AROUND THE REGION
Trump's 'Rigged' Rhetoric Could Suppress Black Vote
5Political experts say Donald Trump's rigged election talk is nonsense. / Courtesy photo
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer As Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump continued to ratchet up rhetoric suggesting that the current election is rigged, countless political experts and research have repeatedly shown that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent and the candidate's claims are baseless. However, what has existed in American politics are the disenfranchising of black, poor and minority voters who continue to face laws in several states that make it nearly impossible for them to cast a ballot. "I would say [election rigging] is less a real threat or claim and more a signal to Trump's base that the establishment is against them, including the moderate wing of the Republican party," said Ernest McGowan III, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Richmond in Virginia. "If the laws — like voter identification — or opposition to things like felon enfranchisement or early voting are truly done to disenfranchise black voters, or more broadly poor and minority voters who traditional vote for Democrats, then the two things can be compatible." A total of 34 states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. Approximately 18 states use other methods to verify the identity of voters. Most frequently, other identifying information provided at the polling place, such as a signature, is checked against information on file, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Earlier this year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down key portions of North Carolina's strict 2013 voting law, unanimously concluding that the law was racially discriminatory. "In what comes as close to a smoking gun as we are likely to see in modern times, the State's very justification for a challenged statute hinges explicitly on race — specifically its concern that African-Americans, who had overwhelmingly voted for Democrats, had too much access to the franchise," wrote Judge Diana Gribbon Motz. North Carolina's law, often described as the strictest in the nation, passed shortly after the Supreme Court struck down Section 5 the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. That section required states with a history of voter discrimination to "preclear" any changes to voting laws with the U.S. Department of Justice. Freed from that requirement, the General Assembly passed a slate of changes, including the photo-ID requirement. Both sides effectively agreed that these changes disproportionately affected poor, elderly and black voters, who were less likely to hold the required forms of photo ID, more likely to move frequently and more likely to take advantage of early voting, political website The Atlantic reported. These voters also vote overwhelmingly Democratic. "The calls about a rigged election can actually lead to more draconian laws to disenfranchise, or at least make it more difficult to vote, in subsequent
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
elections," McGowan said. In its 2016 report, "The Truth About Voter Fraud," The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School revealed that most allegations of fraud have turned out to be baseless — and that of the few allegations remaining, most reveal election irregularities and other forms of election misconduct. Justin Levitt, author of the Brennan Center report, wrote he had found 31 allegations since 2000 of someone pretending to be someone else at the polls. Reportedly, more than 1 billion ballots were cast in that period in general and primary elections. The Carnegie-Knight News21 program — made up of journalism students and graduates — analyzed 2,068 alleged cases in 50 states in the decade before 2012 and could document only 10 instances of in-person voter impersonation. Reportedly, there were 491 cases of absentee ballot fraud and 400 cases of registration fraud —out of 146 million registered voters. Still, Trump continued his claims even after the third presidential debate in Las Vegas last week. "They even want to try and rig the election at the polling booths, where so many cities are corrupt, and voter fraud is all too common," Trump said. "And then they say, oh, there's no voter fraud in our country, there's no voter fraud, no, no, there's no voter fraud. Take a look at St.
Louis, take a look at Philadelphia, take a look at Chicago." Jim Allen, a Chicago elections spokesman, said in the past 10 years, the city has had 10 referrals of suspicious activity amid 9 million ballots cast. One of the referrals led to the convictions of two men on misdemeanor charges of manipulating absentee ballots in an alderman's race in 2007, Allen said.
In Philadelphia, a group of council members also decried Trump's allegations. "We will not tolerate any sort of foolishness on Election Day, and it's even insulting to suggest that Philadelphians would," said city Councilwoman Cindy Bass (D). For the full version of this story, go to washingtoninformer. com. WI
ELECT DOROTHY DOUGLAS ON NOVEMBER 8, 2016
FOR WARD 7 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION #1 ON THE BALLOT
A LIFETIME OF DEDICATION TO OUR EDUCATION • Former educator in DCPS, former Director of Deanwood Youth Services. • Part of the initiative to raise $70 million to secure the implementation of common core standards in DCPS. • Helped recover $200,000 of misappropriated funds meant for low income and at risk families. • Assisted in the fundraising of approximately $1 million dollars for the construction of the New Duke Ellington High School. • PTSA president for the Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC). • Member of the NASA advisory board of H.D. Woodson High School.
EDUCATION IS THE PASSPORT TO A BETTER FUTURE Endorsed by: • The Columbia Heights Education Campus Parent Teacher Association • Kristen Whitaker, the 2015 Toyota National Family Engagement Teacher of the Year Paid for by The Committee to Elect Dorothy Douglas. 4401 Minnesota Ave, NE - Washington, DC 20019. Tanike Washington, Treasurer.
202.640.9584 • electdorothydouglas@gmail.com
VOTE Aikin G. LEE
AT LARGE
MY FOCUS IS ON: • AFFORDABLE NEIGHBORHOODS • SCHOOLS • FAIR TAXES • TENAC ENDORSED • GLAA SCORE 7.5
• Affordable housing for everyone. • Fight Pepco/Excelon $85.5 million rate hike. • Help Seniors with income under $60K get their D-40 Schedule H benefit up to $1000 per year. • Prevent sale of underused DC Public Schools. • Save McMillan Park from NO-BID developers. • Protect small business from DCRA and OTR. • Stop mindless Gentrification forcing teachers, firefighters, police & workers in hospitals, hotels & restaurants to move to the suburbs.
gleeaikin.blogspot.com
DC RESIDENT FOR OVER 50 YEARS • TWO SONS - DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS HOMEOWNER • STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY Paid for by Elect G. Lee Aikin/1754 Swann St. NW, Washington, DC 20009/Don Wharton, Treasurer. Report filed with Dir. Campaign Finance
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
NOVEMBER 3 - 9, 2016 9