Civil Rights, Human Rights and Labor Organizations Warn True the Vote: Do Not Harass and Intimidate Voters
 
PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- The following is being released by Velasquez & Associates on behalf of the undersigned organizations:

An alliance of 21 civil rights, human rights and labor organizations, including the NAACP, the Hispanic Federation and the AFL-CIO, today urged True the Vote and its affiliates to halt immediately its national campaign to assert challenges to the eligibility of voters.

True the Vote, a Texas-based organization, has announced plans to place a million poll watchers around the country, reportedly targeting minority groups and other demographic groups traditionally under-represented in our democracy. The 21 organizations wrote True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht to urge her to dismantle the program, which they called "a sad revival of racially targeted voter suppression that America left behind decades ago."

In the letter, the 21 organizations warned that state and federal laws prohibit harassment and intimidation of voters and cited examples of potentially illegal harassment and intimidation that have already occurred. The organizations pledged to monitor polls "to ensure that no one interferes with the right of each voter to cast his or her ballot in a safe and orderly atmosphere, free from intimidation and fear."

"We will not go back," the organizations wrote. "Generations of Americans have fought and died to secure the right to vote, and costly battles have been waged in the streets, in the courts, and in our legislatures to protect Americans from intimidation and harassment at the polls."

Representatives of the following organizations signed the letter: A. Philip Randolph Institute, Alliance for Retired Americans, AFL-CIO, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Black Leadership Forum, Communication Workers of America, Hispanic Federation, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, League of United Latin American Citizens, League of Rural Voters, MANA A National Latina Organization, NAACP, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, National Congress of Black Women, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, National Puerto Rican Coalition, Rock the Vote, Rural Coalition, Service Employees International Union, The Hispanic Institute and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

For a copy of the letter, email nick@allyconnections.com.

Contact: Nick Lanyi, 202-812-6679

SOURCE  Velasquez & Associates