Opinion, Commentary, Editorials
OVEMBE 2S • DECEMBER 1, 1
on-vote
By 0 Da i
o that the dust ha
cleared from the November 6,
mid-term election, one
alient fact stands out. ost
of America's citizens did not
participate in the "democratic
proce ". Only 36� of tho e
persons of voting age cast bal-
10 in the ovember 6, elec­
tion.
While lecturing Eastern
Europe, Africa and other
Third World nations about the
virtues and vit lily of
democracy, the United State
h the lowest level of voter
participation of any we tern
democracy.
The United States recom­
mends mul ti-party democracy
to the world, but the fact is
tbat in the Uni ted S tes non­
voters are the single largest
"political party".
Sixty-five through seventy
million people in the United
States remain unregi tered
and therefore ineligible to
participate in the electoral
proce s. Two-third of the un­
registered are low income
persons.
WHILE
AFRICAN
:Th
ges.t po i ical party in
unregistered.
To illustrate the potential
impact of unregistered votes,
one need onl y examine the
hotly conte ted enate race in
North Carolina bet een arch­
conservative Je e Helm and
Harvey Gantt. Helms
defeated Gantt by 114,398
votes. However, there re ap­
proximately 400,000 African
Americans ho are un­
registered in North Carolina.
In other ord Gantt 10 t l>y.
the margin of unregi tered
Blac voters in Nortb
Carolina. Lo Black voter
registration and panictpation
contributed to Harvey Gantt's
defeat in North Carolina.
The principal reason why
the United State hal such
low voter participation is be­
cause the rule and regula­
tions which govern the
electoral proce di courage
p rticipation. And the elec­
toral proces is dominated by
money -.
Tbe "registration" laws in
the United States really con­
stitute significant barriers to
voter participation. Voting or
trying to vote is more difficult
in the United States than
Americans b ve a total voting anywhere else in the we tern
age population (V AP) .of world.
about 22 million, 8 million In mo wes tern
African Americans remain democracies you register
once and that's it. Or the
government, like in Canada,
as umes the responsibility for
king to make certain that
every citizen i registered.
Tbi i obviously not the case
in the United States.
IT IS SI G IFI CANT to
note that once people
manager to get registered a
bigh percentage of them ac­
tually vote. For example in
1988 about 87� of tho e who
ere regi tered actually
voted. In the November 6,
election 70� of the registered
voters nationwide did come
forward to c t their ballot .
The problem in the United
State i antiquated and un­
nece sary registration proce­
dures such as purges for non­
voting. And in many state
thereI also a lack of ready
acee sbility to registration
sites. Tbese factors tend to
discour ge regi tration and
participati on.
But registration laws and
procedure re not the only
reason hy the U.S. ha such
a 10 level of voter participa­
tion. The dominance of
money and a sy tern which
protects the "two party sy tern
also ac to di courage par­
ticipation in the electoral
proce . 96� of the incum-
bents who ran in the Novem-
'ber 6, ejection were
re-elected. This is primarily
because incumbent are able
to attact huge amounts of
money for their war ch ts far
in advance of the ejection
Wi th rare exception in­
cumbent were able to se
their war chests to overwh 1m
their opponents.
Finally, the lack of options
and choice in terms of c n­
didates and parties is a maior
factor which contribute 0 I w
voter participation. There i a
growing sentiment t at
nei t er of the two ma or
political parties offer he
electorate vision of what he
United States shouJd beco e
and real altenatives in te
of policy and progr
proposals.
i creasi ng frequency itt
the poJoi ticians a e
preocuupied with keepi g'
their "job". Its very easy for
the politicians to keep t ir
job when state and fede I
Jaw make it extremely d f­
ficult for independent ca -
didates and new politic 1
parties to qualify for bal ot
iatus. And even if y u
qualify there i the pcrenn al
problem of the control y
Rea·der.respon,ds to prison
G/tfi Insight
Into y , m:
Inju tlee
De Ed or,
m riting thi letter as a
pri oncr inca rccr ted under
the Michigan Department of
Corrections. I h ppened to
come eros a copy of the
Michig n Citizen dated Oc­
tober 21-27. 1 wa aur cted
to th article entitled
'Public Need Attitude
Cb ngc ' and 'Pri oner
Blocked by Union '.
Aftcr reading these are
ucte I felt obligated to
respond ith n in ide vie
in the hope that it maya ist
your t ff in some future re-
e rch.
Fir t of all let me say that
Mr. Robert Bro n being an
fric n-American and the
Director of the establishment
of the MDOe appea Imo t
totally over helmed and
helples .
I have ob erved the Direc­
tor i sue memorandum and
Policy Directive over and
ovcr g in th t are, in all ac·
tu�lity simply being ignored.
THERE SEE S TO be an
undercurrent of disrespect
and racist ttitude beneath
him from hi staff member
all the way to the lowest of­
ficer, to the point where hi
opinion and policie .are
being covertly di regarded.
There seem to be an r­
bitrary, blatant atmo phere of
di crimination reaking
throughout the entire system,
whe rc an African­
American prisoner i being
denied hi right to proper
pregramming unle he bow
down to the establi hment.
The Camp Sy tem, in par­
ticul r , where I am a
pri oner, ha no taff mem­
bcr north of the city of Jac -
on of African-American
de cent.
The so-called 'white' in­
mate re quick to recognize
thi and take adv "ntage by
aggre ively forcing
'familiarity' upon the taff.
�n thi manner 'hey secure
jobs and favor for their
friend , while policy i dic­
tated to the rest of u a an
excuse to deny u these ame
jobs and prolrams.
There wa an incident that
occurred that might upport
this tatement, whereas I
ov'erheard a hite inmate.
This inmate, unaware that I
wa the only Afr ica n­
American pre ent at the time,
was u ing that word
until he recognizcd my
pre ence.
EV N 0, II .. : replaced it
with Black. yct continued to
explain to his Five or so other
while Ii tener as to how he
maintained a blackmailing
hold on hi employer by
thre tcning to havc a • Black'
hired on the job through the
Work ele e Program. The
employer wa upposed I y ter­
rified of BI ck and hated
them. I wonder how many
other uch convcr ation go
on behind clo ed door ?
Another SUbject ·of con­
cern i the Michig n Parole
Board. ,I noticed that there
are no African-Ameri n
m Ie on that bo rd, yet there
are three African-American
females on a board of eight
members.
Thi bring to mind t,he
fact that many African­
American prisoners receive
hat is known a
'Pa over', or more com­
monly 'nop " which are no
more than extended periods
of incarceration, even when
the prisoner conduct ha
been gOOd.
Sad to ay, it seem t at
the three female member re
noted for the prcdorni an'
of these 'Pas, overs'. W at
ignificance does thi h e
on the overcrowding?
On the i su of pri on rs
taking job away {rom
private citizen. who have not
committed any crime, I
think the statement w an­
surd. Fir t of all, who is 0
say that people who hold jo .
have not broken any law?
And where does it ay that a
per 0 with a criminal rcco d
c nnot be employed?
THE .JOR I TIl
prisoner do, and th pay th t
they receive, no priva e
citizen would want. Mo t f
the job are uited for coli . e
kid who arc betwe n
semester brc k. Al 0 t e
bu ine e that hire inma
receive tax break and vi -
tually lose nothing in the pa -
menl of wage. Yet t e
pri oner h s to p y taxe ,
room and board, tran porta­
tion fee along, with Chil�
Support, jf dictated. So e -
aclly here is the pri oner '
advar:ttage?
I can recall reading om
years ago the word of so
prominent per on (who
MICHIGA CITIZ "N PAGE 5
various monied interests who
dominate the electoral poli ti­
cal process with their dollars.
When you combine the
problems of complex regi tra-·
tion barrier with the
dominance of money and the
enormmous difficuJtie of
qu Jifying and funding inde­
pendent and new party can­
didacie , there is little wonder
that di couraged, -di Il­
lusion�d and fru trated non­
voters con. ti tute the large t
political party in America's
"democracy".
Radical reform will be re­
quired if we the people are to
achieve a enuine par­
ticipatory democracy in the
United State, .
Ron Daniels serves as
President 01 tile Institute for
Co munity Organization and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio. He may be c, ntacted at
(216) 746-5747.
, .
rticle
name I c nnot remember at
the moment), who tated that
h could go inside any pri on
sy tem in the world nd
determine what kind of
ociety was on the out ide.
Recalling th t tatement, I
have been ble to ob erve the
r on that support it. The
African-Americ n eern to
be polarized within the penal
y tem s well a the out ide
society. "We till have the
token example being
promoted to the forefront to
upport the iIIu ion that all is
well and to deceive the re t of
us into being patient and
obedient to the law .
In clo ing I would like to
thank you for your time in
re, ding thi lett r. My h.ope
i to offer in ight that might
ignite cau c for further re-
earch. I regre t that l c nnot
fford a ubscription to your
paper t this time, but that
hould change soon.
'R.L. Turner Bey
129455
15 Robin on Rd.
Pell ton, MI 49769