The CBC "Message to America" is distributed nationwide to the American Urban Radio Network’s (AURN) affiliate stations.

 

WHO:        U.S. Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA)

WHEN:      Saturday, May13, 2006; 12:06 p.m. EST

WHERE:   American Urban Radio Network Affiliate Stations

"This is Congressman William Jefferson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, representing the 2^{nd District of Louisiana.  This week’s Congressional Black Caucus message focuses on maintaining the right to vote.} 

"This year, you may have heard much about maintaining voting rights in New Orleans, the city I represent.  As we approach a runoff election to elect our mayor, city council members and others, thousands of our voters are still displaced across the country. They are either trying to come back home or rebuild their lives in other places.

"For the first time in over 40 years, since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed, we may see the mass disenfranchisement of thousands of voters, many of them African-American.

"In the 2002 New Orleans mayoral election, the overall turnout was 45 percent, with 47 percent of Whites voting and 42 percent of Blacks voting.  In this year’s primary election, the turnout was only 36 percent and while over 40 percent of Whites voted, less than 30 percent of Blacks turned out to the polls for what many have called the most important election in our city’s history.

"As a result of the low turnout, our election did not reflect a fair representation of the will of the electorate.  Instead, the election was determined by those who had the means and access to be counted on that day. 

"This year, Congress is slated to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years.  The irony is that while we are voting to reauthorize a bill that crystallized the right to vote for so many, there are thousands who are being squeezed out of their right to vote by circumstances beyond their control. 

"This year, as we seek to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, our government has failed to set up satellite voting centers in other cities to assist Americans who were driven from their homes by a natural disaster.  Yet, we set up international polling stations in America to allow people to vote in elections for other countries.  We must do better America.

"You can help.  Encourage your friends, relatives and others to exercise their right to vote this year.  Encourage better turnout and participation across the country.  Help educate those who are displaced on ways they can vote.  If you are displaced and would like to vote in New Orleans, contact the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office for information on how to do so.  Unless we do better to make our voices heard, our nation’s elections will continue to be flawed, a misrepresentation of the electorate and our needs.

"On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I am Congressman William Jefferson and this has been the CBC "Message to America."  Thank you."