Received: from icpc11s.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp (icpc11s.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp [133.7.1.11]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id h1Q6moP13950 for <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>; Wed, 26 Feb 2003 01:48:51 -0500 (EST) Received: from icpc00.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp (icpc00.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp [133.7.6.10]) by icpc11s.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp (8.12.6/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h1Q6fod8012652 for <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>; Wed, 26 Feb 2003 15:41:50 +0900 (JST) Received: from edu00.f-edu.fukui-u.ac.jp (edu00.f-edu.fukui-u.ac.jp [133.7.28.100]) by icpc00.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h1Q6fnNq008813 for <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>; Wed, 26 Feb 2003 15:41:50 +0900 (JST) Received: from CJSLITT (cjsllit.f-edu.fukui-u.ac.jp [133.7.21.9]) by edu00.f-edu.fukui-u.ac.jp (8.12.2/8.12.2) with SMTP id h1Q6fnkX010628 for <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>; Wed, 26 Feb 2003 15:41:49 +0900 (JST) Message-ID: <00d901c2dd62$92d28980$09150785@fedu.fukuiu.ac.jp> Reply-To: "Charles Jannuzi" <jannuzi@edu00.f-edu.fukui-u.ac.jp> From: "Charles Jannuzi" <jannuzi@edu00.f-edu.fukui-u.ac.jp> To: <nifl-esl@nifl.gov> References: <000d01c2dc85$a2f63240$09150785@fedu.fukuiu.ac.jp> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8644] Florida election issues Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 15:44:55 +0900 Organization: Fukui University Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-2022-jp" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Status: O Content-Length: 3703 Lines: 81 I can't find the original inquiry right now, but here is what I know about this. Believe me, I won't rehearse the Bush vs. Gore debate since it is now moot anyway. We know this is clearly a part of US history (and other countries, too, I'm sure, though I majored in US history, so ....) : In order to control who got a chance to vote, all sorts of unconsitutional means were used to exclude people from voting. And we know that the biggest misuse of such measures was in communities that wanted to keep African Americans, other minorities, immigrants, and uneducated poor from voting. One such measure was tests of literacy. No state would claim that it now used literacy laws to 'qualify' people for voting. But it has been pointed out that the way voting is done could discourage people who can not read or can not read English, or who are wary of officials presenting them long written texts of instruction. HOWEVER, Florida, as I undeststand it, could be a special case because it was going to have 'voter responsibility' guidelines. The idea is that if you have the right to vote you also have the responsibility to be aware of who the candidates are and, in the case of referendums, what the issues are. Interestingly enough, these guidelines of voter responsibility were proposed as part of the voter reform AFTER the debacle of the 2000 election. This article has good objective reporting on the issue: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/2617129.htm This is an excerpt of the key concerns, which should be a major topic for you if you cover literacy for citizen and voting rights: >>Though the machines are in the purchasing stages, still unresolved are three issues the U.S. Department of Justice has refused to approve: a requirement that a list of voter responsibilities be posted in all polling places, a process for purging felons from voter rolls on a statewide voter list, and a new provisional ballot system. The voting-rights project has challenged the same provisions, charging that they could discourage minorities and non-English-speaking citizens from voting. Leahy, who chairs the elections supervisors' committee on the statewide voters list, said his group is still not satisfied with using a list created by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement but never intended for use as a check for elections supervisors. ``We're making progress, but not to the point where I'm comfortable,'' Leahy said. The supervisors want a list that confirms that people are felons before a letter goes out informing them they can't vote, he said. NONFELONS UNHAPPY ``How would you feel if you got a letter telling you you're a felon and you have to prove you're not?'' Leahy said. ``Some people who had never been convicted didn't take too kindly to the process, and the supervisors didn't like being put in that role. We like keeping our voter rolls clean, but not at the expense of how it worked before.'' Strickland said the new election laws' ``worst'' provision is a 10-point voter responsibility list that, among other things, tells voters they should ``study and know candidates and issues.'' ``We think it will only have a chilling effect,'' Strickland said of the list, which the law requires be posted. ``It's a throwback to the literacy test of the Jim Crow era, and it's completely inappropriate to have it posted at a polling place.''<< Clearly voting reform is something that needs to be added to advocacy lists if it is not there because low voter turnouts and disenfranchisement of the working poor are not a cornerstone of functional democracy, as current events show. Charles Jannuzi US citizen abroad who has no right to vote Fukui, Japan
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