Southern Poverty Law Center launches campaign to mark anniversary of Voting Rights Act
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center is marking the 61st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act by launching a new campaign to get people to the polls.
It was on August 6, 1965 that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, following a period of violence in the country, including Bloody Sunday in Selma earlier that year. The law was designed to strengthen enforcement of the 15th Amendment’s prohibition against racial discrimination in elections. Before the law was signed, some states put up barriers, like poll taxes and literacy tests, to keep Black Americans from voting.
As the SPLC commemorated that event, it launched a new campaign called “We Decide: Alabama” that it says will keep voters informed and will encourage them to exercise their right by participating in Alabama’s upcoming elections.
“The goal is to educate and inform voters about the voting process, help them develop a voting plan for the day of voting because people have to consider work, they have to consider where the polling places are,” Tafeni English-Relf, the Alabama State Office Director of the SPLC, said.. “We know there have been closures, so making sure they have this information, making sure people know their registration status, where they go to register, what are the deadlines and making sure they know where to access that information from the secretary of state’s website.”
Voters in Alabama Congressional Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7 will go to the polls Tuesday, August 11, for special primaries that were needed because district lines were changed, which put some voters in different districts. Those districts cover all of the Action 8 viewing area other than Tallapoosa and Lee counties.
The general election will be Tuesday, November 3.
