Urge the Republican National Committee to halt plans to challenge voters

[10-28-04]

Urge the RNC to Halt Plans to Challenge Voters Join Civil Rights Leaders at October 28 Press Conference

Despite earlier requests from the civil rights community, the Republican National Committee has failed to put an end to Republican-initiated plans to aggressively target minority voters and voters with disabilities for challenges at the polls during the November 2nd general election.

According to the New York Times, Ohio GOP officials have taken formal steps to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge voters' qualifications, and have already challenged the eligibility of 35,000 registered voters in inner-city areas statewide. The BBC has obtained documents suggesting that Florida GOP officials have similar plans. The documents -- prepared for top RNC and Bush campaign operatives -- list the names and addresses of 1,886 voters in predominantly black areas of Jacksonville, Florida, who will likely be the subject of challenges at the polls. Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel (R) told U.S. News that he is working to "keep down" the Philadelphia vote.

A coordinated campaign to challenge predominately minority voters and voters with disabilities is unlawful, unconstitutional, and anti-American. Voters may be frightened and discouraged, as widespread challenges could cause significant disruptions, delays, and long lines.

Join us in urging the RNC to put an end to its plans to challenge voters on Election Day. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, with the support of the NAACP, USAction, and American Association of People with Disabilities, will hold a press conference outside of the RNC headquarters to highlight the party's failure to stop this intimidation by its state and local operatives.

[10-20-04]

From the Presbyterian Washington Office -

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has sent a letter to both the Democratic and Republican officials asking that people be allowed to vote without aggressive challenges at the polls. You may want to take note of events around your polling places as you cast your vote.

LCCR Calls on Parties to Cease and Desist Poll Challenge Activities

Group Requests Meeting with Gillespie and McAuliffe


Washington - Citing recent poll challenge efforts by the Democratic and Republican parties, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation's oldest, largest and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, today called on the chairmen of both parties to "cease and desist."

In letters to Terry McAuliffe and Ed Gillespie, Wade Henderson, executive director of LCCR, expressed his "deep concern about recent reports that partisan entities, including the Republican and Democratic Parties, plan to conduct aggressive challenges to voters at the polls during the November 2nd general election that are likely to impact minority voters more harshly than non-minority voters."

In his letter to the two party leaders, Henderson noted a report in the Akron Beacon-Journal that the Republican and Democratic parties plan to invoke a little-used 1953 Ohio state law to put challengers at the polls, "a move that could create additional mayhem on November 2."

"We have worked too hard for too long to enfranchise racial and ethnic minority voters in this country," said Henderson. "We fought for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other laws to ensure that every American has a right to vote and has a right to have his or her vote counted."

In his letter to McAuliffe and Gillespie, Henderson wrote, "In light of the widespread disenfranchisement of minority voters in 2000, it is more important than ever that this November's election proceed smoothly and equitably. The insertion of large numbers of partisan challengers into an electoral mix that already includes new identification and provisional ballot procedures threatens to create chaotic conditions that will again disenfranchise large numbers of eligible minority voters."

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Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)
202-543-1126

110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Suite 104
Washington, DC 20002