We've all heard the horror stories of voting irregularities in past elections — hours waiting in lines, dead people casting votes and thousands of votes ignored.
But during this election, one organization is stepping up to do what it can to put a stop to these atrocities.
On Nov. 7, Michigan and nine other states' voting booths will be monitored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP. The organization is monitoring polling locations to ensure citizen complaints are heard, observers are sent to correct polling places and the U.S. Justice Department is informed if any serious problems occur.
The 10 specific states — which include Ohio and Florida, where irregularities were rampant during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, respectively — were chosen because of high concentrations of black voters, pivotal elections or a history of polling problems. The other seven states are Michigan, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas.
With hundreds of reported incidents in Detroit in the past — such as voting intimidation, illegal election practices and harassment. People's right to vote was challenged with questions about their identification, criminal record or even if they had paid child support. It's important to have a nongovernmental organization involved with fixing the problem.
In a Detroit News article, the Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, said his branch has been monitoring elections for "the last several years" in Detroit. "Certainly, we in Detroit will be out. This is a very important election. People want to use it by any means necessary to suppress a result that may be against their interest, so yes, we support (the monitoring effort) very strongly," he said.
It's good that monitoring is filtering into other states like Maryland, which had multiple voting problems this year during its primary election, such as a lack of poll judges and difficulties with electronic poll books.
Knowing your vote matters can promote participation, which is why the results of an Associated Press-Pew poll released last week are disheartening. The poll found only 30 percent of black voters were confident their votes would be counted.
This number alone shows that many voting systems need to be reorganized — an issue that should be addressed nationwide. One way to start is by being aware of the voting irregularities and reporting any problems you see when you're voting.
Voting shouldn't be a challenge; it should be easy and convenient for people to give their input on how their country is run. The NAACP is doing its part to help guarantee a smoother voting process, but this is only a start.
