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NEWS/ICtt Cliirlattc $a(t
Tuesday, January 12, 2006
CIAA praues prontame to City and league
Continued from page 1A
proving to be a win-win for
Charlotte and the league.
For the dty, Newman said
hotel sales are starting to
spill over into other counties.
“This is a success for the
region already,” he said.
During a press conference
Wednesday morning. Mayor
Pat McCrory
said bringing
the CIAA to
Charlotte
means great
basketball and
a chance to fill
up hotels and
restaurants.
“This is now
a cultural event,” said Kerry,
referring to several events
that will be going on during
the tournament such as the
Dead Sea Scrolls event at
Discovery Place.
“This is a giant step up,” he
added.
The tournament will gen
erate $2 million in scholar
ship money for the 12 mem
ber schools’ general scholar
ship fimd, a first in league
history, according to Kerry
“WiU this be the best CIAA
tournament? Absolutely,” he
McCrory
said. “People are coming
finm far and wide because
this is the event to be at
Charlotte really got it”
The CIAA should draw
over 110,000 fans to
Charlotte and is expected to
have an economic impact of
over $12 million
Kerry said the league has
signed three-year deals with
UPN, ESPN and CBS
Radio. In the past, he said
the league had only been
able to secure a one-year
deal.
Bank of America has also
signed on as a three-year
sponsor, said Kerry
‘ESPN is going to air more
of the games,” he said.
Last year, ESPN Classic
aired the games, but this
year the tournament will be
featured on ESPN2 and
ESPN Classic.
“One thing that we’ve done
this year that we haven’t
done in previous years is
open up some of our private
parties to the public,” Kerry
said. “You can buy tickets to
some of the events and the
major event will be the
Apollo sponsored by Coca-
Cola.”
Tepid support for law
Continued from page 1A
Americans the right to vote, stipulating that the “right of citi
zens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.”
As put forth in the Introduction to Federal Voting Ri^ts
Laws by the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division,
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act forbad states fix)m denying or
preventing blacks fix)m voting throu^ the discriminatory
usage of lit®*acy tests, or other ploys such as poll taxes, on a
national basis. Section 5 of the Act “contained special ehforce-
ment provisions targeted at those areas of the country where
Congress believed the potential for discrimination to be the
greatest.”
Section 5 applies to all or parts of the following states:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana Michigan Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York
North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota Tbxas and
Vrginia. Althou^ the voting rights set forth by the Fifteenth
Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act are perma
nent, Congress must reauthorize Section 5 by the end of 2007.
As reaffirmed by the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Ri^ts
Division (Voting Section), the above-mentioned states under
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act are prohibited fix)m enacting
any changes to their voting laws unless these proposed changes
are first submitted to the Justice Department or a federal court
for review to ensure that they would not serve a “discriminato
ry purpose” or have a retrogressive, “discriminatory effect” on
minority voters.
In turn, the U.S. Justice Department could enjoin the state
fixDm carrying out the proposed voting rule change if it finds it
to be discriminatory, or, issue a “pre-clearance” notice essen
tially giving its blessing’ to the particular voting rule change,
finding it to be in compliance with the provisions and intent of
the Voting Ri^ts Act.
For years, a team of civil ri^ts lawyers as well as other ana
lysts on staff* would meticulously examine whether newly pro
posed state voting laws would abridge the voting ri^ts of
minorities. Their recommendations, which held considerable
sway, were then forwarded on to senior Justice Department
officials. But not anymore it appears.
From secret memos uncovered by the Washington Post this
past year it was revealed that in two hi^y controversial vot
ing r^its cases involving voter ID cards in Georgia and redis
tricting in Tbxas, recommendations by care«* civil ri^ts
lawyers within the Justice Department were summarily
bypassed by political appointees of the Bush administration
and a “pre-clearance” to proceed was issued to Georgia and
Tbxas.
In the Georgia voter ID case, a 51-page memo drawn up by a
team of Justice Department attorneys and civil ri^ts analysts
in the Voting Ri^ts Section recommended rejecting Georgia’s
new voter idmtification law. Four out of the five team members
endorsed the memo saying that they arrived at their conclusion
based on the fact it was more than likely to discriminate
against black voters, ultimately diluting their overall vote
totals. The program mandated that voters produce one of six
state-sanctioned photo IDs as proof of identification before
being allowed to vote, whereas before voters were allowed to
provide any of 17 different forms of identification, including
Social Security cards and birth c«tificates.
Now, voters without a driver’s license, state ID or other photo
identification will be obliged to purchase a $20 picture ID card
that can only be obtained fix)m 59 out of the state’s total 159
motor vehicle department offices.
Proponents of the Georgia’s voter ID law say it will cut down
on voter fi*aud Opponents vehemently disagree. They assert
that voter fi:aud is not the issue, and instead this is a well-
orchestrated ploy by Bush administration appointees and the
GOP in conjunction with the Georgia State Legislature to sup
press the voting power of blacks and the poor who are more
likely to turn out in large numbers to vote Democratic.
Staff* attorneys working in the Civil Ri^ts Division also con>
fdained that administration appointee and hi^ier-ups at the
Justice Department were “blind-sided” by data ofifered by
Geoigia’s Motor Vehicle Department and other state agencies
to bolster their arguments favoring voter IDs were full of errors
and discrepancies.
BPC to hold elections
Tile Black Political Caucus
of Charlotte-Mecklenburg
will hold elections at its
monthly meeting Sunday
Officer ballots will be cast
at 6 p.m. at Memorial
Presbyterian Church, 2600
Beatties Ford Road
Herbert L. White
At that talent show, soul
legend Patti LaBeUe will be
the featured act.
Also Tte .! this year:
• The Fanfare at the
Charlotte Convention
Center. Kerry said the center
will be transformed into a
market place and a place
where fans without tickets
can watch the games. The
convention center will be
open to the public.
• Single game tickets are
available for the games on
Monday, Ttiesday and
Wednesday The tickets are
$10 and $15.
• The CIAAis seeking over
400 fans to act as uptown
ambassadors. Tb volunteer,
log on to www.ciaatouma-
mentorg or call (704) 335-
3211 or (704) 335-3216.
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