Candidate Press Release
Friends of Elaine Brown for Mayor of Brunswick,
Georgia
2802 Altama Avenue, Suite B
Brunswick, Georgia 31520
912-262-9811 (Telephone)
912-262-9813 (Facsimile)
http://www.elainebrown.org
September 2, 2005
Contact: Anita D. Collins, Campaign Manager
Mayoral Candidate Elaine Brown Calls for a
"New Wave of Freedom Riders" to Come to Brunswick, Georgia,
to Monitor November Election
Elaine Brown, slated to become the first black and
first woman mayor of Brunswick, Georgia, denounced the recent approval
of Georgia's new voting law by the U.S. Department of Justice. Brown
condemned the Republican-backed legislation, the so-called Voter ID
law, as racist and biased against black voters, Latino voters, young
voters, first-time voters, ex-felon voters, elderly voters, poor
voters, disabled voters. "The last time photo ID was a standard
for citizenship was in South Africa under Apartheid," Brown
declared. "Indeed, this Republican-backed ploy to intimidate and
decimate the black vote recalls the poll tax, the grandfather clause
and the literacy test under Jim Crow." Brown added she is putting
out a call across the nation for a "new wave of Freedom
Riders" to come to Brunswick to fight again for black voting
rights in the South.
Only 60 Days Left for Brunswick Residents
In light of the DOJ's Eleventh-Hour decision,
Brunswick's majority-black electorate will have to scramble to
accommodate the law's demands in time for the November 8 election.
Called the most Draconian voting law in the nation, the new Voter ID
law requires Brunswick voters to present government-issued,
photographic identification in order to vote. To obtain a Georgia ID
card, a Brunswick voter must first pay for a certified copy of his or
her birth certificate. This places an unreasonable burden on voters in
a city without public transportation. For voters born outside the
county or the state, it looms an impossible burden, to obtain a
certified birth certificate by mail in time for the election-in about
60 days!
Double Jeopardy
Adding insult to injury, the Republican-dominated
Glynn County Board of Commissioners has suddenly called for a
"special election" regarding special taxes, "SPLOST
V." Forced to conduct two elections at the same time, the County
Board of Elections has acknowledged its confusion over how to produce
and process two distinct ballots. For Brunswick voters, this confusion
is only exacerbated by the fact that they must vote in two different
elections at the same time and at two different polling places.-City
and county precincts are not always at the same place.
Bastion of Bush Politicos
The Voter ID law's throwback to the Jim Crow era
is particularly conspicuous in Brunswick, a majority-black city so
disenfranchised that every elected representative is a white male
Republican-except the nominal black on the County Commission, already
pledged to support the Republican/Sea Island Company-backed candidate
to succeed Mayor Brad Brown, a Lt. Col. in the Sons of Confederate
Veterans. Given the possible "loss" of this economically
exploding port city to a progressive black woman, Elaine Brown stated,
"the imposition of the ID law for the upcoming Brunswick race
seems designed-Florida-like-to steal the election for Bush
Republicans."
Freedom Riders and Election Monitors
This is why Brown said she is calling on GABEO,
the NAACP, SCLC, the Nation of Islam, the Urban League, the
Congressional Black Caucus, the National Action Network, the Truth-Hamer
Voting Initiative, the ACLU, the Democratic Party, the
Progressive Democrats, the League of Women Voters, the Green Party,
the Hip-Hop Caucus, Rapper Diddy and his "Vote or Die"
faction, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Georgia Coalition for a
Peoples' Agenda, the black clergy, black activists, educators,
students, entertainers, sports figures, celebrities and all
progressive people across the nation and around the world to stand up
for the rights of black and other disenfranchised Brunswick voters.
"Come to Brunswick and help make sure our people can vote!"
Brown urges. "Come to Brunswick and help us monitor the
elections! Let all those who love freedom and democracy come to
Brunswick!"
