Aux Etats-Unis, le droit de vote des Noirs reste un problème d'actualité...

Pierre-Yves Lambert, in Suffrage Universel Magazine n°(21/01/01)

Aux Etats-Unis, le Ministère de la Justice (administration Clinton) a décidé il y a quelques jours de poursuivre le Comté de Charleston (Caroline du Sud) parce qu'il estime que le mode de scrutin y est défavorable aux Noirs. Ce comté a un système électoral de "at-large voting", c'est-à-dire que les candidats pour l'ensemble des neuf sièges y sont élus au niveau du comté, alors que la règle pour la plupart des élections américaines est celle de la circonscription uninominale à scrutin majoritaire. D'après le Ministère, ce système, combiné à un vote "racialement polarisé", diluerait le vote noir et violerait par conséquent le Voting Rights Act de 1965, l'élément-clé de la législation américaine donnant aux Noirs le même droit de vote qu'aux Blancs.

Rappelons à cette occasion que les discriminations électorales envers les Noirs ont resurgi dans l'actualité politique à l'occasion de l'élection présidentielle en Floride, où il est apparu que de nombreux électeurs noirs ont été privés du droit de vote par diverses méthodes, y compris l'intimidation brutale de la part de la police dans certains bureaux de vote. Un de ces méthodes est la privation du droit de vote suite à une condamnation judiciaire, qui a été très largement étendue par l'administration républicaine en Floride puisque des personnes ayant été condamnées pour des infractions au code de la route ont été éliminées des listes d'électeurs. Chaque Etat est libre d'adopter des règlementations différentes sur ce point.

Dans une tribune libre publiée par le New York Times quelques jours avant la fin de son mandat, le Président Clinton a lancé un appel pour une réforme électorale:

"(...) The struggle for equal justice in America also includes the struggle for voting rights. In the presidential election of 2000, too many people felt the votes they cast were not counted, and some felt there were organized efforts to keep them from the polls.
We must do more to ensure that more people vote and that every vote is counted. To that end, I urge the new administration to appoint a nonpartisan presidential commission on electoral reform, headed by distinguished citizens like former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Such a commission should gather facts and determine the causes - in every state - of voting disparities, including those involving race, class and ethnicity. It should make recommendations to Congress about how to achieve fair, inclusive and uniform standards for voting and vote counting. It should also work to prevent voter suppression and intimidation and to increase voter participation.
Here are two places to start: We should make Election Day a national holiday. And it is long past time to give back the right to vote to ex-offenders who have paid their debts to society." William Jefferson Clinton (42nd president), "Erasing America's Color Lines", New York Times, January 14, 2001
 

liens utiles:

dossier spécial du New York Times, "How race is lived in America", en particulier Timothy Egan, " When to Campaign With Color", June 20, 2000 (An Asian-American Told His Story to Whites and Won. For Black Politicians, It's a Riskier Strategy. )

ABCNEWS.com : Black Voters Allege Irregularities in Florida
- This presidential election was the first in which Chonchitia Mitchell was eligible to vote.
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailynews/election_blackvoters001129.html

ABCNEWS.com : Jesse Jackson Calls for Vote Investigation
- The Rev. Jesse Jackson urged the federal Department of Justice today to investigate alleged voting irregularities in Florida, telling a crowd of riled-up Democrats ...
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailynews/ election_race001129.html

ABCNEWS.com : Justice Dept. Checking Vote Bias Claims
- Justice Department representatives arrived in Florida today to look into allegations that some blacks there were deprived of their right to vote in the ...
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailynews/ election_blackvote001203.html

ABCNEWS.com : Federal Probe of Florida Vote Due Friday
- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is taking up the question of whether black voters in Florida were denied their right to vote because of intimidation, discrimination, ...
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/ election_race001207.html

ABCNEWS.com : Federal Probe of Florida Vote Due Today
- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is taking up the question of whether black voters in Florida were denied their right to vote because of intimidation, discrimination, ...
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/_election_race001208.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/election_race001208.html

ABCNEWS.com : Groups Call Interior Pick 'Racially Insensitive'
- Interior Secretary-designate Gale Norton is facing a new controversy today over past remarks on slavery, as Democratic-leaning special interest groups wage a second ...
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/Cabinet010111.html

ABCNEWS.com : Gore Addresses NAACP Convention
- Vice President Al Gore delivered a spirited, preacher-like speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People today, accusing his Republican rival, Texas. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/ Gore_NAACP000712.html

http://www.sacobserver.com/government/commentary/103104/minority_vote_suppression.shtml

Posted: 10.31.04 @ 11:50 p.m.
Minority Vote Suppression Continues

Election Protection Coalition Formed To Stop Disenfranchisement

 By Marian Wright Edelman | SACOBSERVER.COM WIRE SERVICES

(NNPA) - After Reconstruction, when freed slaves voted and held office, South Carolina Senator "Pitchfork" Bill Tillman explained how African Americans lost the franchise: "We have done our level best. We have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate every last one of them. We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it."

The bloody days following Reconstruction now are gone, as are the poll taxes and literacy tests of the Jim Crow period. But other blatant and cynical tactics are being used to suppress minority vote in this critical and highly contested presidential election.

A recent report by the NAACP and the People for the American Way Foundation includes examples of the ways African Americans and other minorities are being intimidated by government officials, purged from the voter rolls and prevented from registering or voting by meaningless or illegal technicalities.

The reason for such shameless tactics was made clear by John Pappageorge, a Republican legislator from Michigan, who told the Detroit Free Press: "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election cycle." Detroit's population is more than 80 percent Black.

State laws that strip convicted felons of the franchise deserve special mention. A study by Christopher Uggen of the University of Minnesota and Jeff Manza of Northwestern University shows that these laws affect 5 million people, many Black and Latino, who have officially lost the right to vote, as well as hundreds of thousands of eligible voters locked up in jails on Election Day while awaiting processing for minor offenses. An even larger number of eligible voters may stay away from the polls because they mistakenly believe they have permanently lost the right to vote.

A serious threat now involves petty rules for new registrations. In Ohio, the secretary of state insisted until recently that registration forms printed on paper of less than 80-pound stock had to be rejected. Florida's secretary of state said that thousands of registration forms on which the citizenship box was not checked off are invalid, despite the fact that the applicants had sworn that they are citizens elsewhere on the form.

Applications in other jurisdictions are rejected for minor deficiencies.

I am concerned that many who signed up to vote during this year's massive registration drives, particularly in minority neighborhoods, will be told on Election Day that they are not on the voting lists or do not have the required identification.

After the 2000 election fiasco, an Election Protection Coalition was formed that includes the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, People for the American Way Foundation, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the American Civil Liberties Union. It has set up a toll-free, bilingual hot-line - 1-866-OUR-VOTE - to identify and stop attempts to disenfranchise voters.

On Election Day, the coalition expects to have 25,000 volunteers, including 5,000 lawyers, available to assist voters who run into problems. The coalition urges people to call now if they have questions about voting laws or they are aware of efforts to discourage or prevent people from voting.

African Americans have sacrificed too much for the franchise and have too much at stake to allow scare tactics and illegal or anti-democratic technicalities to keep us from voting. This election will decide whether tax cuts for millionaires and corporations will eliminate even more funding for education and programs for children and families. It likely will determine the future makeup of the Supreme Court, which will affect social and environmental issues, workers' rights, reproductive rights and voting rights. The impact of both will continue well beyond the next four years.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children's Defense Fund. The group's mission is to Leave No Child Behind and ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. Visit www.childrensdefense.org.

 

Le droit de vote aux Etats-Unis