Civil Rights Coalition Applauds Civil Rights Commission's Report: Also Supports Swift Action on Election Reform Legislation
Feature Story by Brian Komar - 6/27/2001
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation's oldest, largest, and most diverse coalition of civil and human rights organizations, today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' recent report on the 2000 general elections and the Senate Rules Committee hearing on election reform legislation."LCCR commends the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for its recent report on the 2000 general elections," said Wade Henderson, Executive Director, LCCR. "It is a shocking confirmation of our worst fears about the effects of voting irregularities on the rights of Florida's African American citizens."
The Civil Rights Commission found that the disenfranchisement of Florida's voters fell most directly and unevenly on the shoulders of African Americans. Based upon county level statistical estimates, African American voters were nearly ten times more likely than white voters to have their ballots rejected in Florida. On a statewide basis, while African Americans comprised approximately 11% of all voters in Florida in the 2000 presidential election, African Americans cast about 54% of the ballots that were rejected in the election.
Henderson added, "Florida was clearly the nation's epicenter of African American voter disenfranchisement and the Commission's findings regarding the scope of the disparate impact between African American and non-black voters are truly stunning. Double digit disparities in the votes cast between black and non-black citizens go well beyond the norm, and seem to belie the rules of statistical chance."
Henderson lambasted the recent attacks on the Civil Rights Commission's report calling them "a predictable cover for those opposed to enacting meaningful election reform."
Henderson continued, "These findings demand a thorough investigation by the U. S. Department of Justice as to their cause, and to determine whether additional enforcement action is required." Henderson also called upon President Bush to "enter this important civil rights debate and work with Congress to address the problems now evident as a result of the last election and to provide the funding necessary to implement needed remedies prior to the next national election."
Reiterating the civil rights coalitions' support for federal legislation introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) ensuring fair elections for all Americans, Henderson highlighted the coalition's Make Elections Fair campaign (see www.MakeElectionsFair.org). The legislation, known as the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act (H. R. 1170/S. 565), ensures non-discriminatory, equal access to the electoral process for all voters.
"Election reform is not a partisan issue; it is a national imperative. Our democracy cannot remain a beacon of freedom if we are known to violate the "one person, one vote" requirement," Henderson concluded. "We applaud the Senate Rules Committee for undertaking this important first step in bringing meaningful election reform legislation to the floor of the U.S. Senate and urge the House of Representative to follow suit."
