Exploiting Race - Interfering in City Elections

Gary Bauer, Americans for Working Families: Today’s Washington Times has a shocking report that provides some additional perspective on the New Black Panther controversy. According to the Times, the Obama Justice Department has invalidated the results of a local election in Kinston, North Carolina, because “equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party.”

Like virtually all North Carolina communities, Kinston decided to do away with partisan local elections, and the vote wasn’t close. Blacks make up 63% of registered voters in Kinston, and the measure to do away with partisan elections “won a majority in seven of the city’s nine black-majority voting precincts.” According to the Times, “no one among more than a half-dozen city officials and local residents was able to recall a Republican winning office here.” But, the Obama Justice Department decided that white Democrats are racists and won’t vote for a black candidate – unless that candidate is identified on the ballot as a Democrat.

Loretta King, the Justice Department official who overruled the voters of Kinston, North Carolina, also made the decision to drop the case against the New Black Panthers (one of whom is an official Democrat poll watcher). The men were accused of intimidating white voters at a Philadelphia polling location last November.

This administration was supposedly going to transcend race. But these are the types of policies that divide Americans by the color of our skin and hurt race relations. The main hope millions of Americans had, that Barack Obama would help heal our racial divide, has turned to dust.

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Hans A. von Spakovsky at the The Heritage Foundation who wrote about this in September in National Review commented: [T]he Times story today is a must-read for newly-discovered details. Particularly relevant is the admission by a black member of the city council that “nothing is stopping black voters in Kinston from going to the polls” other than apathy. In other words, there are absolutely no barriers of any kind preventing blacks from voting, which is what the Voting Rights Act is intended to achieve. Even the head of the local NAACP expresses skepticism about DOJ’s involvement. The DOJ is improperly using the Voting Rights Act to guarantee that Democratic candidates win elections, rather than using it as intended to ensure that minority voters have the same opportunity as other voters to get to the polls and elect their candidate of choice.

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Bobby Eberle, GOPUSA responds: Well, now I think I've seen it all. Obama's Justice Department has ruled against the actions of the town of Kinston, North Carolina. What did this town do that was so terrible? The residents voted overwhelmingly to eliminate partisan elections for mayor and city council members. The Justice Department stepped in and said, "Whoa! Wait just a second!" According to the Justice Department, blacks in Kinston must have the Democrat Party in order to elect their "candidate of choice." How insulting! Basically, what Obama's team is saying is that blacks will only vote for Democrats, and without the party label, blacks can't figure out for themselves which candidate will get their vote. This is not only a slap in the face of the voters, but it continues Obama's efforts to divide people along racial lines rather than bring them together. . . .

First of all, if a person is running for office, and that person is the "candidate of choice" for a voter or group of voters, it doesn't matter if that candidate has a party label attached or not. Shouldn't the electoral process by a process where voters actually pay attention to issues, do a little research, and then make an informed decision? What the Obama folks are saying is, "Forget all that! We just want them to vote for the Democrat." . . .

Keep in mind that according to the news story, this city votes Democrat overwhelmingly... both blacks and whites. Kinston "voted by a margin of nearly 2-to-1 to eliminate partisan elections in the city." . . . This is yet another example of Obama's advisors showing that they are not ready for their duty to represent the entire country. They are partisans, and they are ideological radicals.

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Suggested Reads: The Politics of (In)Justice - Obama's patronizing Civil Rights Division
Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party - U.S. blocks N.C. city's nonpartisan vote
Justice Dept: Blacks MUST Have Democrat Label to Know How to Vote

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Tags: Black Panthers, Department of Justice, Gary Bauer, North Carolina To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!