Tuesday’s midterm elections were not the stinging rebuke of the Trump Administration that Democrats had been hoping for. The party has retaken the House of Representatives, gaining at least 27 seats. Despite this success, Democrats lost ground in the Senate, and the House results were not as clear-cut a victory as rosier projections had expected. These mixed results make the election difficult to categorize overall. More than anything, the election shows a country that is drifting ever further apart politically.

In the House, the results largely conformed to pre-election polling. According to FiveThirtyEight, Democrats won the majority of seats that leaned toward their party, Republicans won most GOP-leaning districts, and Democrats clinched a slight majority of the races pegged as tossups.

At the state level, Democrats saw gains in several key states. Pennsylvania stands out in particular, with Democrats gaining four seats in the wake of a court-ordered redistricting that made the state more competitive. In New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats built on existing advantages, winning three seats in each. Meanwhile, Democrats won two seats apiece in Florida, Iowa, Michigan, and Texas.

Overall, the House races accentuate the existing trend of urban-rural polarization. The three most surprising Democratic victories, NY-11, SC-1, and OK-5, all came from urban communities. The same applies to Georgia’s 6th District, which Republican Karen Handel narrowly won in last year’s special election. On Tuesday, the district voted in Democrat Lucy McBath after a hard-fought contest. Also, the two House seats Democrats won in Florida were centered on Miami-Dade County. These results suggest that the divide between urban and rural voters are only intensifying under the Trump Administration.

One other noteworthy trend in last night’s House races is the success for minorities in key races. The 116th Congress will see Native American and Muslim women to join its ranks for the first time. Native American candidates Sharice Davids of Kansas and Debra Halland of New Mexico won their races Tuesday. Two Muslim candidates also won, with Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar scoring victories in Michigan and Minnesota. Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also made history – at 29, she is the youngest woman ever be elected to Congress.

In the Senate, the Democrats faced an uphill battle to retake the chamber this year, with 26 seats up for reelection to only nine for the Republicans. With so many incumbents facing challenges, many of them in heavily conservative states, Democrats were unable to avoid significant losses. Joe Donnelly of Indiana fell behind early in the night and never recovered, while North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp and Missouri’s Claire McCaskill also lost decisively. Bill Nelson in Florida held on more stubbornly, and is currently seeking a recount.

Meanwhile, the Democrats saw little success from their limited opportunities to flip Republican seats. Beto O’Rourke suffered a narrow defeat in his challenge to Ted Cruz in Texas. Tennessee’s election was more clear-cut, with Marsha Blackburn besting Democrat Phil Bredesen. The race to replace Jeff Flake in Arizona has not been called, but Kyrsten Sinema trails Martha McSally. The sole Democratic Senate victory came from Nevada, where Dean Heller was ousted by Jacky Rosen.

Despite the mixed victory for Congress, last night’s most promising gains for Democrats came at the state level. Democrats won seven Governor’s races, as well as winning legislative chambers in at least six states. The gubernatorial victories ranged from bluer states like Illinois and Maine, to swing states like Wisconsin and Nevada, to a surprise victory in highly conservative Kansas.

The common thread across many of the gubernatorial races was dissatisfaction with unpopular incumbents. Illinois and Kansas voters blamed incumbents Bruce Rauner and Sam Brownback for catastrophically damaging the two states’ finances. Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Maine’s Paul LePage alienated voters with their abrasive approaches to governing. And in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder has suffered for his mishandling of the water contamination in Flint.

Democrats also enjoyed two historic successes in last night’s Governor’s races. In Colorado, Jared Polis became the first openly gay man to be elected to a Governor’s mansion. And in New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham became the first Latina woman to get elected Governor as a Democrat.

Not every Governor’s race went well for the Democrats, however. Andrew Gillum narrowly lost his race in Florida, and Richard Cordray was bested in Ohio. Stacey Abrams hasn’t conceded defeat in Georgia, but she trails Georgia Attorney General Brian Kemp by 1.6 points. The loss in Florida is especially critical – Republican success increases the danger of favorable redistricting after the 2020 census, putting Congressional victories in the state even further out of reach for Democrats. This is less of a concern for Ohio, where voters approved rules for a bipartisan redistricting process earlier this year.

All in all, Tuesday’s results should still be considered a success for Democrats, albeit a qualified one. Republican control of the Senate will only exacerbate conservative influence in the judiciary branch, possibly for years to come. However, seizing the House of Representatives will let Democrats conduct investigations into Trump Administration misconduct, which may cripple the White House. Also, the House is responsible for the first drafts of all spending bills, giving the Democrats considerable sway over the federal budget.

Moreover, the Democratic success at the state level will improve their national prospects in future elections – many Congressmen begin their careers in state legislatures. The Trump Administration no longer has free rein to push its agenda, but that may prove the least of their worries.

The post For Democrats, a Mixed Success in 2018 Midterms appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The post LGBT Community Rally For Voters Who Support Their Community appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

As the rhetoric of the Republican Party becomes increasingly divisive, they are looking to their faith to help them decide where they fall on the political spectrum.  

“I grew up under the guise of thinking that the Republican Party was just right about everything because it took the “Christian stance,” said Naomi Jackson. “But the key question for me has become: what is God doing?”

Jackson attends Vox Veniae, a non-denominational and notably progressive church in Austin, Texas. Like any other church, the ambience of the service was set by dimmed lights, bowed heads, and soulful, heartfelt music, but when it was over, Jackson discussed the way the atmosphere of southern religion is changing with her friend, Gina Bastone. The change is particularly focused around influential religious figures like Jen Hatmaker and Beth Moore.

“These white, suburban, middle-class women, evangelicals, are suddenly realizing ‘Trump does not represent me, he does not represent my values,’” said Bastone. “I think that’s a really interesting, shifting demographic that is not what you see in the mainstream media.”

Jason Igkpatt speaks with another member of the congregation during the service at Vox Veniae. Photo by Samantha Springer.

Jason Ikpatt is also a member of the congregation at Vox. For him, the current state of politics in America has made his position abundantly clear and completely absolute. Because he doesn’t want “companies releasing toxins into the air” or for “children detained at the border to have to represent themselves,” he said there is “not much room for nuance to reflect my actual opinion.”

“For me, because things have become so binary in the political sphere, there is really only one option,” said Ikpatt.

Not all southern Christians have always had a liberal inclination, and some still struggle with issues that conflict with their beliefs. Roxanne Van Brown grew up Baptist and attended a Baptist church for almost her entire adult life. She considers herself a radical prayer warrior and has been a staunch Republican for many years, but a paralyzing fear for the future has swayed her political affiliation.

“He is a bully [Trump].” said Van Brown. “He is putting our lives, our national security, in danger, and I can’t support that.”

Van Brown is a member of a Facebook group named “Christians for Beto.” Though she vehemently opposes abortion, gay marriage, and the legalization of marijuana, she will no longer vote Republican.

“For me, the breaking point was when that shooting [Parkland] happened down in Florida.” said Van Brown. “I’m going to vote the way those kids tell me to vote.”

Jillian Myles works for a Texas state Senator. She also finds herself torn when it comes to the issues she cares about, specifically abortion and immigration.

“I have some non-citizen friends,” said Myles. “I care about their well-being, and their status, and their path to citizenship. But on the line of abortion, I have always cared about the unborn, because scripture says God knits us together in our mother’s womb.”

She had not decided who she was voting for yet, but her obligation to her faith plays a bigger role in the way she votes than her occupation does.

“Honestly,” said Myles, “I have just been praying a lot, and trying to look at the big picture… what candidates care about, what they are pushing and hoping for, in line with what scripture says.”

Like Jackson, she is looking to where she sees God and to what will advance his kingdom.

“And that is hard,” she said. “Because I think that both sides of the aisle have good ideas for doing that, so it’s hard to say that one party is going to accomplish it.”

The post Christians look to their faith to help them vote appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Austin is a hub for organizers who working to get out the progressive Latino vote across the state. Thirty-one percent of the eligible voters in the state are Latino, and by 2030, that number is expected to hit nearly 40 percent. But voting eligibility and voter turnout aren’t often the same thing. Women like Cristina Tzintzun know this. She is the founder of JOLT Texas, a progressive Latino voter organization that worked to register of thousands of Latinos to vote since November 2016.

Now, she and her hundreds of volunteers have to get them to the polls.

“We are one of the largest and fastest-growing voting blocs in the state, but we’re also largely ignored by both major political parties,” Tzintzun said. “One of the reasons we are under assault and under attack is because we’re actually really powerful and here in the state of Texas, we will soon be the majority.”

The Houston Chronicle reported that in Harris County, Texas, Democrats increased voter turnout with Latinos by nearly 300 percent, compared to a 50 percent increase by the GOP. Democrats have an approval rating of 49 percent, compared to 32 percent for the GOP from Latinos in Texas and other key battleground states, according to a poll released by NBC on November 5.

“People feel like they’re a minority even when they’re in a state where people of color are the majority,”  Tzintzun added.

“¡Vote!” crocheted into a fence along a major highway in Austin, Texas, ahead of the 2018 midterms. October, 26,2018. Photo by Opheli Garcia Lawler.

Some Latina women are those new voters that Tzintzun is talking about. Marciela Salazar is a social worker that lives outside of Austin. Her father is from Mexico, and her mother’s parents brought her mother across the border when she was young. This will be the first election Salazar votes in. Her parents never told her she was supposed to vote, and she never felt truly engaged by politicians. For a long time, she felt like she didn’t know enough to make an informed decision. She broke down in tears when recalling the moment she realized that her reason for not going to vote wasn’t stopping other people she knew, who voted for Republicans.

“I think this is just coming from regret,” Salazar said, sucking in her breath. “From not voting, from not being aware, from not understanding. I see those people that are affected by it –– my family, me. And I do have a desire now to know, and to be informed.”

Salazar’s friend Ana Zepeda is also a social worker. She is the daughter of Puerto Ricans, and since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, she’s felt a constant anxiety – one that has pushed her to be more vocal about politics with her family and friends.  

“It feels so bad, but I was seriously so heartbroken in 2016,” said Zepeda. “I’ve had a lot of anxiety leading up to November 6. I almost haven’t allowed myself to think of past election day. I have just thought about bugging everyone I know to go vote. Which I’m really good at. I’m really good at pestering people.”

JOLT volunteers canvassing in Austin to encourage Latinos to get to the polls and vote early in the 2018 midterm elections. Photo by Opheli Garcia Lawler.

An underlying theme among Latina women in Texas is how they are often the organizers in their communities. They consistently turn out to vote more than their male counterparts, according to a study completed by JOLT, with the exception of the 69+ age group. In Austin, they are on the ground organizing and canvassing, and working with civil engagement groups to reach people who’ve never been spoken to before.

Maria Medina Miller, who is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the League of Women Voters – Austin Area, feels the weight of her work.  She explained that there’s a constant exhaustion of feeling under attack by an administration that has been vocal about their disdain of women, of Mexicans, of organizers, and she is all three. But that she doesn’t have the luxury of stopping.

“It’s heartbreaking, but at the same time, we know who we are, we know who are as a culture,” said Medina Miller. “It’s exhausting to go through the same hurdles over and over and over again. But the only thing that does is make me better at what I do. We have a stewardship that we owe to people around us, not just to ourselves.”

The post Progressive Latinas mobilize to get the vote out in Texas appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Three years since Browder’s death, his brother, Akeem Browder, wants Governor Andrew Cuomo to do more for criminal justice reform. Cuomo has promised to prioritize justice reform if reelected in next week’s midterm elections, but Browder feels that so far, the governor has not delivered on his promises.

“The governor and the Democrats in Albany, as well as the Republicans, need to get off their high horse and really just understand this is a human rights violation” said Browder, who founded the The Kalief Browder Foundation to advocate for criminal justice reform. “Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, whatever field you’re on, it does not matter. There are human bodies that are behind these bars and do not need to end up like another Kalief.”

Akeem Browder (left) discusses the need for criminal justice reform with Dr Michael Jacobson, Chairman of the Board of the NYC Criminal Justice Agency. Photo by Kathleen Taylor

According to the 2018 report of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, there are over 8,000 people held in New York City jails without trial, none of whom have been found guilty. Many of these people are detained because they are unable to pay bail. Reform advocates argue that the current bail system unfairly discriminates against the poor, many of whom are people are color.

Earlier this year Cuomo signed into effect the Raise the Age law, which allows for 16 and 17 year old offenders to be prosecuted and detained in separate facilities, instead of with adults. However, many have criticized the Cuomo for taking so long to enact this law and for the implementation being too slow.

According to The World Prison Brief, published by the University of London’s Institute for Criminal Policy Research, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world with about 2.2 million people in prison at any given time. Of those incarcerated, 451,000 are awaiting trial.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Pat Arnow courtesy of Wikipedia

While President Trump has recently engaged in conversations regarding justice reform with high profile celebrities, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, so far there have been no legislative reforms. The First Step Act, a justice reform bill which was approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year, has not yet reached the Senate.

The upcoming midterm elections will not only determine the composition of the US Senate which may vote on this bill , but also the state senates that will be considering legislative reforms at the state level. With the US Bureau of Statistics reporting that 87 percent of US prison inmates are held in state facilities, the midterm elections offer the potential for substantial change to the country’s criminal justice system.

In New York, Democrats have introduced various justice reform bills calling for bail reform, the introduction of speedy trial requirements, and discovery reform which would allow accused persons to be informed of all evidence against them prior to their case. So far none of these have passed through the Republican controlled Senate. Some blame Cuomo’s failure to deliver on justice reform on the composition of the Senate.

“As we approach this election, the makeup of the Senate may or may not change,” said Ashley Southall, criminal justice reporter for the New York Times. “We might have the same dynamic where we have Democrats passing reforms in the Assembly and then Republicans blocking them in the Senate.”

Some justice reform advocates are hopeful that if Democrats take control of the state Senate in the upcoming elections, then these bills will be passed.

“Money bail needs to go,” said Insha Rahman, Program Director of the Vera Institute.“But in the system that we have, that requires a legislative fix up in Albany. And as we know things in Albany are fraught. Perhaps maybe less fraught after November 6. We’ll see”.

Others wonder whether the Republican Senate is really what has prevented reform so far.

“Do they [New York’s current leaders] want to fix the system?” asked Aiyuba Thomas, an NYU student from Queens who was formerly incarcerated. “Or are they actually just appeasing people? Giving them little tidbits.”

Despite the potential that the upcoming elections offer for justice reform, Thomas is concerned that criminal justice reform is not occupying enough space in the upcoming election.

“When you hear a lot of debates, this is a topic that’s skimmed over,” said Thomas. “If it is spoken about, it’s very brief. How much is this the politicians’ concern?”

But Thomas appreciates that justice reform will take time.

“The world is not gonna change tomorrow,” said Thomas. “You could get 10 new guys, 10 new women in there that are all about prison reform, but it’s still a process. We’re making headway if we are able to rally voters who care about these issues to vote for the right people. That’s a big one, the voting process.”

Thomas believes that Cuomo’s recent executive order granting parolees the right to vote offers hope for criminal justice reform.

“Now that they’ve given us these rights to vote, a person who’s been in the system, who knows what’s going on, can better choose or better give their vote to a person who they feel is the right candidate,” he said. “Voting is very essential.”

Davon Woodley is an activist for the #CloseRikers campaign which lobbies for comprehensive criminal justice reform. Photo by Kathleen Taylor.

Davon Woodley, a formerly incarcerated justice reform activist from Harlem, said that the right to vote is a key driver of change.

“People who are home now have the right to vote,” said Woodley.  “And I think that that is a great way to create change in itself. What is going to change thisis who we as people put in place to represent us best.”

Woodley is an activist for the #CLOSErikers Campaign which lobbies not only for the closing of the jail on Rikers Island in New York City, but also for various other criminal justice reforms.

In addition to bail reform, Woodley said that New York needs to introduce minimum wages for work done by incarcerated individuals, offer mental health counselling to both incarcerated individuals and correctional officers, and reform the parole system.

“When I go to parole I still feel incarcerated,” said Woodley. He believes that the current parole system places unreasonable curfews and restrictions on people who are trying to reintegrate into society after prison.

Woodley worked as a teacher and mentor while in prison. He said that the most he ever earned in prison was 25 cents an hour.

“If I were paid minimum wage, I’d feel more comfortable putting it on my resume,” said Woodley. “I’d feel more proud. You come home with $40 and a bus ticket. That’s not gonna get you anywhere.”

None of these issues are currently on the ballot for New York State. Nor is program reform or sentencing reform. These are both major issues for Thomas, who thinks that the justice system needs to take more notice of the complex differences between the rehabilitative needs of different prisoners.

But Thomas is encouraged by the direction in which justice reform is headed.

“Everything is progress,” said Thomas. “I think this age that’s coming up is more about fairness. So hopefully it’ll be over soon.”

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections, activists will continue to lobby for reform.

“I really do appreciate the direction that justice reform is headed in, but I can’t put power in the politicians,” said Woodley. “I always put power in the people.”

The post Midterm Elections Could Shape the Future of Criminal Justice in New York appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The post Liberal Texas Women rally for change appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The post Healthcare Motivates Voters in Georgia appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Candidate signs are clumped together by buildings and near parking lots. Stickers for candidates are plastered on phone booths and newspapers stands in the Memorial Student Union, and flyers for candidates hang on public bulletin boards.

But despite the Election Day buzz, students at this historically black university have already had to jump through hoops to even be allowed to vote in the predominantly white Waller County.

“This might be the biggest election during our lifetime,” said Jayla Allen, a student at Prairie View and the elected precinct chair of precinct 309, where Prairie View is located. “Prairie View A&M University and the county of Waller have always had tension, we’ve always had problems with voting rights.”  

Allen is one of five students involved in a federal lawsuit against Waller County, where Prairie View is located. The lawsuit, which was filed on the students’ behalf by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, alleged voter suppression due to the lack of early voting opportunities for students on campus.

“When you look at turnout rates, students voting at Prairie View have one of the highest turnout rates,” said John Cusick, a legal fellow with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “Just looking at the sheer number [of voters] alone, there’s no justification for the unequal distribution of early voting days.”

During the first week of early voting, there was no polling site available in the city of Prairie View or on PVAMU’s campus. In the second week, the city was granted five days of early voting, but two of those days were off-campus and inaccessible to most students, who lack transportation. These polling sites also offer less hours than polling sites in Waller, with no extended hours.

“Currently, students get no days in week one, and only three in week two, where’s Brookshire, Hempstead, and Waller, none of which has a population as large as the student body, get polling stations for the entire 11-day early voting period,” said Lisa Seger, Democratic candidate for Texas House District 3. Her opponent, three-term incumbent  Cecil Bell, did not respond to requests for comment. “Any barriers to voting are disenfranchising, even when the vote is not literally being taken away.”

Lisa Seger is the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 3. Photo courtesy of Lisa Seger campaign.

The lack of early voting access was not the only problems that students faced this year. PVAMU does not provide individual student mailing addresses. Students were given two addresses to list on their voter registrations. But one address was in a different precinct, meaning that student voters going to what they believed was their assigned polling place would be turned away. Other students found that their registrations were incorrect.

Tayelor Stevenson-Murphy, a senior education major, was one student whose registration was affected. She had registered in Waller County and kept the receipt from her registration. During the early voting period, she was driven to the off-campus polling station by volunteer Charlene Shafer, who lives in Houston.

Upon arriving at the polling place, Stevenson-Murphy was almost kept from voting, because her registration was still listed as being in a different county. She was offered the opportunity to vote on a provisional or limited ballot, both of which presented drawbacks.

“Provisional ballots, they usually end up in the trash. They don’t count, because you have to have so many days to prove why you should be allowed to vote,” said Shafer.

According to NPR, many provisional ballots do not count in the end, due to the problems that can arise.

Shafer said that she had never heard of a limited ballot before, and was told that it would mean that Stevenson-Murphy would be able to vote for state and national offices, but not the local offices, since the rolls said she was still registered in Harris County.

“I live here,” said Stevenson-Murphy. “This is my home away from home. Most of the time I’m here, I go to school here, I don’t really go home too often. So what’s going to affect my day-to-day life is what happens locally.”  

Shafer eventually reached out to Jacob Aronowitz, a field director for the campaign of Mike Siegel, candidate for Representative for the 10th Congressional District of Texas. Aronowitz passed on information to the two of them, saying that since Stevenson-Murphy had her receipt, they had to let her vote.

“When [Charlene] said that, because I have my receipt, they have to let me vote a regular ballot, the woman working asked ‘Who told you that?’” said Murphy-Stevenson. “It made me believe that she knew that all along, and just didn’t want me to vote regularly.”

Election officials from Waller County could not be reached to comment on the situation, or on voting in general. The office did make a statement to the Texas Tribune, saying that the county will be “vigorously opposing allegations of voter disenfranchisement” and that the lack of early voting sites was due to the county’s limited resources.

Stevenson-Murphy was able to vote regularly, though she expressed concern for other students who had also registered in the county, but had not kept their receipts and might face issues during the remainder of the voting period.

“If my registration was messed up, I wonder how many other people’s registrations are messed up,” she said. “A lot of people registered the day that I registered, so I feel like a lot of people’s registration statuses could have been affected.”

Signs promoting local candidates at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. Photo by Kerry Breen.

Candidates in the election are also concerned about the voting abilities of students at PVAMU.

“It is 2018,” said Lupe Valdez, Democratic candidate for governor. “When an HBCU is treated as a clear target for voter suppression, we must call it for what it is. Prairie View A&M is the largest institute of higher learning in Waller County, and the historic and repeated attempts to disenfranchise the voting rights of its student body remain an ongoing injustice.”

Valdez’s opponent, current governor Greg Abbott, did not respond to requests for comment.

Students at PVAMU expressed disappointment that voting in the county always seems to come with problems.

“It’s always something, when it comes down to elections,” said Asia Joubert, a junior nursing major at PVAMU. “There is always an issue; there’s always a struggle.”

A HISTORY OF COMPLICATIONS

This is not the first year that Prairie View students have had difficulty voting in elections. The history of voting complications goes as far back as 1972, when students were told that they could not vote in the presidential election because they were not legal residents of Waller County. Efforts to keep students from voting included propertyownership requirements and residency questionnaires.

Local elected officials and students worked to bring a lawsuit against Waller County, which was resolved in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979.

“That set a precedent, where any college student could declare their place of residence,” said Frank Jackson, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for State Relations in the Texas A&M University system, which PVAMU is a part of, and the former mayor of Prairie View. “It granted that right to all students. That’s where it started.”

Having worked at PVAMU for 36 years now, Jackson has seen multiple other issues arise at the University during almost every election during his tenure.

In 1992, 19 residents of Waller County, including 15 PVAMU students, were indicted for voter fraud. However, it was found that the campus had been gerrymandered so severely that when students moved across the street, they were placed in a different voting district and causing confusion. It took intervention from the United States Department of Justice to get the county to drop the charges.

“It’s easier to manipulate voting on a college campus,” said Jen Ramos, communications director and national commiteewoman for the Young Democrats of America. “Students move around dorms, there’s confusion about addresses and moving. It’s a perfect storm of voter suppression. It’s understandable, but it’s not right by any means.”

In 2004, the students were again challenged by the county’s district attorney, Oliver Kitzman. According to the Houston Chronicle, a Prairie View student announced that he intended to run for County Commissioner’s Court, and the D.A. declared that he would bring charges against any student who did not meet his personal definition of legal voting residence. An injunction was filed, but election officials then reduced the early voting period to a six-hour period on one day during PVAMU’s spring break. An emergency lawsuit was filed and normal early voting hours were restored.

In 2007, affecting the 2008 election, new requirements, seen as arbitrary and unnecessary, were placed on newly-registering voters, and many registrations, many of which belonged to PVAMU students, were rejected since they did not meet these requirements. Again, the U.S. Department of Justice was forced to intervene.

“They didn’t want the kids voting here in the local elections,” said Jackson. “The students had to protest again, to fight for the rights of students to participate in this election process.”

In 2013, the president of the student government association requested an on-campus ballot box, a request that was granted. However, prior to the 2016 election, there was again a problem with the lack of on-campus early voting polling stations. This controversy, which emerged just five months after the death of PVAMU graduate Sandra Bland, was again seen as an attempt to disenfranchise students on campus.

Sandra Bland , 28, a Prairie View A&M University  alumni, was found dead in a jail cell in Waller County three days after being arrested during a traffic stop. Her controversial  death was ruled a suicide. Photo courtesy of Common Dreams.

“It’s amazing that it’s 2018, and we’re still dealing with the same things that we were dealing with in 1979,” said Shafer. “It’s really sad.”

 Several people believe that the history of voting problems stems from the campus’s demographics. The campus currently has about 7,000 students, and is a predominantly black student body. The entire population of Waller County, as of 2010, is 43,205, and is predominantly white.

“Even though we’ve made progress, as a nation and as a state, we’re still dealing with vestiges of the past,” said Jackson. “It’s amazing how African American communities still have to deal with this stuff, even as we try to move forward into the new millennium. We just want our students, whether they’re African American, Hispanic, Asian, or white, to have equal rights to everybody else.”

Students of Prairie View A&M University, a historical black college in Texas. Photo courtesy of pvam.edu

MOVING FORWARD

While a solution has been reached for this year’s election, those involved at Prairie View are not optimistic about the future of voting on campus.

“We’ve had this fight every year,” said Shafer. “I don’t know what it takes to actually make the change. I guess every year they’ll fight it and maybe they’ll open the door a little wider. I feel sure they’ll fight this again next time. Every time there’s an election, there’s another road block.”

While there has been an increase in voting engagement among students, experts say that that increase means nothing if students don’t have access to the polls.

“It’s not a secret that we’ve had record-breaking turnout in Texas this election, particularly for young people and students,” said Zenén Jaimes Pérez, communications director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. “If we want more people to turn out to vote, particularly young people, we need to make it easy and accessible for them to do so, and not having an on-campus polling location [for the first week of early voting] doesn’t make sense.”

Stevenson-Murphy said that she thought that if voting were more accessible to students, there would continue to be higher rates of engagement among youth voters.

“To actually get [students] to vote is a struggle,” she said. “If you add on the hiccups that we have, it’s kind of like, ‘Forget about it.’”

The post Once Again, Voting Controversies Surface at Prairie View A&M appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The post Muslim Voters are Voting for Change appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The post Latina voters motivated by the separation of families appeared first on Pavement Pieces.