It’s 2014: Is Your Right to Vote Secure?

Posted on March 26, 2014 by alphaheel

Nearly eight months ago, I wrote about a series of coordinated, pernicious attacks on voting rights in North Carolina. As we approach the end of the first quarter of this year, Election Day 2014 is just over seven months away. Obviously, Primaries are even closer.

In June 2013, the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively nullified Section 5, a key provision of the Voting Rights Act by striking down Section 4. In July, the North Carolina State Legislature passed an omnibus bill (HB 589) that many consider the signature voter suppression law in the country.

In my July 31, 2013 Blog, I discussed a number of measures enacted in the Old North State that will curtail access to executing the voting franchise by many North Carolinians. In that post I noted, “The North Carolina General Assembly approved a Voter ID law on steroids. The House approved a bill in April that required Voter ID. The Senate then, in the closing days of the session, added 40 pages and over 50 provisions.”

The law not only requires voters to provide a government ID in order to execute their ballot; in addition to disenfranchising 319,000 voters who do not have such an ID (Driver’s License, State ID, Military ID, and U.S. Passport), the bill also:

Ends same day registration

Rescinds automatic restoration of voting rights to ex-felons

Legalizes the right for any person to stand in a polling place and issue a challenge to ones right to vote

Eliminates straight ticket voting

Abolishes pre-registration by 17 year-olds

Reduces Early Voting from 17 days to 10 days

Requires voters to make all address updates or other changes at least 25 days prior to Election Day

Weakens disclosure requirements intended to make clear who underwrites campaign ads

Permits political parties to raise unlimited corporate donations

Raises the cap on individual donations from $4,000 to $5,000

Supporters of the measure insist the new law will “restore faith in elections, and prevent voter fraud, which they say is endemic and undetected (a patently contradictory assertion). Republican partisans make this claim, despite the fact the State Board of Elections there has been one (only one) case of voter fraud identified since 2012.

Conversely, opponents of the law, including nonpartisan voting rights groups, Democrats, and Libertarians contend the true goal of the initiative is to suppress voter turnout among young, old, poor, and minority voters. More than 300,000 North Carolina voters do not possess the requisite ID; most are students, the elderly, the poor, or black. It does not the keenest of observers to recognize President Obama won all those voting blocs except the elderly in both 2008 and 2012. Further, according to North Carolina voting statistics, Democrats are more likely to vote early, and more prone to vote straight ticket.

It is totally fair and appropriate to concede that North Carolina is by no means alone in passing measures similar to this law. In fact most Southern states have instituted such laws in the past year. However, as a proud North Carolinian, born and bred, I do take personal exception to this abridgement of rights. Fortunately, my position is not unique.

The National Commission on Voting Rights (NCVR) is holding a series of hearings across the country to consider acts of voting discrimination and various other election challenges. The NCVR is entity that evolved from the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act. The new group will hold the tenth of its hearings in Rocky Mount, NC on March 28, 2014. This hearing is organized by a coalition of voting rights and civil rights groups, including:

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
NC NAACP
ACLU of North Carolina
UNC Center for Civil Rights
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Advancement Project
Democracy North Carolina

At the hearing, a panel will take testimony on a number of topics that include:

Barriers to access for individuals with disabilities
African American & Latino voters
The impact of new voting rules on students
Needs of rural voters
Impact of State laws on rural Counties in the State

If you believe this issue is important, and/or if you know others who believe it is an essential undertaking, and you are a North Carolinian, I encourage you to consider attending the NCVR Hearing. See pertinent details below:

WHAT: National Commission on Voting Rights, North Carolina Hearing

Panels – There will be formal panels of witnesses representing voting rights organizations, community leaders, election officials, and other stakeholders. Witnesses are encouraged to submit written testimony in advance of the hearing. The panel of commissioners will also receive the testimony orally and may ask follow up questions.

 Open Public Testimony – There will several open public testimony periods for voters to testify about their experiences.

WHEN: Friday, March 28, 2014, 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

WHERE: OIC of Rocky Mount, 402 East Virginia St., Rocky Mount, NC 27802

How You Can Get Involved!

Share your voting experience and/or tell us about voting changes in your community: http://aftershelby.lawyerscommittee.org
Attend a hearing (details below)
Call the 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline to report voting changes in your community

“It’s 2014: Is Your Right to Vote Secure?” I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2013/07/31/nc-voter-id-law-taking-our-country-back/

http://signup.lawyerscommittee.org/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=423086

http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/projects/voting_rights/page?id=0144

http://www.advancementproject.org/resources/entry/statement-of-katie-oconnor-to-north-carolina-house-elections-committee

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10694048

http://arcnc.org/file/2013/NCVR.pdf

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/9744-voters-speak-out-ncvr?locale=en

http://citizenjames72.blogspot.com/2014/03/national-commission-on-voting-rights.html

http://www.protectcivilrights.org/pdf/voting/NorthCarolinaVRA.pdf

http://www.thenation.com/blog/177577/north-carolina-shows-why-voting-rights-act-still-needed#

When No News Is All The News You Have!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by alphaheel

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared in the early morning hours of March 8, after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing, has been the source of many questions and very few answers. At least 26 countries are or have been in search of the Boeing 777 airliner and it’s 239 passengers and crew for the past 11 days, and counting. As news stories go, this one has captivated the focus of multiple news outlets. In fact, for at least one cable outlet, it has been elevated to virtually 24/7 status.

I understand that an Airline finding itself with a missing aircraft, 239 missing passengers, and a missing crew, is a huge deal. That the passengers and crew have been missing for nigh on two weeks makes for unfathomable tension, frustration, fear, and a host of other emotions for families and friends. Yet, I am stunned by the ability of agencies, which purport to report the news, to continue to conceive new and more creative ways to say I/we don’t know what happened to the plane, the passengers, or the crew, but…here, dear viewer, is our newest unsubstantiated theory.

In no small way, this phenomenon appears to take a potential tragedy, and leverage from it, every available ounce of emotional capital. That the practice has led to a ratings bonanza makes it completely understandable, in an, “it’s just a calculated business decision” kind of way. Yet, for an industry that was once relied upon to report the news, rather than gin up, and spread conjecture, it should be equally understood that the decision to operate in this way fundamentally changes the dynamic of what heretofore was called the news cycle, and not in a good way. This epic spate of “reporting” may not represent the all time nadir of on air news, but it the current sequence continues uninterrupted much longer the question must at least be debated.

We live in the age of connectivity; a time in which transcontinental travel is routine, and in which communication is both constant and omnipresent. We are accustomed to using Global Positioning Systems (familiarly known as GPS) to track our movements via mobile phones, automobiles, trains, and even airplanes. Consequently, when our 12st Century advanced technology is stumped, we, understandably, are at a real loss. Unfortunately, this is exactly the case in which we find ourselves, as we attempt to unravel the “Mystery of (the missing) Flight 370.

I will not submit to the temptation to add to the litany of theories that abound about what might have happened, what could not have happened, what did not happen, nor what will happen next, as it relates to Flight 370. Instead, I will simply implore anyone who will listen to consider responding with a concise and earnest reply, no comment, to any question posed, “When No News Is All the News You Have!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/18/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/18/malaysia-scenarios/6559209/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-probe-digs-into-past-of-all-on-board-missing-boeing-777/

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/18/mh370-leading-theories/6576271/

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/eye-opener-the-mystery-of-flight-370-takes-another-turn/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/malaysia-plane-up-to-speed/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-fascination/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/lost-the-mysterious-baffling-disappearance-of-malaysia-flight-370/2014/03/11/1b7e390e-a94f-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/03/sunday-on-this-week-the-mystery-of-flight-370/

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/03/17/flight-370-mystery-investigators-believe-co-pilot-spoke-last-words-reportedly-probe-plane

Weeding Out…The Inaccuracies!

Posted on March 12, 2014 by alphaheel

I cannot say that I am shocked, not even surprised. Nearly a decade and a half into the 21st Century, that an established major Party elected politician might not only tweet, but also defend these comments:

• “Let’s be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime.”

Sadly, such mischaracterizations have become par for the course. In recent years, a flurry of politicos have bolstered their conservative bona fides and political cred by uttering biting, if not bigoted and spiteful remarks targeted at or based upon someone’s ethnic group, sexual preference, or gender designation. Suffice it so say, the NBA is an easy target for such ad hominem attacks. The League’s employees are all male, and the vast majority of them are black. Oh yes, by even the most generous of standards they are wealthy. So, who would possibly fell compelled to rally in their defense? Well, if the attack is an open rant on Twitter, almost anyone might respond.

Pat Garofalo is a Minnesotan, an elected politician (Minnesota House of Representatives), a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the Twitterverse. At 7:33 p.m. Central Time (Minnesota) this past Sunday evening, Mr. Garofalo tweeted the bulleted comment above.

The tweet resonated; it was re-tweeted hundreds of times within a two-hour period. A number of folks on Twitter called the comment racist. Undaunted by the push back and possibly buttressed by individuals who co-signed and or supported the remarks, Mr. Garofalo defended them.

He said he was:

• “Talking about the NBA’s high arrest rate and that they are the only major pro league that testing positive for marijuana is not a substance abuse violation.”

If that is what you want to believe, it may sound good. Sound good, or not, it is an inaccurate assertion. The truth is the NBA’s arrest rate is below the national average. Moreover, the evil pot meme is melting away like the winter’s snow throughout the Southeast. Marijuana is a legalized substance in two states, is widely available for medical use in another 18 states, and is a minor offense in most states.

It took a while, but the facts actually finally made their way to the Mr. Garofalo. Subsequently, he apologized for the tweet on Monday.

He said in a statement:

• “I was under the mistaken impression that the National Basketball Association did not test for marijuana. In fact, that is false…That is a drug policy violation and something that’s clearly stated in their collective bargaining agreement.”

You can read the NBA’s anti-drug policy, which specifically mentions marijuana, here.

In summary, this was a story with a happy-ending. In the span of just one day, an ill-conceived remark was tweeted, vetted, and rescinded. This was a great example of “Weeding Out…The Inaccuracies!” If only it were always that simple, and quick.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Garofalo

https://twitter.com/PatGarofalo/status/442805513697628160

http://extramustard.si.com/category/sign-of-the-apocalypse/

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/249218011.html

http://www.scribd.com/doc/211699556/Anti-Drug-Agreement-Summary-2013-14

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/26112786-419/minnesota-rep-pat-garofalo-apologizes-for-offensive-nba-tweet.html

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/03/10/minnesota-rep-pat-garofalo-nba-tweet-called-racist-prompts-hundreds-responses/

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-pat-garofalo-nba-20140310,0,2576680.story#axzz2viHdTNsD

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/10/state-rep-pat-garofalo-says-nba-players-are-criminals.html

http://www.twincities.com/breakingnews/ci_25309842/state-rep-pat-garofalos-tweet-about-nba-draws

A Negotiated Settlement: Win-Win for the CIAA and Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Posted on March 5, 2014 by alphaheel

There is no place like home. Hence, every now and then, despite all the national and international news that dominates the airways, occasionally, I am compelled to write about something with a local flavor.

For months leading up to last week’s famed CIAA Tournament, scuttlebutt ran rampant that the Conference was disillusioned with the City, and was on the verge of kicking the Queen City to the curb. Rumors of Atlanta, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Washington, DC, and even New York City made the rounds.

The CIAA, formally known as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, is the nation’s oldest African-American athletic conference, established in 1912 on the campus of Hampton University. The conference currently includes twelve teams, six each in the Northern and Southern Divisions. Johnson C. Smith University, located in Charlotte, is the official host team, as long as the Tournament remains in Charlotte.

The Tournament moved to Charlotte in 2006 and ended a nine-year run last week. Ms. Jacqui Carpenter, Commissioner of the League, indicated the Conference would seek/accept bids from interested cities for Tournaments beginning in 2015. The move fueled a wildfire of speculation.

Alas, on the day after the Tourney concluded, Commissioner Carpenter and Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon announced the Conference and the City brokered a negotiated settlement, and reached an agreement that would bring the venerable Tournament to Charlotte for six more years (through 2020). Moreover, the CIAA announced it would relocate its headquarters from Hampton, VA to Charlotte. Mayor Cannon alluded to the sequence of events as a “buzzer-beater victory” for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

A good friend of mine, who is a local attorney and former elected official, wrote a compelling case for our local governments supporting acting to retain the CIAA Tournament as an annual event in our community. Without recounting his entire opinion, I will cover the major points below:

• The City & County jointly invested $400,000 to fund CIAA scholarships in 2013

• CIAA fans spent $47 million on hotel rooms, restaurant meals, game tickets, and related parties during the 4-5 days of the Tournament (Largest Annual Tourism event in the City)

• Mecklenburg County collected $2.5 million in sales tax revenue for that period (which does not include non-sales tax revenue collected by restaurants, hotels, night club owners, transportations services, private caters, radio stations, private police and security services, retail outlets and other vendors and service providers

• The $400,000 annual City-County investment yields a return many times over in sales tax revenue; more than 6 times the amount invested

• In addition, the event generated approximately $950,000 in State sales tax revenue.

My friend brought his case to the public square, in response to criticism of the City and County for allocating public funds to the CIAA. He even noted that some have argued that supporting the Tournament negatively affects public education.

He went on to say such an argument fails to take into account the robust return on “our” public investment. He concludes, the reality is, our local community is fortunate that the CIAA, ACC (Football & Basketball), NCAA, AAU, and a host of other tournaments, conferences, and conventions are insightful, and perceptive enough to select our community to host their events.

Suffice it to say, I fully support his assessment, and agree wholeheartedly with his conclusion. In the grand scheme of things, it was “A Negotiated Settlement: Win-Win for the CIAA and Charlotte-Mecklenburg!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Association

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/03/4738312/ciaa-to-stay-in-charlotte-for.html#.UxaPlbVWHIU

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/ciaa-agrees-to-keep-tournament-in-charlotte-relocate-headquarters/13446246/

http://www.wbtv.com/story/24871890/will-charlotte-keep-the-ciaa

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/ciaa-discuss-future-tournament-monday/nd4m2/

http://www.wccbcharlotte.com/news/local/CIAA-Tournament-To-Stay-in-Charlotte-for-Six-More-Years-248303591.html

http://www.qcitymetro.com/news/articles/ciaa_will_move_headquarters_to_charlotte_keep_tournament_here_for_another_6_years040455760.cfm

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2014/03/04/Events-and-Attractions/CIAA.aspx

http://www.wcnc.com/sports/CIAA-tourney-leaving-Charlotte-248242221.html