Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 18, 2016, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
WSSU denied early voting site BY TODD LUCK THE CHRONICLE Winston-Salem State University will once again not have an early voting site after the North Carolina Board of Elections upheld the Forsyth BOE primary early voting plan on Wednesday, Feb. 10. The Forsyth BOE voted 2-1 in December to approve a plan with 11 sites. Fleming El-Amin, the sole Democrat on the board, was the "no" vote, because he wanted Sunday voting and one additional site at WSSU, which had an early voting site before the 2014 election. When Ken Raymond became chair of the current board in 2013, he Said he wouldn't allow a site at the university because he claimed there was an elec tion law violation there in 2010 involving a professor giving credit to students for voting. El-Amin submitted his plan to the state BOE for consideration because he said it was unfair to hold a five year-old incident against the students. "All these accusations against Winston-Salem State University are based on innuendos, there's no factual basis behind them and because of that, I'm here to defend this site as an early voting site," El Amin told the state board, during their teleconference meeting last week. The Forsyth BOE in 2010 looked into claims made by Raymond, who was then a pole observer. Raymond was never able to find the professor who supposedly gave the credit. The local board at the time found no violation had occurred since there was no accusation of anything being given to the students to vote for a specific party or candidate. However, the five member N.C. BOE gave little, if any weight, to the accusation. Forsyth BOE member Stuart Russell, who argued for the majori ty early plan, said that the alleged incident was only a factor in Raymond's oppo sition to the site and not the other board members. He told the State BOE that an early voting plan not including WSSU passed unanimously in 2014 and that the WSSU site didn't come up for this year's pri mary before the meeting when the board voted on the plan. El-Amin said he had tried to reach consensus with the other board mem bers in 2014. He was trying to do the same this year before he heard concerns from constituents, includ ing a 500-signature petition from WSSU students and another 500-signature peti tion from Democracy NC, asking for a site at the uni versity. "I think it's somewhat pretentious of us to think we should not respond to the concerns of the broader community, no matter when those concerns are brought to us," he told the state BOE. WSSU Student Government President Kyle Brown told the state board both in a letter and over the phone during the meeting, that freshmen aren't allowed to park on campus. He said it's a more than 30-minute walk to get to the closest early voting site at the downtown BOE office. He said freshmen without transportation were disenfranchised when the on-campus voting site was taken away and he gave nearly 100 students a ride to the poles himself in, 2014. "It was discouraging that a site was taken away when just a year ago I was able to walk down the street and vote at the Anderson Center on my campus," Brown told the board. The state BOE voted 3 2 along party lines to uphold the existing early voting plan without WSSU. The Republican board members cited the unanimous approval of the 2014 early voting plan without the university in it and the university being on spring break during most of the early voting period in their decision, though El Amin argued the site is also used by the surrounding area. WSSU being the only college in the city that had an early voting site was also discussed. One fact that didn't come up was that WSSU freshmen not having access to their own vehicles is unique among the city's large colleges with student residents. Salem College and UNCSA both allow freshmen to park on cam pus. Wake Forest University has an off-cam pus freshmen lot that stu dents are shuttled to and from. Both El-Amin and Brown said they were dis appointed with the state board's decision. El-Amin said he plans to propose the site again for the general election, a move Brown said he fully supports. City Council members endorse Clinton ms BY TODD LUCK THE CHRONICLE With a month to go until the North Carolina primary, half of the Winston-Salem City Council announced their endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president at the Forsyth County Democratic Party head quarters on Tuesday, Feb. 16. City Council Members Denise "DD" Adams, Dan Besse, Molly Leight and Vivian Burke, who couldn't make it to the event, have all endorsed Clinton, who is a former first lady, senator and sec retary of state. All four sup ported then-Senator Barack Obama over then-Senator Clinton in 2008, and now say that she is clearly the best person to build on Obama's accomplishments as president. "Hillary is the one can didate who truly under stands the necessity of building our 21st century infrastructure and has the experience and tempera ment to make it happen," said Besse, who lauded her plan to invest in infrastruc ture and create jobs. Adams said Clinton is a longtime supporter of vot ing rights and praised her plans for automatic regis tration for eligible 18 year olds, restoring the Voting Rights Act and mandating a minimum of 20 days of early voting. "I'm enthusiastic about Hillary's plan to combat Republican efforts to stifle our voices and your vote," she said. Leight highlighted Clinton's stands on women's issues like equal pay and paid leave. "Hillary Clinton has worked her entire career for women and girls," she said. Each city council mem ber said that they had a dif ficult choice between two qualified candidates in 2008 when they chose Obama over Clinton. Besse, who was running for lieutenant governor at the time, said it was Clinton's judgement when voting to authorize military force in Iraq in 2002, which led to the Iraq War, which led him to support Obama, who opposed the war. Besse now says he believes she's learned from that vote and that Obama tapping her as his first secretary of state speaks well of her judge ment. "Like any extremely capable and brilliant indi-* victual, Hillary Clinton learns from her errors and she grows and doesn't make the same mistakes twice," he said. ????? puwiyju Dan Besse speaks while Molly Leight (left) and Denise "DD" Adams look on as they endorse Hillary Clinton. Besse said he felt that Clinton was a candidate who was capable on all the issues. He said he felt her primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who did vote against authorizing force in Iraq, is "mono focused" against Wall Street and big banks in his campaign, while Clinton will deal with the many dif ferent causes of inequality. Endorsements for both Sanders and Clinton have picked up recently with the Nevada Democratic caucus on Saturday, South Carolina primary on Feb. 27, and Super Tuesday on March 1, when 12 states hold their primaries or cau cuses. The Congressional Black Caucus endorsed Clinton last week. Sanders, civil rights advocate and self-described democratic socialist, was recently endorsed by civil rights icon and entertainer Harry Belafonte; Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, who died while being arrested by New York police; and former NAACP President Ben Jealous. Sanders, who is trailing by double digits in state polls, is coining off a win in New Hampshire and a close second in Iowa. In January, Sanders' cam paign raised $20 million, compared to Clinton's $15 million. That's not count ing Super PACs, independ ent groups that campaign for candidates. Priorities USA Action, one of two pro-Clinton Super PACs, had $45 million in January. Sanders, who has denounced Super PACs because of the influence he says they give special inter ests over politicians, doesn't have any affiliated Super PACs. Supporters of Sanders opened a Winston-Salem office for his campaign in January and the Clinton campaign recently opened an office in Raleigh and opened one in Greensboro today (Feb. 18). The North Carolina pri mary will be held on March 15 and early voting will run from March 3-12. Photo by Tevin Stinson Kim Payne kisses her daughter during the blood drive held at Winston-Salem State University on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Payne said her daughter is a one of the strongest people she has ever met. Student from page A1 In less than three months the "Sierra Transplant Fund," has accumulated $2,000, but the support didn't stop there; the WSSU family decided they wanted to get involved as well. On Tuesday, Feb. 16 with the help of the Winston-Salem American Red Cross, the university sponsored a blood drive to support Payne. Dozens of students made their way to the Cleon F. Thompson Jr. Student Services Center to donate blood and show their support for their fel low Ram. Payne said she was surprised by the num ber of people who have supported her. "Once I seen the sup port I was getting, it kinda took a burden off of me," noted Payne. "I really do appreciate it all. It's amaz ing how many people have been willing to help and give me words of encour agement." Sierra's mother Kim Payne has seen her daugh ter overcome many obsta cles and said she is a true inspiration to her. She said she was devastated by what doctors told her. "I have seen what Sierra has gone through over the years," she said. "But she has taken it all in stride and not complained once." "She is definitely one of the strongest people I know, and a real inspira tion." Although the support has been great for Sierra many who suffer from dia betes aren't as lucky, espe cially within the African American community. According to the American Diabetes Association, blacks are nearly two times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than are whites, and are significant ly more likely to suffer from blindness, kidney dis ease and amputations as a result. Payne said although she wants people to support her, she also wants African Americans to become more aware. Payne still needs $2,000 to fund the double transplant procedure. To support the Sierra Kidney Transplant Fund visit www.gofundme .com/sier ras miles. Have an Opinion? Let us Know letters@wschronicle?om The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price is $30.72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636 ?
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 18, 2016, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75