5.4 million Americans disenfranchised. The Monitor - top of the hour.

[SophieZ]

The second segment will focus on this HUGE number of people who can't vote on paper, optical scan, lever, DREs, or ANYthing. That's about the number of people who live in Minnesota, or Wisconsin, or Maryland -- 5.4 million. Disenfranchised.

It's your world. Understand it!
March 5, 2006: The Monitor


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<> 6:00 pm CST -- HEADLINES

<> ~ 6:20 pm CST -- JONATHAN LANDAY - national security journalist, on developments in Iraq



Jonathan S. Landay, national security and intelligence correspondent, has written about foreign affairs and U.S. defense, intelligence and foreign policies for 15 years. He was traveling with Secretary of State Condi Rice last week. He is one of the journalists highlighted in Kristina Borjesson's book, Feet to the Fire. Co-host Mark Bebawi will discuss developments in Iraq with him.

From 1985-94, Landay covered South Asia and the Balkans for United Press International and then the Christian Science Monitor. He moved to Washington in December 1994 to cover defense and foreign affairs for the Christian Science Monitor and joined Knight Ridder in October 1999. He speaks frequently on national security matters, particularly the Balkans. In 2005, he was part of a team that won a National Headliners Award for ``How the Bush Administration Went to War in Iraq.'' He also won a 2005 Award of Distinction from the Medill School of Journalism for "Iraqi exiles fed exaggerated tips to news media."


<> ~ 6:40 pm CST -- CHRISTOPHER UGGEN - how we disenfranchise 5 million Americans



Professor Christopher Uggen is Professor of Sociology and McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Co-host Pokey Anderson will discuss with him his new book, coming out this week: Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy.

The book examines the odd practice of many states of denying Americans the vote after they have served their time in jail. About 5.4 million Americans -- 1 in every 40 voting age adults -- are denied the right to participate in democratic elections because of a past or current felony conviction. This includes 2 million African-Americans. (Note: Five million is a lot of potential voters -- the so-called "overwhelming mandate" George W. Bush claimed in his election tally in November 2004 involved a margin of three million votes.)

Seven southern states and four other states disenfranchise some felons for life. In several American states, 1 in 4 black men cannot vote due to a felony conviction. The history of felony disenfranchisement laws goes back 150 years -- attempts to defeat black suffrage in the South after the Civil War.

The disenfranchisement of former felons in Florida who have completed their entire sentence likely swung that state toward George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential race, effectively deciding both the election and the course of American history. Also, since 1978, a study indicates that seven Republican senators would have lost close elections to Democrats if ex-offenders had regained the right to vote.

BOOK: Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy. with Jeff Manza. Forthcoming. New York: Oxford University Press.

ARTICLES:
“Public Attitudes toward Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States,” with Jeff Manza and Clem Brooks. 2004. Public Opinion Quarterly, 68: 276-87. http://www.soc.umn.edu/%7Euggen/Manza_Brooks_Uggen_POQ_04.pdf

“Ballot Manipulation and the ‘Menace of Negro Domination’: Racial Threat and Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States, 1850-2002,” with Angela Behrens and Jeff Manza. 2003. American Journal of Sociology, 109: 559-605. http://www.socsci.umn.edu/%7Euggen/Behrens_Uggen_Manza_ajs.pdf

“Democratic Reversal? The Political Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States,” with Jeff Manza. 2002. American Sociological Review, 67: 777-803. http://www.soc.umn.edu/%7Euggen/Uggen_Manza_ASR_02.pdf


CO-HOSTS: Mark Bebawi and Pokey Anderson.
ENGINEER: Byron Jackson

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February 26
--Paul Craig Roberts, asst. secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, on reasons to impeach Bush. Warren Stewart of www.VoteTrustUSA.org, on progress in election transparency. WE ARE WORKING TO GET THIS UP ON THE ARCHIVES. Try in a few days.

[Melissa G]

1. Kinda gives you the feeling they would make all Dems felons if they could.

Repubs are the minority party. There are more Dems than repubs..
They have to do something to maintain power.. When there are more of us than them disenfranchisement of one sort or another is the way to win...

[jasmeel]

2. They could put us in detention camps.

:-(

[Melissa G]

5. they must have that "If we build it , they will come" thing working...n/t

[SophieZ]

3. It is up on the archive now. Listen.

http://archive.kpft.org/

Monitor - March 5

If you just want to hear the segment on disenfranchisement of over 5 million Americans, forward it to 41 minutes in -- lasts 16 minutes.

[emlev]

4. K&R--see also this film

American Blackout
http://www.americanblackout.org
A friend just saw it at a film festival and highly recommends it. Also about voter disenfranchisement.

Thanks Sophie Z and Pokey Anderson!