Women’s Division supports election monitoring  Oct. 20, 2004
By Linda Bloom* STAMFORD,
Conn. (UMNS) - To help counteract possible voter disenfranchisement,
the Women’s Division of the United Methodist missions agency is
supporting voter-monitoring projects this election season. The
division, a unit of the Board of Global Ministries, has been working
with "Count Every Vote 2004," a nonpartisan project that has sponsored
training for monitoring in some 10 states, according to Elmira Nazombe,
the division’s staff executive for racial justice. This model of human
rights monitoring "is a good thing that people can do at the local
level," she explained. A
division grant to the Women of Color Resource Center in Oakland,
Calif., will help local women participate in regional and state election
monitoring. On
Oct. 16, during their annual meeting, division directors observed a
"national day of action to get out the vote" and held signs in a silent
noontime vigil in front of the downtown Stamford Marriott. According
to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, black voters in Florida were
nearly 10 times more likely than non-black voters to have their ballots
rejected during the 2000 presidential election. Puerto Ricans and other
Latino voters in Florida also were disproportionately excluded. In
states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, "the reality of things
like voter intimidation is something that never stopped," Nazombe said.
"This isn’t from 2000, this is from 1964." Native
Americans also have complained about voting obstacles. For Chinese or
Korean voters, translation problems remain an issue, despite amendments
to the Voting Rights Act that provided for translation needs. While
not every instance of voter disenfranchisement is intentional, Nazombe
pointed out, "there are so many places where the system can make a
mistake." The division wants members of United Methodist Women to: - Learn about the Help America Vote Act and its rules.
- Be trained as election monitors and work with groups involved in election monitoring.
- Report their experiences with monitoring after the Nov. 2 election.
Information about election monitoring can be found at www.commoncause.org and www.votewatch.us
online. On Election Day, anyone with concerns about procedures at a
particular polling place can contact the Election Protection hotline,
toll free, at (800) 687-9683. *Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org
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