of Dallas is abominable. True, we won’t know for another three weeks – the time for the Ebola infection in individuals to manifest itself – if the now-10 people in Dallas government offi- cials think he might have exposed to the virus are infected. Nothing untoward in that regard has sur- faced so far, and all those people While they’ve investigated more than 100 suspected Ebola cases in recent weeks, Duncan’s remains the only confirmed case discipline and specially outfitted for this tour of duty with the most sophisticated medical facilities and medicines – to a civilian cruise ship. However, Obama-bashers Paul and Gohmert also got some inter- esting company. MSNBC talk show host Chris Matthews seemed to blame the president for not pre- venting the Liberian national who has died from Ebola, Thomas Eric Duncan, from entering the coun- try. Matthews contended “that the president said it would be unlikely if we had a case in this country. Unlikely to have even one case … Well, it’s not the unlikely. It has are being monitored. It’s also worth noting what Matthews did not: that the Ebola virus actually was first brought “here” deliberately when the three American aid workers who had been working in West Africa to treat the ill themselves became infected and were repatriated to U.S. hospitals for treatment under the strictest conditions. All have recovered. The success of their treatment and the lack of any evidence that the Ebola virus escaped those hos- pitals’ special treatment facilities is evidence that the Ebola virus is not in the United States. That assessment was reaffirmed over the weekend when doctors deter- mined that two individuals, isolated in hospitals in New York and Washington, D.C. because they had flu-like symptoms, did not have the virus. Federal offi- cials said that while they’ve investigated more than 100 sus- pected Ebola cases in recent weeks, Duncan’s remains the only confirmed case. What the Duncan case has exposed, however, are certain gaps in the screen of containment gov- ernments have built to contain the disease. Of course, one must start closing the gaps in that screen where the task is the most crucial: in the countries of West Africa. Those nations must do a better job of screening all those who want to leave those countries. And airlines and the U.S. government must improve screening procedures for passengers coming to the U.S. In Texas, the still-unclear initial response of hospital officials to Duncan’s emergency-room visit and the fact that local and state officials spent days scrambling to get a hazardous materials team to disinfect the apartment of Dun- can’s relatives is clearly a warning that government officials every- where must heed. Tightening these and other parts of the “screen” against Ebola in the U.S. and abroad will undoubt- edly require more U.S. federal aid. The question for the Ebola-is-here and it’s-all-Obama’s-fault scream- ers, and all the rest of us, is are we willing to back up our talk with our money?
