November 8, 2014 - November 8, 2014, The Afro-American A1 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION
Volume 123 No. 14
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NOVEMBER 8, 2014 - NOVEMBER 14, 2014
Hogan Defeats Brown By Glynn A. Hill Howard University News Service COLLEGE PARK, Md.— For weeks, possibly months, the talk had been how Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown would soon become the nation’s third black governor. Those dreams were dashed Nov. 4 as Brown, a Democrat, was narrowly defeated by Republican candidate Larry Hogan to win the Maryland gubernatorial election. Hogan’s victory in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2 to1 was a huge upset. Brown, Maryland’s lieutenant governor, was heavily favored when the election season began. Hogan, an Anne Arundel businessman, gained momentum in recent weeks, emphasizing his plan to cut taxes. The defeat ends Brown’s hope, at least temporarily, of becoming the first AfricanAmerican governor of Maryland. “Tonight fell short of our campaign goal,” Brown said to a crowd at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on
the campus of the University of Maryland in his concession speech. “But it does not and cannot diminish the work that each and every one of you all has done in our communities.” Hogan is the first Republican to win the Maryland governorship since Robert Ehrlich in 2002. Before him was Spiro Agnew, in 1967. While Brown was favored to win, polls showed that the lead had become increasingly slim as Election Day approached. As more precincts were reporting, a full crowd dwindled before Brown even emerged to give his concession speech. Mike Brown, 45, is an electrician who has lived in Maryland his entire life. He believes Brown’s defeat is more about what Hogan did than what Brown didn’t do. “More people came out for Hogan,” he said a disheartened. “I think Brown had a good campaign, but he lost.”
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New Voting Limits, New Difficulties By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
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AP Photo/Steve Ruark
Maryland Gov.-elect Larry Hogan, a Republican, receives a call from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie after beating Democrat Anthony Brown, not pictured, in the state’s Nov. 5 gubernatorial race.
Thousands of voters from across the nation reported problems with voting during this General Election, stemming not only from a rash of restrictive voting laws but also from the administrative deficiencies of an outdated voting system, according to the Election Protection coalition of civil rights groups. “Every election should be a celebration of democracy. Instead, what we’re hearing today from too many polling places around the country is that voters are having problems casting their ballots,” said Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law, during a press call on Nov. 4. Some of the problems were the outcome of controversial election laws—such as voter ID
confusing and discriminatory voting landscape in almost 50 years. And, it’s a disgrace to our citizens, to our nation and to our standing in the world as a beacon
decision in Shelby County vs. Holder last year, when a bare majority voted to gut critical pieces of the Voting Rights Act.” Since the game-changing
“Voting should make us truly equal, whether we are rich or poor; young or old; famous or unknown; male or female; gay or straight; White, Black, Asian or Latino.” -Wade Henderson requirements, reduced early voting, elimination of sameday registration, citizenship requirements and more—that have erected barriers to the ballot box. “Today, and for the past several weeks during early voting, we have been witnessing the most unfair,
of democracy,” said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. But, added Henderson, it came as no surprise. “This is the predictable outcome of the first major election since the Supreme Court’s
ruling—and Congress’ failure to amend and update the VRA as the high court directed—14 states and an untold number of municipalities have introduced new, often limiting election laws. “Voting should make us truly equal, whether we are
rich or poor; young or old; famous or unknown; male or female; gay or straight; White, Black, Asian or Latino,” Henderson added. “But in state after state we have seen politicians manipulating the election rules to make it harder for people, primarily people of color, the poor and students, to register and to vote.” In Texas, for example, the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the state to implement its restrictive voter ID law just two weeks before the election—after protracted legal wrangling—fostered widespread confusion that promises to disenfranchise much more than the estimated 600,000 Texans— mostly people of color—that Continued on A4
Black Voter Turnout in D.C., Prince George’s County By Shantella Sherman and Christina Sturdivant Special to the AFRO Voting advocates and sitting legislators, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, began expressing concern as early 2012 that many African Americans would sidestep mid-term elections to the detriment of their local officials, effectively placing the House and the Senate into conservative, Republican hands. Voter turnout regularly drops in midterm elections, and has done so since the 1840s. In 2008, for instance, 57.1 percent of the voting-age population cast ballots — the highest level in four decades — as President Barack Obama took office. Two years later, only 36.9 percent voted in the midterm election that put the House back in Republican hands. Even though higher than expected turnouts in D.C. came on-behalf of non-profits, churches, and
colleges providing on-the-ground transportation, the total number was still not expected to reach beyond the 60 percent mark for total eligible voters, according to Vote4Justice data.
Further, according to the Maryland County Elections Board, Prince George’s County residents followed the general pattern of voting
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overwhelmingly in presidential elections, but demonstrated a noticeable decline in voting habits for mid-term elections. Early voting numbers for Prince George’s County showed the predominantly African-American enclave boasted 46,236 early votes – a little more than 8 percent of the 544,677 total active eligible voters. And while the numbers are an increase over previous years, many fear that when the numbers are officially tallied next week, the number of African American voters will remain comparatively low. Drew Desilver wrote in the Pew Research Center’s July 2014 FactTank: News In the Numbers that “in an era of increasingly polarized politics, campaign strategists must decide how much effort to put into persuading independent-minded voters to come out and support their candidate without antagonizing their party’s core supporters, who are more likely to vote anyway. Obama’s victories in Continued on A4