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■ ylc NC m^*"”' 1 '^tee DAVIT Xhale DEPARTMENT ENOCH SERIAL cB# 393() aeVmLETaT STREET e7S9g _ 000 i CHAPEL HILL DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 UME 92 - NUMBER 34 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 C elections boards move to curtail student voting By Michael Biesecker SLEIGH (AP) - Within hours of Gov. Pat McCro- gning a Republican-backed bill this week making ping changes to the state's voting laws, local elec- boards in two college towns made moves that could : it harder for students to vote. ie Watauga County Board of Elections voted Aug. 12 minate an early voting site and election-day polling net on the campus of Appalachian State University, ie Pasquotank County Board of Elections on Aug. arred an Elizabeth City State University senior from ing for city council, ruling his on-campus address Jn't be used to establish local residency. Following lecision. the head of the county's Republican Party he plans to challenge the voter registrations of more ;nts at the historically black university ahead of up- ing elections. ating rights advocates worry the decisions could sig- i statewide effort by OOP-controlled elections boards iscourage turnout among young voters considered ; likely to support Democrats. lie law McCrory signed requires voters to have spe- forms of government-issued photo identification to a ballot, a measure he and other Republicans said is led to prevent voter fraud. But the law alsoXontains e than 40 other provisions, including ending same- voter registration, trimming the period for early vot- f'rom 17 days to 10 and eliminating a program that jurages high school students to register to vo e in ad- :e of their 18th birthdays. 1 emocratic lawmakers repeatedly tried to amend the to allow student IDs from state-supported universities community colleges to be used at the polls, but that blocked by the Republican majority. \ i a radio appearance this week. McCrory suggested changes are about fairness and suggested Democrats in the past manipulated polling locations and Airly ng hours for partisan gain. When he was sworn in as ernor in January. McCrory won the power to appoint epublican majority to the N.C. Board of Elections ch in turn appoints the county boards. With this new law. we have every political precinct n a week before election, which has equal access, and exact number of hours of open precincts will be avail- ; now as they were in the last presidential election." Crory said during an interview on WUNC. n a contentious meeting Aug. 12. the new GOP major- on the Watauga elections board voted over the objec- i of the board's lone Democrat to eliminate early vot- at the Appalachian State student union. he Watauga board also voted 2-1 Aug. 12 to combine three Boone voting precincts into one. eliminating election day polling site on campus. More than 9.300 ane residents will now be slated to cast ballots at a inty building that only has about 35 parking spots. ’Why are they making it harder for students to vote?" 1 Sen. Josh Stein (D-Wake). who has been a vocal Continued On Page 7) DURHAM NATIVE STARS IN PEPSI’S BEYONCE “DANCE - Cap tion: During “The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” in New York, winners of Pepsi’s Dance for Chance Contest came together in New York with Be yonce’s head choreographer, Chris Grant, to create a Super Fan Video to Beyonce’s “Grown Woman.” Beginning July 4, fans who sub mitted a 10 second dance video clip themed after Pepsi’s latest TV com mercial featuring Beyonce’ were not only eligible to win the chance to ap pear in a unique “super fan” music video, but also won the chance to fly out to NYC as VIP guests during Be yonce’s August 4 “The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” performance at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Winners met Beyonce’ backstage after her August 4 show. Beyonce is show here with Anthony Nelson Jr. of Durham. , Forsyth elections chair to move on student voting at WSSU WINSTON-SALEM (AP) - The newly appointed Republican head of the Forsyth County Board of Elections says he plans to eliminate an early voting site at Winston- Salem State University. The Winston-Salem Journal reported that elections chairman Ken Raymond will Amove at a meeting Aug. 20 to shut down the voting site at the historically black college. ^Raymond said he is taking action after hearing talk that a professor had offered stu- dents extra credit for going to the polls, which he said was violation of a law barring someone from providing anything of value in exchange for votes. Raymond offered no proof such irregularities had occurred. Forsyth iisthe latest county making it harder for students to cast a ballot, a trend vot ing rights advocates worry could signal a statewide effort by OOP-controlled elections boards to discourage turnout among young voters considered more likely to support Democrats. \ The Republican majority on the Watauga County Board of Elections voted last week to eliminate an early voting site and election-day polling precinct on the campus of Ap- Judges next to examine broad NC voting changes By Gary D. Robertson (AP) - Judges will now decide whether an elec tions overhaul in North Carolina requiring photo identification to vote and scaling back early voting is discriminatory or permitted under the law. Several groups and vot ers filed two lawsuits in federal court challenging the law soon after Gov Pat McCrory signed th* bill Augh. 12. Some of the same groups also planted to sue in state court soon Lawyers challenging ”c law said a a news chU.;- ence Aug. 13 they lw^ 1 strong case and the fotai » of changes will be ho»» i- dous for black voter* Re publicans who passed he bill disagree and sax provi sions are similar to those in other states. Duke University law professor Guy Charles says the plaintiffs face an uphill battle to prevail but some provisions could be hard for legislators to justify. Register To ' palachian State University.\ Republicans on the Pasquotank County Board of Elections also voted last week to bar an Elizabeth City State University senior from running for city council, ruling his on- • campus address couldn't be used tb establish local residency. Following the decision, the head of the county's Republican Early said he plans to challenge the voter registra tions of more students at the historically black university ahead of upcoming elections. (Continued On Page 7) ( \ Vote King’s unfinished symphony of freedom ■ By Jesse Jackson fhis weekend, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for is and Freedom, best known for Dr. Martin Luther King's "Dream.” Fifty years later, the dream challenges us yet. It is alive because it is not static. The :am of equal rights and equal opportunity, of being judged for character, not color, s transformed this nation. Much progress has been forged; much remains to be done. One way to think about the Civil Rights Movement apd Dr. King's Dream is as a nphony of freedom. The first movement was the movement fo end slavery, which juired the bloodiest war in American history. Then came the drive to end segrega- n. the disfiguring legal apartheid of the South. In that victory, the movement freed t only African-Americans but also the South to grow, and opened access to libraries d hotels, trains and restaurants, pools and parks. Rosa Parks could sit wherever she inted to on that bus. . The third movement was the movement for empowerment, for the right to vote. That wement culminated in the Voting Rights Act. challenging the various taxes and tests d intimidation Used to deprive African-Americans of the power of the ballot box. lis year. the five conservatives on the Supreme Court weakened the act. Conservative •vernors are pushing to constrict rather than expand the vote. We still have no consti- tional right to vote. Surely, that is the next step toward the dream. The fourth movement of the freedom symphony features the trumpet call for equal iportunity. and the clash pver extreme and growing inequality. Here. Lyndon John- n's promise to fulfill the movement's pledge that"we shall overcome” has been (rus tled. African-Americans continue to suffer (vvice the unemployment as whites. Pooi- people ofcolorloften isolated in ghettos and barrios, have less access to healthful food, good schools, public parks and safe streets. Inequality is the new de facto segregation, with the affluent) withdrawing to gated communities and private schools, and the poor huddled in impoverished neighborhoods. Dr. King knew this final movement was the most difficult. He saw Johnson's war o poverty being I Ast in the costly folly of Vietnam. He worried that we might be "integral ing into a burning house." He was murdered while standing with sanitation workers or ganizing for dignity and a decent wage. When he died, he was organizing a new marcl on Washington 1 a Poor People's Campaign that would bring the impoverished of al races and regions to a Resurrection City in Washington. D.C.. to demand a renewal o the war on poverty. The fourth movement - the movement for real equality of opportunity - remains un finished. Its agenda speaks to poor and working people of all races: full employment.; living wage, child nutrition, a good public education from pre-K to affordable college high-quality health care, affordable housing in vibrant communities, workers empow ered to share in the profits and productivity they help to produce. We have gained freedom without equality. Globalized capital and communication have been used to push workers down rather than lift them up. We continue to squande scarce resources policing the globe. Inequality has grown worse, and the middle clas is sinking. \ ' The symphonv df freedom is unfinished, but its powerful themes still resound an; stir its listeners. Dr!, King called on each of us t^ march for justice. H;- understood th pow er of people of conscience w hen they decide'to act. As we remember his dream, v are called to action.Tor there is more work to be done.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Aug. 24, 2013, edition 1
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