thenewjournalandguide.com

WILMINGTON, DEL.

     The Delaware Senate passed House Bill 10, the Hazel D. Plant Voter Restoration Act, on April 16 to automatically restore the votes of non-violent offenders who have completed their sentences 15-6. 

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal and Guide

    The Richmond City Council recently voted to remove the question from the city’s employment applications asking job seekers if they have a committed a felony. Richmond now joins Newport News as the only cities in Virginia to do so.

By Marc Morial
NNPA Columnist

    “I risked my life defending that right. If we are ever to actualize the true meaning of equality, effective measures such as the Voting Rights Act are still a necessary requirement of democracy.”
 – Georgia U.S. Rep. John Lewis

By Laura W. Murphy

    Let’s just take one day, February 27, 2013, as a snapshot of the state of equality and justice in America.
     For me, that day started off tense. The Supreme Court was set to hear oral arguments in the case of Shelby County v. Holder-a constitutional challenge to one of the most effective provisions of any civil rights law in American history: Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

By Lee A. Daniels
NNPA Columnist
 
    Within a matter of days late last month, four controversies erupted that acutely underscore the crux of Black Americans continuing challenge in this land.
    In one, Emory University President James W. Wagner seemed to suggest that the bargaining among the delegates at the Constitutional Convention that  produced the infamous three-fifths clause of the Constitution was a model of the value of compromise.

By Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist
 
    Shelby County, Ala. is suing the Justice Department because they think that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (and its reauthorization in 1982 and 2006) is unfair.  The facts: The small city of Calera redistricted its boundaries in a way that the sole African American councilman lost his seat.  Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act forced a new election with different boundaries, and Ernest Montgomery regained his seat.

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal and Guide

    For twenty of her 25-year tenure in the Virginia Senate, the late Senator Yvonne B. Miller wrote and supported bills to restore the voting rights, specifically, of felons who had served their time and paid their monetary debts to  society.
    Until her death last July, Miller and other members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus sought fervently but unsuccessfully to convince a majority of their Democratic and Republicans colleagues to support the measure.

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

    You can answer many pre-voter registration questions by going to a website the ACLU has established, Know Your Voting Rights: Virginia.
    Vote early. Make sure you’re registered before you go to a voting site. If a poll worker says you’re not registered, the website tells you what to do. The website is located at www.aclu.org/know-your-rights-virginia-voter-information.
    “Every vote counts,” the ACLU website notes. “Your right to vote is one of the most basic rights you have as an American. Many states’ rules have changed so make sure you know what you need to vote in your state this year.”
    The ACLU asks and answers many questions: “Where do I vote? Call your local voter registration office before Election Day, or look on your most recently issued voter registration card. You may also find your polling place online at  www.sbe.virginia.gov, click “Voter Information.”

According to BET.com, a new technology is offering voters everything they need to know to make sure their vote counts in the upcoming presidential election.

Civil Rights groups have launched, The Election Protection Smartphone App. The app enables voters to verify their registration; register to vote; find their polling place; and learn about any new voting rules and regulations in their state.

To download the app, text OURVOTE to 90975. The hotline number is 866-OUR-VOTE.

Or click here to download

Click here to read more about it on BET.com.

Need to know about voter ID requirements in VA? Click here.

RICHMOND
    The State Board of Elections (SBE) is aware of incorrect information circulating via mass emails stating that voters who have not voted since the 2008 General Election must re-register to vote 25 days prior to Election Day November 6, 2012 in order to be eligible to vote. This information is false.
    There is absolutely no requirement to re-register in Virginia.  Voters are not removed from the rolls solely for the reason of not voting; however, it is recommended that voters check their registration status to ensure it is current.  If a voter has not voted since 2008, and also moved since that time, it is possible that a voter’s record may have been moved to inactive status.  This shift would occur if mail delivered to the voter was returned undeliverable, and the voter also failed to respond to a later address confirmation mailing.  Voters identified as inactive will be permitted to vote after signing a statement at the polling place.