Wednesday, July 20, 2016

We Still Need Federal Oversight of Voting Under the VRA


Early voting sites in two of North Carolina Winston-Salem’s prominent minority neighborhoods are in jeopardy after the Forsyth County Board of Elections approved a plan last week that moves sites at Winston-Salem State University’s Anderson Center and the Sprague Street Recreation Center to other locations.

The plan, which includes 15 early voting sites around the County, was approved by the Republican majority of the Board last Friday and will be submitted to the State Board of Elections for consideration in the next week. A second plan, drafted by the Board’s lone Democrat, Fleming El-Amin, will also be submitted to the State Board.

El-Amin said he kept the Anderson Center and Sprague Street locations in his plan to ensure the African-American and Hispanic populations that make up the majority of East and Southeast Winston-Salem have easy access to early voting sites. The majority plan, submitted by Republican Board members Ken Raymond and Stuart Russell, does away with those sites in favor of an additional site in the Southwest portion of the County and a site further East.

Russell, the Board’s Secretary, said in an email yesterday that the Reynolds Park Road Recreation Center is close to WSSU and the area covered by the Sprague Street site and “allows us to better distribute early voting sites in the eastern part of the country.”

Some people are seeing a different motive in the majority’s actions.

“This is a continual operation to disenfranchise people of color,” said Eric Ellison, Chairman of the Forsyth County Democratic Party. “These guys are being very open and purposeful in carrying out their plan to be agents of suppression in this community, and it’s appalling.”

Russell called Ellison’s remarks irresponsible and inflammatory, saying the majority plan “fairly covers all of Forsyth County.”

Ellison was among a small contingent of people who came to last week’s meeting to advocate for the WSSU Anderson Center location, which had been an early voting site in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 elections. It was the least-used early voting site in 2010 and was unanimously removed from the early voting plan in 2014.

El-Amin said he agreed to move early voting from the Anderson Center in 2014 because of concerns Raymond had about possible improprieties at the site. He said he later investigated those claims, though, and found them to be unfounded. He advocated for returning early voting to the WSSU campus this year because of its convenient location for students. “It’s so convenient, not just for students on campus but for the whole community,” he said.

Russell said the WSSU site is too close to the Forsyth County Government Center, which is also an early voting site. Moving to the Reynolds Park Road location covers East and Southeast Winston, allowing for a site further into the Eastern portion of the County. Russell said the Harper Hill Commons Shopping Center location, included in the majority plan but not the minority plan, would cover the gap left by the South Fork Community Center.

While the South Fork location had previously been used for early voting, Tim Grant, Director of Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks, requested the County find an alternate location because of a scheduling conflict with the Gingerbread Craft Fair, a large craft show planned for the first full weekend in November.

El-Amin’s plan calls for an early voting site at Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind. He said he was surprised by the proposal to move the Sprague Street location. “Sprague Street serves a large Hispanic and African-American component on the south side of town,” he said. “We want to encourage their participation. “We had not even discussed the other site (Harper Hill) until last meeting.”

The Board agreed on an additional 12 sites, included in both plans.

The Board again split along party lines, though, when it came to proposed early voting dates and hours. The proposed dates for early voting are Oct. 27 through Nov. 5. El-Amin’s plan calls for a few hours during the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 30. Russell and Raymond’s plan does not include Sunday hours.

Both proposals will be submitted to the State Board of Elections, which will make the final decision. The Board could adopt either plan as submitted or make adjustments.

Tim Tsujii, Director of Elections for Forsyth County, said he expects a decision sometime in early August.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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