FrankRep
08-17-2013, 01:41 PM
http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Rosanell-Eaton-e1372135020380.jpg
92-Year-Old Who Once Faced Literacy Tests Sues North Carolina Over New Wave Of Voter Suppression
hxxp://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/13/2461481/92-year-old-who-once-faced-literacy-tests-sues-north-carolina-over-new-wave-of-voter-suppression/
ThinkProgress
August 13, 2013
When Rosanell Eaton was 21 years old and living in segregated North Carolina, she became one of the first African Americans in her county registered to vote, after successfully completing a literacy test that required her to recite the preamble to the Constitution. But now, at 92 years old, she faces new obstacles under the voter suppression law signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) Monday. For one thing, she may not qualify for the voter ID card required under the new law, because the name on her birth certificate is different from the name on her driver’s license and voter registration card. Reconciling this difference will be a costly and time-consuming administrative endeavor. For another, she has participated in early voting since it was instituted in the state. Now, it’s been cut back a week.
She is one of several individuals who, along with civil rights groups, are already suing the state for what may be the most restrictive voting law in the nation. Other restrictive new provisions in the law include the elimination of same-day registration and early registration for high schoolers in advance of their 18th birthday, and prohibiting certain kinds of voter registration drives that tend to register low-income and minority voters.
Eaton participated in Moral Monday protests in North Carolina before the law passed, expressing opposition with fellow North Carolinians to a raft of new state conservative policies that would hurt the poor, women, minorities, and the environment. During one Moral Monday event, her daughter Armenta told ThinkProgress on her behalf, “She thought things were smooth sailing. She’s seen the good, bad, and the ugly. Now she’s seeing the ugly again. She fought for civil rights, she was a civil rights worker, and now she sees that it’s going backward.”
Tuesday morning, she was back out again protesting the passage of the bill, this time delivering an impassioned address to an energized crowd. “Here I am at 92 years old doing the same battling,” she told the crowd. “I have registered over 4,000 citizens in the state, and at it again, alongside Republicans’ efforts to eliminate and cut early voting. … We need more, not less, public access to the ballot.” She concluded, “At the age of 92, I am fed up and fired up.”
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At last . . . voter ID becomes law in NC (http://voterintegrityproject.com/response-to-nc-voter-id-bill-becoming-law/)
Voter Integrity Project, N.C.
August 12, 2013
“North Carolina took a giant leap forward today when Governor McCrory signed the voter ID bill (http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2013/Bills/House/PDF/H589v8.pdf) into law,” said Jay DeLancy, Executive Director for the Voter Integrity Project of NC. “After it takes effect in 2016, North Carolina will join 18 states and free nations around the world, like Mexico, Kenya, and virtually all developed countries with this modest safeguard.”
While most of the law takes effect in January 2014, full enforcement of voter ID begins in 2016. The Voter Integrity Project of NC had opposed delaying any of the law because of the potential for more vote fraud during the interim.
“We celebrate today’s news and thank our supporters from all across the state who demanded a real voter ID law when it seemed unlikely,” said DeLancy, “but tomorrow we all need to roll up our sleeves and get back to the work of preventing fraudulent elections.”
The group advises concerned citizens to contact their County Boards of Election in order to apply for paid part-time positions as Election Assistants or even Election Judges.
“A few times a year, those public servants sacrifice a great deal of time and energy for our freedom,” he said, “but the duty rarely infringes on any full-time work the employees might otherwise have.”
Numerous polls have shown widespread support for the voter ID measures, even among Democrats, and the League of Women Voters filed suit along with the ACLU and other left-wing groups almost immediately after the bill was signed, but DeLancy doubts their complaints will affect the outcome.
“This law is mostly a collection of measures already approved in other states,” he said, “but those who thrive on fraud and electoral chaos will always fight measures that increase ballot box integrity.”
92-Year-Old Who Once Faced Literacy Tests Sues North Carolina Over New Wave Of Voter Suppression
hxxp://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/13/2461481/92-year-old-who-once-faced-literacy-tests-sues-north-carolina-over-new-wave-of-voter-suppression/
ThinkProgress
August 13, 2013
When Rosanell Eaton was 21 years old and living in segregated North Carolina, she became one of the first African Americans in her county registered to vote, after successfully completing a literacy test that required her to recite the preamble to the Constitution. But now, at 92 years old, she faces new obstacles under the voter suppression law signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) Monday. For one thing, she may not qualify for the voter ID card required under the new law, because the name on her birth certificate is different from the name on her driver’s license and voter registration card. Reconciling this difference will be a costly and time-consuming administrative endeavor. For another, she has participated in early voting since it was instituted in the state. Now, it’s been cut back a week.
She is one of several individuals who, along with civil rights groups, are already suing the state for what may be the most restrictive voting law in the nation. Other restrictive new provisions in the law include the elimination of same-day registration and early registration for high schoolers in advance of their 18th birthday, and prohibiting certain kinds of voter registration drives that tend to register low-income and minority voters.
Eaton participated in Moral Monday protests in North Carolina before the law passed, expressing opposition with fellow North Carolinians to a raft of new state conservative policies that would hurt the poor, women, minorities, and the environment. During one Moral Monday event, her daughter Armenta told ThinkProgress on her behalf, “She thought things were smooth sailing. She’s seen the good, bad, and the ugly. Now she’s seeing the ugly again. She fought for civil rights, she was a civil rights worker, and now she sees that it’s going backward.”
Tuesday morning, she was back out again protesting the passage of the bill, this time delivering an impassioned address to an energized crowd. “Here I am at 92 years old doing the same battling,” she told the crowd. “I have registered over 4,000 citizens in the state, and at it again, alongside Republicans’ efforts to eliminate and cut early voting. … We need more, not less, public access to the ballot.” She concluded, “At the age of 92, I am fed up and fired up.”
====
At last . . . voter ID becomes law in NC (http://voterintegrityproject.com/response-to-nc-voter-id-bill-becoming-law/)
Voter Integrity Project, N.C.
August 12, 2013
“North Carolina took a giant leap forward today when Governor McCrory signed the voter ID bill (http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2013/Bills/House/PDF/H589v8.pdf) into law,” said Jay DeLancy, Executive Director for the Voter Integrity Project of NC. “After it takes effect in 2016, North Carolina will join 18 states and free nations around the world, like Mexico, Kenya, and virtually all developed countries with this modest safeguard.”
While most of the law takes effect in January 2014, full enforcement of voter ID begins in 2016. The Voter Integrity Project of NC had opposed delaying any of the law because of the potential for more vote fraud during the interim.
“We celebrate today’s news and thank our supporters from all across the state who demanded a real voter ID law when it seemed unlikely,” said DeLancy, “but tomorrow we all need to roll up our sleeves and get back to the work of preventing fraudulent elections.”
The group advises concerned citizens to contact their County Boards of Election in order to apply for paid part-time positions as Election Assistants or even Election Judges.
“A few times a year, those public servants sacrifice a great deal of time and energy for our freedom,” he said, “but the duty rarely infringes on any full-time work the employees might otherwise have.”
Numerous polls have shown widespread support for the voter ID measures, even among Democrats, and the League of Women Voters filed suit along with the ACLU and other left-wing groups almost immediately after the bill was signed, but DeLancy doubts their complaints will affect the outcome.
“This law is mostly a collection of measures already approved in other states,” he said, “but those who thrive on fraud and electoral chaos will always fight measures that increase ballot box integrity.”