A REPORT OF THE WASHINGTON RESEARCH

PROJECT

THE SHAMEFUL BLIGHT

The Survival of Racial Discrimination in Voting in the South

October 1972

Reprinted with permission of copyright owner, The Washington Research Project.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

1. The inadequate enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the Department of Justice has frustrated the achievement of equal political rights by black southerners.

2. The Justice Department still fails to take effective action to remedy the continuing and extremely low black voter registration in many southern states. Moreover, the Department has stood passively by as recently registered blacks have been disenfranchised by reregistration requirements.

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3. The requirement that all voters reregister has been imposed in many Mississippi counties and remains a possibility elsewhere-imposes an unjustifiable burden on blacks registered since the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

4. In recent years the Department has practically abandoned the federal examiner program as a major tool authorized by the Voting Rights Act to insure the voter registration of blacks in the South.

5. Low black voter registration in the south is attributable, in addition to poor federal enforcement, to the following additional factors:

Registration is customarily limited to normal business hours at the county courthouse, which makes it inconvenient for many poor and working blacks to register; Many blacks, especially in rural areas, are still afraid to register;

In some jurisdictions public officials have interfered with voter registration drives; in others, private persons have done so;

States and counties rarely take action to publicize the need for registration or assume the burden of assuring that residents are registered;

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS v

In some jurisdictions a purge of the registration rolls has placed a heavier burden on blacks than on whites or has been carried out in a manner which discriminates against blacks.

6. The number of blacks holding elective offices in the South is still token in most states. In some areas no blacks hold elective office.

7. The Department of Justice has failed, either through the effective use of the federal observer program or by securing the appointment of black election officials, to end the practices and incidents which prevent blacks from being elected to office in the South.

8. Many additional factors contribute to the small number of black elected officials in the South:

Many blacks, especially in rural areas, are afraid to vote, or to vote the way they wish to;

Blacks active in the political process have been subjected to violence or threats of violence;

- Black candidates often face unfair or discriminatory obstacles in their campaign for office;

- Polling places are sometimes located in places which deter black voting;

- Disproportionately few blacks serve as election officials;

Black voters are sometimes challenged unfairly or otherwise discriminated against in the voting process; Illiterate voters in many places are not allowed to choose the person who assists them in the polling booth; sometimes they are given dishonest assistance; Black ballots are sometimes not counted, although the voter's intention is clear;

Blacks have been prevented from poll watching or watching the count of the vote.

vi SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

9. Districting practices in many areas have diluted black voting strength and thus have eliminated black prospects for election victories. The Department of Justice has failed in many instances to take action against these discriminatory practices.

Redistricting is sometimes accomplished in a way which dilutes black voting strength;

At-large voting and multi-member districts are used to cancel out the voting strength of concentrations of black population;

Majority vote requirements, full slate requirements, the use of numbered posts, and candidates' residence requirements prevent blacks from obtaining minority representation in state and local legislative bodies; Annexations by cities sometimes dilute black voting strength.

10. The Nixon administration has made continuous efforts both legislative and administrative-to remove section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the main weapon of the Department of Justice for dealing with discriminatory districting and other new voting practices discriminatory in purpose or in effect.

11. The economically depressed and dependent position of blacks in the South remains the greatest barrier to their achieving equal political rights.

SUMMARY OF
RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Department of Justice should enforce all parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

2. The Department of Justice should use the federal examiner program more effectively to increase black registration.

3. The most effective means of eliminating election day problems or the fear of such problems is to have blacks in responsible positions as election officials. The Department of Justice should assure that a fair proportion of blacks are in these positions.

4. The Department of Justice should instruct federal observers more of whom should be black to point out to election officials acts of discrimination.

5. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act should be vigorously and literally enforced. The Department should insist that the submitting jurisdiction meet its burden of proving that the new practice or procedure with respect to voting is not discriminatory and should ensure that no new practice or procedure is put into effect until section 5 clearance has been obtained.

6. Through the use of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and through litigation the Department of Justice should seek to eliminate districting and other practices which prevent fair representation for blacks.