Notwithstanding emancipation, the abolishment of slavery and the passage of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, the voting rights of African Americans continued to be systematically denied and suppressed. The passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, more than a hundred years later, brought some relief, but organized formal and informal efforts to limit the voting rights of African Americans have persisted, especially in regions, states and particular municipalities that can determine the outcome of elections. With the help of diverse and politically motivated interest groups and associations, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), state legislatures have implemented draconian measures to interfere with the most fundamental constitutional right of all Americans, but especially African Americans.

 

The Howard University Graduate Political Science Association (HUGPSA) in the 2016 presidential election seeks to promote the voting rights and participation of all Americans, especially African Americans, whose voting rights have been compromised historically. The primary objective is to monitor voter access to polling sites. We also aim to examine and expose systemic barriers to voting at the state and local level of government using a grassroots approach. This project takes on added significance in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision, which limited the application of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

 

The Voter Protection Project includes several interrelated activities (registration, absentee ballots, verification, and early-voting) that are essential to the exercise of voting; the most basic expression of citizenship. HUGPSA will partner with undergraduate and graduate student organizations at other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and community organizations in a 2016 presidential general election Voter Protection Project. The project is structured around the following two main components:

 

1.   Preparation for voting, including polling site arrangements and voter information; and

2.    Collection of data and information on voter access and/or suppression.

 

Participants’ on-site experiences will focus monitoring in states, within a geographically accessible range, where questionable or suspect variations in voting procedures may occur. For this purpose, eight key states have been identified. They are: Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These states, like many others, have documented cases involving voter registration, access and participation limitations based on race, especially in areas with large African American populations.

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For more information, or to find out how you can get involved, contact Gabrielle Gray, HUGPSA President, 

 

Decota Letman for Communications & PR,          and Naya Young for Project Logistics.