Social Injustice

SOCIAL INJUSTICE

Purpose:

The purpose of this committee is to address social issues that affect the well-being of God’s people.

Issue: Social Injustice - Voting Restrictions

We find ourselves as American citizens at a crossroad. We can allow ourselves to “go back” to the days of “Jim Crow” or we can again make history. We can fight against this, New Wave of Barriers to the Right to Vote or Do Nothing. The question in America should be: How can we jointly encourage more people to participate in the political process? Instead, an attack has been launched to affect the 2012 elections, as well as those in the future.

Partial Summary of Block Votes:

➢ Restrictions on Registration: (2) States (Florida and Texas) passed laws that substantially restrict voter registration drives. (15% of Latinos and app. 20% African-Americans registered to vote in Florida in 2008 through registration drives. Compared to 6% whites.)

➢ Limitations on When and Where Individuals can register. (4) States (Florida Maine, Ohio, and Wisconsin) enacted laws restricting the time and/or place at which a person can register to vote.

➢ Enhanced Eligibility Requirements:

• Requiring Documentary Proof of Citizenship to Register to vote. (3) States (Alabama, Kansas, and Tennessee) enacted this requirement. These requirements will impose a burden on elderly African-Americans because many were born when de jure segregation prevented equal access to hospitals, and were never issued birth certificates.

➢ Increasing Disfranchisement of People with Felony Convictions. (2) States (Florida and Iowa) reversed executive orders that restored the voting rights of people who had finished their serving their sentences.

➢ Substantial Reductions in Early Voting. (5) States (Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia) enacted bills that reduce early voting.

Recommendations:

❖ Inform - The people about restrictive voting laws or proposals that have been...