WITH NO SUNDAY
VOTING, WHEN
CAN CHURCHES BRING
SOULS TO THE POLLS?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Now that
the Republican-led NC Board of Elections
has decided not to force the New Hanover County Board of Elections to
reinstitute Sunday voting when early voting commences on Oct. 20th,
will area black churches develop plans to transport their congregations to the
early voting sites during other days?
There was Sunday “Souls to the Polls voting
for the March primary earlier this year in New Hanover County, as numerous
black churches participated without a problem. Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president
of the New Hanover County NAACP, is not pleased it won’t happen again this
fall.
‘The loss of Sunday voting was a
blow,” Ms. Maxwell told The Journal
in a statement Sunday evening. “It is bankers hours that personally
discriminates against me and my work schedule. [The NAACP] will respond by
encouraging voters [to vote] during the time given. We will also request all
houses of faith and individuals to offer transportation to the polls. Churches
with midday Bible study will be encouraged to go to the polls at that time.”
“
I was informed that because we did not have Sunday voting in 2012 we were not
considered this time. Someone died for our right to vote and we will exercise it,”
Ms. Maxwell continued.
What is clear is that not allowing
Sunday voting for the fall general election is in direct contradiction to the
spirit of the July 29th U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling
(later upheld by the US Supreme Court) when it struck down parts of the 2013
Voter ID law, passed by the Republican-led legislature and signed by Gov. Pat
McCrory.
In that
historic ruling, the Appellate Court wrote:
“African-Americans disproportionately used
the first seven days of early voting. After receipt of this racial data, the
General Assembly amended [the voter I law] to eliminate the first week of early
voting, shortening the total early voting period from seventeen to ten days. As
a result, the law also eliminated one of two “souls to the polls” Sundays in
which African-American churches provided transportation to voters.”
The appellate court ruled that
the General Assembly did so with discriminatory “intent” and targeted
African-Americans with “surgical precision.”
According
to attorney Irving Joyner, chair of the NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee that
joined in coalition with other civil rights attorneys to fight the voter ID
law, the appellate court’s intent was that Sunday voting be reinstituted in
counties where it hd ben struck down or limited.
“The SBOE had received this message several
times,” Joyner told The Journal. “They were warned before last Thursday's
hearing, during that hearing and reminded after the session concluded. Because
they were aware, some notable reversals in plans from several counties were
achieved. As for the others, we are measuring the possible effects with the
hours which were established. When you add them up, however, more hours are
available for early voting during this election than ever before. While
everyone did not get Sunday voting hours, there were more Saturday hours added
to the total available hours.”
It was last month the GOP-led New Hanover County BOE voted not to reinstitute
Sunday voting for the coming general election early voting period. Like all
local BOEs, Republicans are in the majority 2-1. The NHC BOE’s sole
Democrat, Tom Pollard, advocated for
Sunday voting, saying that he felt the board should “maximize” voting
opportunities for all county residents, but he was not heeded.
To be fair,
a Democratic majority NHC BOE had also disallowed Sunday voting for the 2012
presidential election.
So as it
stands now, absent a legal challenge, One Stop Early Voting /Same Day
Registration in New Hanover county will begin Thursday, Oct. 20th
and end Saturday, Nov. 5at the Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive,
Suite 34, with no Sunday voting.
Voters can
also obtain applications for mail-in absentee voting online, along with sample
ballots. Absentee voting has already begun in North Carolina. Please go to http://elections.nhcgov.com/voting-registration/absentee-voting/
for more
Information.
“We
have over 40 faith ambassadors who will ensure that their respective
congregations go out and vote,” Pres. Deborah Maxwell of the NHC NAACP vows. “The
community will adjust their voting time to the new schedule because “This is
Our Time, This Is Our Vote.”
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CASH IN THE APPLE FOR 9-15-16
By Cash Michaels
UP AGAIN – Despite all that has happened with challenges to my health over the past several months, I was still able to have one of my last mini-documentaries, “WLLE : The Voice of the Community” be selected as an entry in this year’s 2016 NC Black Film Festival in Wilmington this coming weekend.
CashWorks HD Productions coproduced the short film about WLLE-AM, Raleigh’s first black-formatted radio station that went on the air in the 1960’s, and how it both galvanized and entertained a community for over 30 years. The film was done in association with NC State University Libraries and NC State’s Africana Studies program back in February 2015 and has been screened free of charge throughout Raleigh.
I didn’t make the film to win anything, but I do think it’s good and gives people a sense of pride about how black radio once brought people together.
It screens in Wilmington this Saturday, 1 p.m., Room 528, Cape Fear Union Station at Cape Fear Community College, 411 North Front Street.
See you there!
LESS THAN TWO MONTHS – Oh Almighty GOD is good! Did you hear me? I mean, He can’t make our calendar, and the countdown to Election Day come any faster or sooner. So we’ll be deep into the presidential debates, the campaign commercials will be coming hard and fast and thick, and CNN, MSNBC and Fox News channels will fill themselves with even more nonsense about this nonsensical presidential election.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for it to all end, though I want the ending be one most of us can live with. No sense trading in four years of horror for just two months of outrage.
But what I find amazing is that as a proud member of the news business, I’m normally able to consume a fair amount of political TV talk shows, campaign commercials and campaign BS without so much as a whimper. This year, however, I find myself drowning to the point that I’ve removed myself rom any daily watching or scorekeeping.
I just can’t take anymore of the lying surrogates whose sole job is to show up on somebody’s cable talk show and call desert sand wet, waterfalls dry, and twist truth inside out knowing darn well what they’re pushing is full of bull barn by-product. I’m sick of it, sick of dishonest debate and the twisting of facts to the point where w don’t know what’s true anymore. Sure I’m all for freedom of speech, but I’m even more for exposing bald-faced liars for what they are.
I get that these surrogates have to feed their families like everybody else, but look at what they have to say in order to get that check.
That’s clearly a job I couldn’t do. I believe in truth too much to lie my face off like these surrogates are.
So, it should not surprise you that I’ve been spending more time watching old TV shows instead of inflating my already too high blood pressure watching these lying losers. I’m so glad I had the wisdom years ago to purchase box sets of some of my favorite shows, like “The West Wing.” Boy, if only we had a President like Josiah Barlett, someone with principles and a devotion to make the country work for everyone. Watching hours of a make believe White House beats hours of watching evidence of a train wreck coming our way every day.
I’m not waiting for November 8th, however. I’ve printed out my absentee ballot, I’m carefully filling it out and sending it back long for the general election. I want to vote now, have my say now, do my part for the cause now.
Standing by while all of this noise continues to poison the atmosphere is not an option….not for me!
Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR
9-15-16
RODNEY ELLIS, FORMER
NCAE PRESIDENT, DEAD AT 49
[WINSTON-SALEM] Rodney Ellis,
the former president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, died last
Saturday unexpectedly. He was 49. The Mocksville native led the NCAE as both
president and vice president for eight years, battling the NC General Assembly
over teachers’ issues every step of the way. Ellis planned to return to
teaching in Winston –Salem at the end of his tenure to teach language arts.
Gov. Pat McCrory said Ellis’ devotion to education was a “labor of love.”
CLINTON BLASTS VOTER
ID WHILE IN CHARLOTTE
[CHARLOTTE]
Charging that Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led NC General Assembly has
tried to “restrict people’s right to vote,” Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton told those gathered at Johnson C. Smith University Sept. 8th
that North Carolina’s 2013 Voter ID law was a blast from the Jim Crow past” and
had no place in the 21st century. On July 29th, the US
Fourth Circuit of Appeals ruled the Voter ID law as unconstitutional, later to
be reaffirmed by the US Supreme Court. With voter ID out of the way, some
observers say North Carolina is prime for Hillary Clinton to win in November.
NCAA YANKS SEVEN
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS FROM N.C BECAUSE OF HB 2
[CHARLOTTE] Thanks to HB 2,
North Carolina has now lost seven championship events sponsored by the NCAA in
Divisions the I, II and II sports. This
follows the loss of the 2017 NBA All-Star Finals to Charlotte. HB 2 is the law
that prohibits gay and transgender people from using public bathroom facilities
contrary to their original gender. The NC Republican Party, defending the law,
blasted the NCAA decision as “political peacocking.”
CONSERVATIVE GROUP
SPONSORS GET-OUT-THE VOTE BUS TOUR
[WINSTON-SALEM]
A conservative lobbying group brought
its nationwide bus tour to North Carolina Sunday and Monday, visiting Baptist
churches across the state, urging evangelicals to vote in November. The Family
Research Council Action bus tour visited stops in western North Carolina. The
group, which is supporting Republican Donald Trump this election, is planning
100 stops in all throughout the state. North Carolina is currently tied between
Trump and Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 9-15-16
NC CLERGY LEAD MORAL
MONDAY MARCH TO STATE CAPITAL
On Monday,
members of NC clergy joined NCNAACP President. Rev. William Barber for a march
to the state Capital titled “Higher Ground Moral Day of Action”. The goal, Rev.
Barber said, was to have state elected officials address the issues of poverty,
lack of voting rights, and poor public education, among others. Twenty-five
cities across the nation were suppose to hold moral marches at the same time as
Raleigh on Monday. Rev. Barber has also asked clergy to preach at least two
weekends before Election Day about the importance of voting.
RALEIGH POLICE DEPT.
TO BEGIN A CITIZENS’ POLICE ACADEMY
Raleigh
Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown has announced that the RPD will soon begin a
Citizens Police Academy for the purpose of improving understanding between police and the citizens
they protect. Chief Brown also announced that Raleigh officers will begin to
test body cameras this fall. About 600 body cameras will be purchased over the
next three years. Citizens will also be required to sign a consent form to
ensure that they fully understand why police officers institute a search of
their persons or property. The new actions are derived from a new report developed from the “Face-to-Face” community
meetings Chief Brown had with citizens across the city several months ago.
VICE PRES. BIDEN IN
RALEIGH TO SUPPORT ROY COOPER
On Monday,
Vice Pres. Joe Biden was in Raleigh to support State Atty . Gen. Roy Cooper for
governor during a private fundraiser for the Democratic Governors Association.
According to recent polls, Cooper has at least a five-point lead over incumbent
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.
-30-
REPUBLICANS FIGURE
OUT WAY
AROUND VOTER ID
RULING
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Last
Thursday, the Republican-led state Board of Elections met all day, and well
into the night, putting the final touches on the early voting plans of 33
counties that could not come to agreement
on either the number of sites or hours, or even if there would be Sunday
voting allowed.
In Wake
County, for instance, the state BOE, at the urging of the Democratic minority,
expanded the number of early voting sites during the first seven days from just
one to nine, because of 2012
calculations of roughly 10,000 a day.
In
Mecklenburg County, ten sites will now be open during the first seven days of
early voting instead of just one because 15,000 voters a day are expected. The
Republican majority on the local BOE wanted to open just one site to combat “fraud.”
But neither
the NCNAACP or other civil rights advocates who successfully knocked down parts
of the 2013 Voter ID law in federal appellate court, were pleased. As far as
they were concerned, the July 29th US Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals ruling against voter ID and other discriminatory parts of the law was
clear –
The Republican-led General Assembly targeted
African-American voters with “surgical precision” to suppress their votes,
which included cutting early voting days from 17 to 10, and not allowing Sunday
“Souls to the Polls” voting.
The
appellate reinstituted the 17-day early voting period, but left the scheduling
of hours, sites and Sunday voting up to the state.
In Forsyth County, all three BOE
members concurred that there would be no Sunday voting, so the state board
didn’t consider the issue for Winston-Salem early voting.
The state BOE last Thursday, in finalizing the
early voting plans of 33 counties, decided to maintain only one Sunday of
voting in Hoke, Richmond and Craven counties, though counties like New Hanover,
which successfully voted on Sunday for the first time ever last March for the
primaries, were denied the opportunity again by their own BOE, and the state.
‘The
loss of Sunday voting was a blow,” Ms. Maxwell told The Journal in a statement Sunday evening. “ I was informed that
because we did not have Sunday voting in 2012 we were not considered this time.
Someone died for our right to vote and we will exercise it,” Ms. Maxwell
continued.
What is
clear is that not allowing Sunday voting for the fall general election is in
direct contradiction to the spirit of the July 29th U.S. Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals ruling (later upheld by the US Supreme Court).
In that
historic ruling, the Appellate Court wrote:
“African-Americans disproportionately used
the first seven days of early voting. After receipt of this racial data, the
General Assembly amended [the voter I law] to eliminate the first week of early
voting, shortening the total early voting period from seventeen to ten days. As
a result, the law also eliminated one of two “souls to the polls” Sundays in
which African-American churches provided transportation to voters.”
Still, top
Republicans, like NC GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse, have been caught
urging Republican-led local BOEs to fashion their early voting plans and
schedules in a way that likely helps Republicans, including the elimination of
Sunday voting where possible.
According to attorney Irving
Joyner, chair of the NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee that joined in coalition
with other civil rights attorneys to fight the voter ID law, the appellate
court’s intent was that Sunday voting be reinstituted in counties where it had
ben struck down or limited.
“The SBOE had received this message several
times,” Atty. Joyner said. “They were warned before last Thursday's hearing,
during that hearing and reminded after the session concluded. Because they were
aware, some notable reversals in plans from several counties were achieved. As
for the others, we are measuring the possible effects with the hours which were
established. When you add them up, however, more hours are available for early
voting during this election than ever before. While everyone did not get Sunday
voting hours, there were more Saturday hours added to the total available
hours.”
Bob Hall, executive director of the
nonpartisan Democracy NC, said the Republican leadership “…encouraged their members
to get rid of Sunday voting where it existed before…”
Joyner’s remarks, long with
published reports, strongly hint that civil rights advocates will be back in
court to complain that the Republican-dominated state and several local BOEs
ignored the spirit of the federal appellate court voter ID ruling in ignoring
the need for Sunday voting in many counties with significant black populations.
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