Election Voting

During the Congressional Black Caucus 38th Annual Legislative Conference, a powerful coalition of civic and media organizations held a press conference to announce “Operation Registration.” Members of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the National Urban League, the National Association of Black-owned Broadcasters, the National Newspapers Publishers Association and the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation will work to register voters, challenge people to vote early and work towards voter protection.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.: “The activities the CBC 38th Annual Legislative Conference have been spectacular. The workshops have been phenomenal. But the very thing we are doing here today may be the most important effort that we can do. That is participation in the upcoming election. It is very important for African Americans to know and understand that not only do we have an important election that’s coming up in November, but we still have too many African Americans who are not registered to vote. We are announcing Operation Registration, a nonpartisan effort to encourage Americans to register and vote. The deadlines vary from state to state and through a series of media tours on urban radio stations. From this program, we are going to drag them to a hotline, 1-866-MYVOTE1. We are going to drive them to a website and drive them to a text messaging operation.”

Mark Morial, president, National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans: “We are going to hold a radio spot, two hours of programming on Oct. 5, a Sunday, 6 to 8 p.m. EST. It will be entertainment, inspiration and information. We want to inform and inspire around the issues of voter participation, voter protection and voter registration. We need your help. This project is a no-huddle operation. For the first time, early voting will be available. We have to educate many [people] in our community, who are prone to wait until 6 p.m. on Election Day and wonder why there’s 500 people in line. So vote early! The information we are going to spread is information on where people can vote, in which states and how to “vote early.” Our goal has to be to push people out now, not to make this a November 4th movement, but a continual movement to get people to the polls as early as possible.

Melanie Campbell, executive director and CEO of National Coalition of Black Civic Participation: “We are going to make history. I feel it; I feel it; I feel it! Check your voter registration status when you leave here today. Because states, since 2006, are required to develop these statewide databases and humans do that. That means errors are made. And in some cases, tricks are done and people will purposely disenfranchise our folks. The hotline is another way for us to help. Bring your IDs. Our website is now made into an election center for information–www.blackcampaign.org–and you’ll be able to go there if you want to register online. If they want to check their poll location, you’ll be able to download. Early voting is another opportunity. We are just happy … it’s going to take all and more in what we’re doing to ensure our folks’ votes are counted. The saying that the enemy never sleeps–we have to make sure that we don’t sleep between now and Nov. 4 and keep our eyes on the prize.

Hamilton Cloud, producer, Operation Registration: “I was amazed how many people in the South Central L.A. office said, ‘Okay, I’m here to vote.’’ And that’s when it occurred to me that there are a lot of us who want to vote this year that have no idea how the process works. There are a lot of young voters who will be voting for the first time and there are a lot of rumors out there confusing them on how to register.”