From an NAACP emailed press release this a.m.:
McCrory: Stop the Coordinated Attacks on College Student Voting
The
extremists' Voter Suppression agenda was being implemented in two far-flung
college counties in North Carolina even before Gov. Pat McCrory got around to
reading and signing the Monster Voter Suppression bill last Monday afternoon. In
Watauga and Pasquotank counties, the 2-1 Voter Suppressionist caucus were
actively trying to strip students of their voting rights.
Out west in
Watauga where Appalachian State students are becoming more politically active,
the Suppressionist Caucus of the County Board of Election met at 9 o'clock
Monday morning to try to strip the early voting site from the campus of
Appalachian State in Boone.
"It was such an obvious backlash against the
students' increasing political power in local as well as state and national
elections, we immediately dispatched our District Director and our Campus Field
Secretary for Western campuses to Watauga to investigate," said Rev. Dr. William
J. Barber II, NC NAACP President.
In the northeast corner of the state,
the Suppressionist Caucus on the Pasquotank County Board of Elections, in
lockstep with the Watauga Suppressionists, began targeting the growing voting
potential of the predominantly African American student body at Elizabeth State
University.
"We will be investigating the Pasquotank Board of Elections
actions carefully, including a site visit early next week," said Dr. Barber. "We
will conduct a Moral Monday to in Manteo," he said, "and then we will be meeting
with our Pasquotank Branch leaders to examine the best means to resist the
extremists' attacks."
"Why would anyone want to keep our young people
from getting engaged in the American democracy we hold so dear? Why would anyone
be afraid of a group of young people voting in a local election this fall?" Dr.
Barber asked." I can only think of one reason." ...
7 comments:
I can think of another reason...more actually, but I'll keep it to one. Students who are not residents and end up leaving Watauga County during the summer or graduate, leave the resident citizens with laws they didn't necessarily vote for. As a long time resident of Watauga, this concerns me. Who's to say some of these students don't also vote in their home county? That would be voter fraud.
All eligible voters get to vote in the communities that they are living in at the time of an election. If I were to move to Nevada for one year and then move back to NC, I would vote in Nevada during the year I lived there and in NC once I returned. The same is true for college students and this is well-established law (Google Symm v. United States). You may not be happy with how your (student) neighbor votes but his right to vote is not yours to tamper with, period.
Voter fraud is a red herring. If you really want to combat it, curtail absentee voting, which is where the biggest potential for fraud exists. Until Republicans look into that I have to believe that they are simply looking to make voting difficult and are not serious about fraud.
No one can ever answer a simple question that I have: how would you word a law or ordinance to prevent students from voting? You can't just say "students at universities can't vote," because there are 30 year old grad students who support themselves while they go to school. There are also some ASU students who live in dorms who are Watauga county natives, born and bred in Boone. There is no reasonable way to prevent students from voting. Everyone keeps mentioning "permanent address," but, in a sense, NO address is permanent! People can and do move in and out of areas all the time. Just like your example, Not Really. A 50-year-old bank manager could get transferred to Boone and stay here for a year. In that time, he or she would be a resident and would have the right to vote in Boone. How can we let that person vote and not let students who've been here 3 or 4 years?
"Who's to say some of these students don't also vote in their home county?"
Once again, is there any PROOF that this has ever happened?
"Students who are not residents and end up leaving Watauga County during the summer or graduate, leave the resident citizens with laws they didn't necessarily vote for. As a long time resident of Watauga, this concerns me."
It's a free country - people can move around and live wherever they want. There are plenty of non-students who live in Watauga for awhile, then move somewhere else. Are you concerned about them, too? No address is permanent!
It is impossible to vote in one's county of origin and also in another place, like the county in which one goes to school. When students, for example, register to vote here, that registration goes into the state's computer database of voters and their old registration is automatically cancelled, making it impossible for them to vote where their parents' live.
"It is impossible to vote in one's county of origin and also in another place"
Not so. I was registered in two precincts in Watauga county at the same time for a period of eight years. After I found out, it was easily corrected, but I had to innate it. I also found where several people in Blowing Rock were voting in both Watauga and Caldwell counties. Most thought they could legitimately because the town is in both counties.
Yes, Blowing Rock folks from Caldwell County can legitimately vote in town elections....but the ballots they receive do not have the county offices on them.
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