Georgia County Can’t Back Up Its Excuse For Plan To Disenfranchise Black Voters
— Read on m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b7c7484e4b07295150dbaf3/amp
An outside consultant, Michael Malone, hired by Randolph County pushed for closures of seven of the nine polling places in the county citing accessibility issues. There was no report of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations, no recommendations and no time given to correct the “accessibility issues.”
How does removing 7 of 9 polling places in Randolph Country, Georgia where 30% of resident fall below the poverty line improve “accessibility issues?”
In a county where 61% of residents are black people who probably lack private transportation and depend on public transit, what is the impact of closing 75% of polling booths months before a critical election?
Important Facts:
- Georgia has two senators and 14 representatives in the United States House of Representatives. All 14 seats in the House of Representatives (2-year terms) are up for election in 2018.
- In 2016 – Georgia, Trump got 51.3%, Clinton 45.6%, and Johnson 3.1% of votes in the presidential election.
- Randolph County, Georgia, the 2nd congressional district, located in the Southwest part of Georgia considered the Black Belt, an area known for plantations.
- Neither Republican Senators are up for midterm elections in 2018.
- A black Democrat is the House representative for the second district. He is up for re-election in 2018.
The Huffington Post article mentioned an election board vote proposal scheduled for Friday. It is imperative that residents of Randolph county attend this meeting.
The ACLU is involved. We the people must make sure all eligible voters who want to vote will be able to vote. If that means arranging buses and other means of transportation around the country, let’s prepare.
