Vol. 79/No. 30 August 24, 2015
Thousands of people marched in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, July 13 in defense of voting rights at the opening of a federal trial challenging new restrictions in that state. The NAACP and other civil rights groups kicked off a “Journey for Justice” in Selma, Alabama, Aug. 1. The six-week, 860-mile relay march will culminate in a rally in Washington, D.C., in mid-September. And on Aug. 5 a federal appeals court panel ruled that the voter identification law in Texas, one of the strictest in the country, discriminates against Blacks and Latinos in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
The fight to push back the capitalist rulers’ attacks on voting rights is part of the new rise in the struggle for Black rights, which is winning support from broad layers of the working class. The scope of protests against police brutality, the growing demands for $15 an hour and a union and widespread opposition to continued use of Confederate symbols in public places grow out of earlier gains won by the civil rights struggles in overcoming divisions forced on workers by the defeat of Radical Reconstruction after the Civil War and the decades of segregation that followed.
1965 Voting Rights Act
The North Carolina lawsuit challenges a bill enacted by North Carolina’s state legislature in 2013, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key section of the Voting Rights Act.Congress first passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 under the impact of the massive working-class civil rights battles that forced an end to racist Jim Crow segregation in the South. The act struck down literacy tests, poll taxes and other “requirements” used throughout the South to prevent Blacks from voting or running for office.
The section of the Voting Rights Act voided by the Supreme Court had established a “preclearance” list, which required some state and local governments to get federal approval before making any changes in their voting laws. The states, counties and cities on the list were those with a proven history of voter disenfranchisement of Blacks and Latinos. It included nine states — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia — as well as scores of local governments from sections of New York City to Monterey County, California.
The North Carolina legislature wasted no time in passing more restrictive election regulations. The new law reduced the number of days of early voting, disallowed people from registering and voting on the same day, ended counting votes that were cast in the wrong precinct, eliminated the practice of pre-registering teenagers before they turned 18 and increased the number of poll observers who can challenge a voter’s eligibility.
One of the most onerous measures in the new law required people to present a photo ID before being allowed to vote. One state study estimated that at least 318,000 registered North Carolina voters, many of whom are African-American, elderly or low income, did not have driver’s licenses or state-issued ID cards at that time. Faced with mounting protests against the photo ID requirement, the North Carolina legislature eased that aspect of the new voting law this past June, so it is no longer part of the legal challenge.
The trial, which is being heard by U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in Winston-Salem, wrapped up July 31. The judge said his decision will not be immediate.
Lawsuits challenging voter ID laws and other efforts to roll back voting rights have also been filed in Wisconsin, Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana and Texas.
Last October the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas officials could implement the state’s new restrictions for the election that year, effectively disenfranchising more than half a million people. The appeals court panel Aug. 5 declared this had a “discriminatory effect” in violation of the Voting Rights Act, but allowed Texas officials to continue enforcing the law pending further review by a district court.
Journey for Justice
About 200 people in Selma, Alabama, began the first leg of the “Journey for Justice” march Aug. 1, on their way to the state capital of Montgomery. Protection of “the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system, uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs with a living wage, and equitable public education” are the demands that will be highlighted at rallies along the march route, reported the NAACP on its website. Organizers are encouraging people to join along the way.“Since the route doesn’t come through our state, we wanted to be part of history,” RaSharon King from Bradley County, Tennessee, told The Associated Press. “All of the inequalities that are occurring today — we wanted to be part of the movement to show our support.”
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