Washington (NNPA)If nothing else, the fiasco of the 2000 presidential election alerted activists and legal experts that they must take a different and more comprehensive approach this year to make sure the Black vote is cast and counted.
“The good news is that as a result of 2000, we have learned that we must do things differently this year to protect voters’ rights,” says Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law. “If they try to intimidate African-American voters, if they try to run the illegal suppression scheme, we’re going to be there to catch them. If they try to challenge Black folk without any basis, we’re going to have them thrown in jail if we can. And if we can’t get them thrown in jail, we’re going to have them thrown out of the polls.”
A non-partisan program called Election Protection, being led by National Coalition on Black Civil Participation, an umbrella group of more than 80 organizations, including the D.C.-based Lawyers Committee and People for the American Way, will be on guard this time around, Arnwine says. More than 6,000 volunteer lawyers and law students will be staffing precincts around the country and a toll free telephone hotline will be staffed by some 500 lawyers and voting rights experts. The toll free number is 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-866- 687-8683.
“It is a critical new device to help voters,” Arnwine says. “There are hundreds of us who are working on this program. So, when they get there, they’re going to see the NAACP, National Urban League, National Bar Association, the American Bar Association, local bar associations, they’re going to find us there in droves. And they’re going to find that this year, they are not alone.”