Alabama Briefs Volume II, No. 1

    [a
 

  

   

    

Vol. 11, No. 1 

  

ctober/November 1985 
  

  

BRIEFS 

  

      
    

AVRP JOINS IN CHALLENGE OF AT-LARGE SYSTEMS IN CRENSHAW, HENRY COUNTIES 
  

Dillard v. Crenshaw County and Diggs v. Henry County, 
two Section 2 cases challenging the at-large elections 
of county commissioners in Henry and Crenshaw counties, 
were filed in Middle District Court on November 12. 
No blacks have ever been elected to county-wide office 

in either of the two counties. Attorneys from the 

Mobile law firm of Blacksher, Menefee and Stein, the 

    

Montgomery firm of Seay and Davis and the NAACP Legal 

Defense Fund represent the black plaintiffs in these 

cases. Research for the cases was conducted by the 

Alabama Voting Rights Project and the Alabama 

Democratic Conference. 

Attorneys for named plaintiffs John Dillard and Havard 

Richburg claim that the continued use of at-large 

voting in Crenshaw County, in. addition to other 

electoral, financial and social barriers, has so 

frustrated blacks that they have not even attempted to 

run for county-wide office. 26.5% of Crenshaw county's 

black. 
unemployment at three times the rate of whites and more 
13,845 residents are Blacks experience 

than double the amount of blacks than whites, live in 

poverty. ’ 

In Henry County, named plaintiffs Paul T. Diggs, Thomas 
Hawthorne and Locy Baker cite that a total of five 
blacks ran for county offices during a period that 
spanned from 1970 to 1984; none of the candidates was 
sucessful. Henry county has a 38.1% black population. 
Fifty percent more blacks than whites are unemployed 
and blacks triple the number of whites living in 
poverty. 

The case against Crenshaw County was assigned to 
Federal District Judge Myron Thompson. Federal 
District Judge Robert Varner is scheduled to hear the 
case against Henry County. No court dates have been set 

in either case. 

AVRP CASE AGAINST CHAMBERS COUNTY, LANETT AND LAFAYETTE SETTLED 
  

Yeargan, a 
case challenging at-large election systems for the 

Chambers County Commission and School Board and the 

City Councils in Lanett and Lafayette. All four of the 
bodies will now have their members elected from single- 

member-districts. 

A settlement has been reached in Reese Vv. 

Elections for the Chambers County Commission will now 
take place out of six single-member-districts, two of 
which are predominantly black. A similar districting 
plan will be in effect for the Chambers County Board of 

Education, and will also provide for two predominantly 

black districts. 

Two of the five districts drawn for the Lanett City 
Council are each over 65% black. In Lafayette, the 
City Council will also be comprised of five members 
elected out of single-member-districts; one of the two 

predominantly black districts has a black population of 
78%, the other is 100% black. There is also a "swing" 

district that is 42.5% black. 

which has been approved by Federal 
awaits pre-clearance by 

The settlement, 
District Judge Truman Hobbs, 
the Justice Department. 

LEE COUNTY ACCEPTS PLAN TO VOLUNTARILY REDISTRICT COUNTY COMMISSION 
  

The Lee County Commission redistricting 1ssue was 

settled out of court in November through negotiations 

between the county's black residents, representatives 

of the Lee County Democratic Conference and the County 

Commission. The settlement paves the way for the 

possiblity of electing a black for the first time to 

the historically all-white county governing body. 

The new districting plan provides for five: single- 

member-districts. The commission's original plan 

provided for a 63% black district, less than the 65% 

threshold needed to make a strong predominantly black 

district. After examining an alternative plan 

submitted by the Lee County Democratic Confernce, a 

compromise was reached between the black community and 

the county commission and the black “district was 

drawn to include a 70% black population. 

According to Alabama Democratic Conference Field 
Director and AVRP Advisory Board Member Jerome Gray, 
one sticking point in the negotiations was the 
exclusion of one strong potential black candidate, 

Lindbergh Jackson, in the predominantly black district. 
Black residents pointed out that their alternative 
proposal, in addition to making the black district 
stronger, would also include Jackson. After extended 
negotiations with the county commission and its 
planning committee , the candidate was finally 

included. 

The Alabama Voting Rights Project and the Voting Rights 
Project of the Southern Regional Council provided 
districting and mapping assistance to the Lee County 

District Conference. The plan awaits preclearance by 
the U.S. Justice Department. 

  

   deh 

NW INSIDE: ‘REGISTRATION REFORMS 
.WOTING CASES ROUND-UP 

 



  

HOBBS TO RULE SOON ON STATE @ BOARD REAPPORTIONMENT 
R Page 2 

  

  

Federal District Judge Truman Hobbs has said that he 
will rule soon on the redistricting of the state Board 
of Education to give potential candidates adequate time 
to prepare their campaigns for the 1986 elections. In 
1584 Hobbs ruled that the Board of Education districts 
were malapportioned and ordered that new properly 
apportioned districts be drawn and that all board seats 
be up for reelection in June 1986. The current board 

districts are drawn along the 1969 Congressional 

district lines. 

Hobbs gave the state legislature until November 1 of 
this year to come up with a plan for redistricting the 

state school board. In the regular session, both 7- 

member and 9-member plans were proposed and both gained 

enough support to effectively kill the other. Neither 
plan was reintroduced in the special session because 

the legislators perceived the whole issue to be 
hopelessly deadlocked between the two plans. 

Hobbs is examining the plaintiffs's analysis of the 
board districts and will choose from three options: 1) 
the plaintiffs's nine-district plan; 2) the 
defendants's seven-district plan; or 3) a plan of his 
own drawn with the assistance of redistricting experts. 
The plan proposed by attorneys for the black plaintiffs 
contains at least one strong majority-black district 

which includes most of the Albama Black Belt. In 1984, 
Hobbs considered ordering a seven-district plan that 
would be drawn along the current lines of the state's 
seven congressional districts, but deemed it 
inappropriate to fashion relief that was in the form of 
the plaintiff's unwanted plan. 

In a October 22 editorial, the Montgoemry Advertiser 

called the plaintiff's proposed black district an 
example of gerrymandering because the district 
stretches from the Mississippi state line to the 
Montgomery county border. The editorial also suggested 

that the drawing of the district was aimed at "knocking 
off" Isabelle Thomasson, a very conservative board 

member. The editorial proposed that Hobbs order a 
seven-district plan drawn along the lines of the 
current congressional districts because it would be 
"fairer" and because the districts could be 
reapportioned at the same time as congressional 
districts. 

Alabama Democratic Conference Field Director and AVRP 

Advisory Board Member Jerome Gray rebutted the 

Advertiser editorial in a November 19 letter to the 

editor of the paper. Gray criticized the paper's 

support. of. .the seven-district plan for a number of 

reasons. Gray cited that the current congressional 

districts are malapportioned and that none of them had 

higher than a 40% black population. Gray questioned 

why the paper would favor reducing the number of school 

board posts from eight to seven without first 
considering properly apportioning the current eight 

districts. 

Gray wrote that there is no inherent tie between school 

board district and congressional districts. He 

reported that, in a survey of the twelve Southern 

states, eight had more school board districts than 

congressional districts, one (Georgia) had the same 

number of districts for both, and, in the remaining 
states, the school board members are appointed by the 
Governor. He also pointed out that only Florida and 

Alabama elect all of the members of their boards and 

that those two states are also the only two Southern 

states without blacks on their boards. 

Gray also pointed out the irony that, although many of 

the state's school systems are majority black, no black 

has served on the state's school board since 

Reconstruction. 

MARSHALL, COMPTON CITE FEW PROBLEMS WITH 1985 COUNTY VOTE PURGES 
  

Alice Marshall and Bill Compton of the Alabama 

Secretary of State's Office report that the annual 

purge provided for under Act 84-389 was conducted with 

very little problems this year. Under Act 84-389, 
which was passed in May 1984, each county board must 

annually purge the names of those voters whom they 

suspect are no longer qualified voters because they 

have moved away, committed a felony or died. The 

act provides that the purge be conducted during the 
last week of July and the first week of August of every 

year. 

Although the office is uncertain whether every county 

conducted a purge, Marshall and Compton report that 
they know of only two counties, Mobile and Dale, who 
experienced any problems with the process. A 
misunderstanding on the part of the Dale County Board 
of Registrars led to a block-long line leading from the 
Board of Registrars office to outside the Dale County 
Courthouse. The board had apparently confused the 
provisions for an annual purge with reidentification 

and had instructed the county's voters that they had to 
reidentify at the courthouse. After the 
misunderstanding was corrected, Marshall and Compton 
report that the purge progressed without incident. 

In the only other reported difficulty with this year's 
purge, Mobile county remained embroiled in a 
controversy over contradictory laws that provide for 
both annual purges and decennial reidentification 

programs. Under the authority ot Act No. 36, which 

was passed 1n 1965, the Mobile County Board of 

Registrars on . March 17, 1985 undertook a voter 

reidentification program that will require that all 

voters reidentify to the board by February 1987. In 

Mobile county blacks filed James Buskey V. response, Vv. 

The suit contends Mobile County Board of Registrars.   
that Act 84-389 should supersede any local legislation 
previously 
reidentification. 
March/April 1985) 

purging or passed regarding 
1: No. 4, (See Alabama Briefs Vol.   

Alabama Voting Rights Project Coodinator Paola Maranan 

suggests that county registration activists who 

suspect that their county boards are not following 

outlined procedures should contact the Project at P.O. 
Box 447, Montgomery, AL 36101. In addition, Maranan 
suggests that an article on how to respond to official 
purges that was published in the Feb./March issue of 
"Monitor" magazine might also be helpful. Copies of the 
article may be obtained from the Voting Rights Act 
Monitoring and Litigation Project of the League of 
Women Voters, publishers of the magazine. The Project's 
address is in care of the League of Women Voters, 1730 
M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. 

  

The Alabama Briefs is a publication of tne | 

Alabama Voting Rights Project. The Pro- 
ject is sponsored by the Civil Liberties 

Union of Alabama, a non-profit organiza- 
tion. 

Project Director, ...covinins MARY WEIDLER 
Project Coordinator.......» PAOLA MARANAN 

EQiLOr. vs cnsvvevssnsc nemesis PAOLA MARANAN 

To contact the Alabama Voting Rights 

Project about its work or the contents of 
this newsletter, please write to: The 
Alabama Voting Rights Project, Civil 
Liberties Union of Alabama, PO Box 447, 
Montgomery, AL 36101.     
  

  

! 

 



    

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ABLE TO C ICT ON ONLY 4 OF OVER 200 reLo@ounts 
  

Despite a year-long investigation and approximately 
four months of trials in the federal courts, the U.S. 
Justice Department was sucessful in gaining convictions 
on only four of the nearly 200 felony counts lodged 
against eight civil rights activists and leaders in the 
Alabama Black Belt. The eight were charged with 
felonies connected to alleged absentee vote fraud 
committted during the 1984 Primary and Primary Run-Off 
elections in Perry and Greene counties. There have, so 
far, been no indictments in Sumter, Wilcox or Lowndes 

counties, the other three counties under investigation. 

The investigations and trials spawned controversy over 
the FBI's . investigatory methods and the selective 
prosecution of black leaders as well as those whites 
involved with black activist orgnizations. Out of that 
controversy came Smith v. Meese, a suit filed by the 
Southern Poverty Law Center, charging the federal 
government with selective prosecution in their 
investigations. Black Belt activists and, later, black 
leaders at every level of government called for 
congressional hearings to be held regarding the 
investigations and the charges of selective 
prosecution. The House Subcommittee on Civil and 
Constitutional Rights conducted hearings on September 
26 in Washington, D.C. AVRP Advisory Board Member Ira 
Burnim testified at these hearings. 

  

Perry County defendants Albert Turner, Evelyn Turner 
and Spencer Hogue were acquitted of all charges on July 
5, 1985 in Selma by a federal jury consisting of ‘both 
blacks and whites. Federal prosecutors had previsouly 
commented that their case against the "Marion 3" was 
"air-tight". After the trial, Albert Turner spoke about 
the investigations and prosecutions to civil rights 
groups in Washington and in New York at the New Music 
Seminar, a gathering of political and social activist 
musicians. Turner also testified at the subcommittee 
hearings in Washington, D.C. 

On June 11th, four blacks and one white associated with 
the Greene County Civic League, 2 black civil rights 
organization, were also indicted for alleged absentee 
vote fraud. The "Greene County 5" consisted of 

defendants Spiver Gordon, a national director of the 
SCLC and a city councilperson in Eutaw; James Colvin, 
mayor of Union; Bessie Underwood and Frederick Daniels 
of Eutaw; and Bobbie Nell Simpson of Forkland. A sixth 
indictee, Raymond Robinson, pleaded guilty to a felony 
and was given a sentence of five years on probation. 
Gordon and Daniels were named co-defendants and 
separate trials were scheduled for the remaining three 

defendants. 

Mayor James Colvin of Union was the first of the five 

to be tried. After a week-long trial, Colvin's case 
ended in a mistrial when the jury reported that they 
were hopelessly deadlocked and could not return eo 

verdict. 

Of the 12-member Colvin jury, only two members were 
black. expert witnesses 

jury selection 
During a three-day hearing, 

for the defense testified that the 
process in the Northern District of Alabama was 

discriminatory against potential black jurors. Federal 
District Judge William Acker denied defendant's "motion 
to preclude the United States from exercising 
preemptory challenges in a racially discriminatory 

manner." 

A motion to dismiss all charges against Colvin on the 
basis of selective prosecution was also denied by U.S. 
Magistrate Edwin L. Nelson. In a three-day 

investigation that was conducted by Alabama Voting 
Rights Project staff and the Southern Poverty Law 

Center, numerous incidences of voter irregularities and 
suspected voter fraud on the part of the Greene County 

Civic League's political opposition were uncovered. 
Despite this evidence, motions for dismissal of the 

charges - against the Greene County defendants on the 
basis of selective prosecution were all denied. 

trial was schduled to take place in 
Colvin pleaded quilty to a 

encouraging, 
absentee 

second 
Before the trial, 

“willfully and improperly \ 
causing the execution ot 

Colvin's 

November. 

misdemeanor of 

soliciting and 

Page 3 

ballots and affadavits in a manner contrary to the 
law.” He was given two years of probation and fined 
$1,000. Colvin will be able to retain his seat as 
mayor of Union; Colvin has served in that capacity 
since the town's incorporation in 1978. 

Bessie Underwood of Eutaw pleaded guilty to a 

misdemeanor of "willfully depriving voters of Greene 
County of a fair and impartial electoral process by 

causing false and fraudulent ballots to be returned to 

the absentee election manager." Underwood later 
explained that she pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor 
because she wanted to do "the right thing" and that a 
lengthy trial would have separated her from her two 
small children. Due to the Supreme Court's 1985 
decision in Hunter v. Underwood, neither Colvin nor 
Underwood will lose their right to vote as a result of 

their pleading guilty to misdemeanors. In Hunter, the 

Supreme Court struck down Alabama's law depriving the 

right to vote to those found guilty of or pleading 
guilty to misdemeanors. 

  

Bobbie 

Greene 

counts. 

Prior 
Simpson 

a white civil rights activist in 
felony 

Nell Simpson, 
County, was originally charged with 31 

Twenty were dropped by the prosecution just 
to her trial in September. In her first trial, 

was acquitted on one count and a mistrial was 

declared on the other ten counts by Federal District 
Judge William Acker after 2 1/2 days of deadlocked 
deliberations. At her second trial Simpson was 
acquitted of the remaining 10 charges. 

Co-defendants Gordon and Daniels case went to trial on 
Sept. 23. Gordon and Daniels were the only Greene 
County defendants who were tried by an all-white jury. 
Federal prosecutors utilized all of their opportunities 
to "strike" to get rid of the potential black jurors in 
the jury pool. Defense attorneys argued for a mistrial 
on the basis of the all-white jury issue both in 
presiding Federal District Judge E.B. Haltom's court 
and ‘the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Both courts 

denied the motion for mistrial. 

Daniels was exonerated of all nine felony charges by 
the jury. The same jury acquitted Gordon of 14 charges 
and a mistrial was declared by Haltom on an additional 
three. The jury returned to the court three times 
deadlocked on the remaining four charges. Each time 
Haltom would not accept the jury's assertion that it 
was hopelessly deadlocked and ordered them to resume 
their deliberations. Eventually the jury returned 
guilty verdicts on the remaining four counts but 
suggested clemency for Gordon. Haltom rejected their 
suggestion, and the jury finally delivered convictions 
on the remaining four counts. 

Haltom's actions with the jury were widely criticized 
by black leaders. SCLC President Joseph Lowery called 
for a full judicial inquiry into Haltom's handling of 
the case. 

Gordon was sentenced by Haltom on November 14. In long 
introductory remarks, the judge referred to himself as 

a long-time friend and ally of the civil rights 
movement by citing the stands that he took as an 
Alabama legislator 1n opposition to the poll tax and 

miscegenation laws and his support for reapportionment 
of the state legislature. Haltom sentenced Gordon to 
three years for each felony count and then suspended 

all but 6 months of the sentence. He also fined Gordon 

$1,000 and ordered him to perform 500 ‘hours of 
community service. Haltom then encouraged Gordon to 
appeal his conviction because of the "very significant" 
questions of law involved. Gordon's attorneys have 
filed for an appeal. 

Gordon is scheduled to begin his sentence on January 6. 
1f Gordon loses his appeal he will be forced to 

relinquish his seat on the Eutaw City Council because 
Alabama law prohibits those with felony convictions 
from voting or holding political office until they have 
completed their sentence and are issued a pardon from 
the state Board of Padons and Paroles. Haltom left it 
up to the remaining members of the Eutaw City Council 
to decide whether Gordon can maintain his seat as a 
City councilperson. 

 



NATIONAL GROUPS PROPOSE recisTilon REFORM; TAKE INTEREST IN ALFA 
  

aftermath of the voter registration campaigns 
for the 1984 General Election, one of the 

registration drives in over two decades, a 
national voter registration reform movement has 
evolved. Organizations ranging from Human SERVE to the 
NAACP Legal Defense Fund to the Churches Committee on 
Voter Registration/Education have joined a national 

coalition supporting such voter registration reform 

issues as mail-in registration, election-day 
registration and the distribution of registration forms 

in public utility and state offices. 

In the 

conducted 

largest 

The Campaign for Full Political Participation: 
  

organizations have gathered under the 
the Campaign for Full Political 
The Campaign held a strategy conference 
DC on September 13 where they adopted a 

registration reform. 

Many of these 

umbrella of 
Participation. 
in Washington, 

four-pronged plan of action for 

In a report detailing the results of the strategy 
conference, the Campaign stated, "We are committed to 
build{ing] a working coalition of civil rights, social 
service, women's and other consitutency groups who 
share our goals. While we will use our own resources 
as private voluntary groups, ultimately we believe that 
state, local and federal governments should assume 

their responsibility to assure that every citizen has ar 
opportunity to participate fully in political decision 
making." 

The Campaign points out that, as a result of the 1984 
registration drive, registration increased by a net 
total of 12.1 million over 1980. This marks the first 
increase in registration since the 1968 election. The 
Campaign reports that much of the increase was due to 
the registration of the traditionally underrepresented 
women and minority voters. In 1984, women voted in 
higher percentages than men, and progress was made in 
reducing the gap between white and non-white voters. 

However, despite the progress made in 1984, the 
Campaign points out that there is still much work to be 
done both in the area of voter registration and with 
reform of registration laws. According to the Campaign 

only 61% of this country's voting-age population were 
registered to vote as of the end of 1984, and that only 
53% of the voting-age population voted in the 1984 
General Election. The organization estimates that there 
are at least 60 million unregistered voters. 

The Campaign has proposed a number of reforms designed 

to make the registration of these 60 million people 

easier. Legislation will be proposed on the 
local, state and federal levels that would provide for 
election-day registration: mail-in registration; a 
postage-paid uniform registration form for statewide 
and national use; and the distribution of that form 

through the public utilities, public offices and 

through the postal service's change-of-address cards. 
Through litigation, the group plans to challenge 
restrictions on the appointment of deputy registrars; 

the pratice of selective purging; violations of the 

Voting Rights Act; and demands for special 
identification at the polls. 

The group hopes to ‘encourage state, 

municipal executives to offer 
services in public agency offices (e.g. unemployment 

offices, food stamp offices, etc.). They also hope to 
encourage private welfare and health agencies to make 
voter registration services available at their offices, 
as well. They also hope to streamline the registration 
and election process through administrative reform. 

county and 
voter registration 

To obtain 

activities of 

Participation, 

622 West 113th Street, 

information ‘or show support for the 
the Campaign for Full Electoral 

please write to The Human SERVE Fund at 
New York, NY 10025. 

Mail Registration: 
  

A national campaign by voter registration activists for 
mail registration has brought the issue to three state 
legislatures where it has enjoyed a mixture of success. 
Mail registration would allow voters to register 
through the mail rather than having to travel to a 
voter registration office. The procedure usually 

entails the completion of a standardized registration 
form, gathering the signatures of two witnesses and 
mailing the form into the county board of registrars. 
It is believed that mail registration , in addition to 

other reforms like increased use of deputy registrars 
and election-day registration, will both increase voter 

registration and participation. 

After an almost twenty-year battle for mail 
registration, the Nebraska unicameral House voted 1in 

May to institute mail voter registration. A strong 
coalition of civil rights groups, voter registration 
organizations, trade unions and moderate and liberal 

politicians were largely responsible for final passage 

of the bill. 

the 

next 

were introduced this fall ‘in 
Massachusetts legislature and will be introduced 

year in. ‘Conneticut. The activist "coalition that 
sponsored the Massachusetts bills will take their 

campaign to the streets because unfavcrable committee 
reports killed the bill in the "legislature. They hope 
to gather enough supporting signatures to place the 
issue on the state ballot in 1986. 

Similar bills 

Those 

registration 

prepared in 

Human SERVE 

organization) 

10025. 

interested in proposing that Alabama adopt mail 
may obtain copies of the legislation 
each of those states by writing to the 
Fund (a non-profit voter registration 
at 622 West 113th Street, New York, NY 

Groups Interested in Voter Registration in Alabama: 
    

five national organizations have expressed 
interest in and/or are undertaking voter registration 
campaigns in Alabama. The Citizens Education Fund 
(CEF), headed by Hulbert James, was organized in 1984 

to concentrate on increasing voter turnout. The 

organization is usually associated with the Rev. Jesse 

Jackson. The CEF 1s composed of representatives of 
the black, Asian and Latino communities and is 

concentrating its work in three areas. The group will 
challenge electoral barriers especially in areas where, 
although black voter registration is high, black voter 
turnout is low due to these various barriers. They will 
also concentrate part of their effort on publishing 
voter education materials. They will target their 
registration efforts on youths aged 18-24 and will 
concentrate mostly on local races. The CEF will mke 
grants available to local areas to develop projects. 

At least 

Another organization interested in Alabama, Operation 
Big VOTE! works mostly through grassroots membership 
organizations. The Churches Committee on Voter 

Registration/Education, a project of Interfaith Action 
for Economic Justice, is a coalition. of religious 
organizations interested 1n increasing both voter 

registration and turnout among the traditionally 

underrepresented. Other organizations involved in voter 
registration in Alabama are the National Education 

Association and Project Vote. 

voter 

Alabama, 

for 

Avenue 

reglstration 

contact 

Voter 

NE, 

more 1nvolved in the 
of these organizations in 

Thurches Commit Lee 

1310 maryland 

To become 

activities 

Debra Livingston at the 

Registration/Education, 

Washington, DC. . 20002.  



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HOUSTON COUNTY BLACKS PROTEST fPPOSED COUNTY COMMISSION PLAN i 
Page 5 

  

At the next meeting on October 29 meeting, black 

Houston County residents and attorney Steve Caley of 

the Legal Services Corporation urged the commission to 
adopt the five district plan because it would be 
virtually impossible, under a four district plan, to 
draw a district with a strong black voting majority. 
Caley rejected a proposed four district plan from the 
Houston County Commission that contained a district 
with a 69% black majority. The attornev pointed out 
that if voting age and voter registration information 
were taken into account, the district would have far 

less than the 65% black population necessary to 
constitute a predominantly black election district. 

Under the five district plan supported by blacks, a 79% 
black district would maintain a black voting majority 
even after voting age and registration data are taken 

into account. 

Caley stated that black residents would compromise 
regarding the election of the commission chairperson. 
The commissioners have proposed that the chairperson be 
elected in a countywide vote in order that he/she might 
be more accountable to all the residents of the county. 
Blacks have suggested that the position of chairperson 
rotate among the commissioners on an annual basis. 

At a meeting the next day, the commissioners decided to 
send both the four and five district plans the U.S. 
Justice Department. The body decided not to formally 
submit the five district, but only to send it as a sign 

of "good faith". 

Three days later, on November 1, the commission 
rescinded their earlier decision to send both proposals 
and voted to send only the four district plan to the 
Justice Department for preclearance. Houston County 

Attorney Richard Ramsey explained that it would not 

"look right" for the commission to send the five 

district plan because only the four district plan was 

being formally submitted for preclearance, and he 
advised the Commissionnot to submit the five district 

plan. 

Ramsey also said that he would not continue to 
negotiate with Caley because the black group will not 
compromise their request for five single-member- 
districts. Caley has said that he will file an 
objection with the Justice Department urging them to 
refuse preclearance of the commission's proposed plan. 

SUMMIT RESULTS IN PLANS TO REENACT MISS. FREEDOM 

November 14, over the protests of the county's black 

on ents: the Houston County commission has submitted 

Ye eclearance to the Justice Department a four 
r 

. . 

fo gle-member-district plan for the county commission. 

Members of the Houston County Democratic Conference, 

had proposed a 5-district plan which the commission 

rejected. 27% of the county's 77,762 residents" are 

black. 

In October, the Justice Department rejected an earlier 

Houston County plan that would have created four 

districts but retained at-large voting in county 

commission elections. The department criticized the at- 

large plan because it did not "offer black voters an 

opportunity to participate in the electoral process 

comparable to that which would be afforded if “the 

county were to utilize a neutrally apportioned single- 

member-district election system." The Justice 

Department also pointed out that, since the black 

population is highly concentrated in Houston county, it 

would not be difficult to draw a predominantly black 

district. 

Later, on October 22, the county commission voted to 

approve a single-member-district plan that retained the 

originally proposed four districts. On that same day, 
representatives Of the ‘Houston @ County Democratic 
Conference urged the commissioners to adopt a plan of 
not more than 5 nor less than 7 districts with at least 
one district having more than a 65% black population. 
In reply, Whiddon said that the commission would 
continue to propose a four district plan but that they 
would redraw the lines to incorporate a larger number 
of blacks into one district. The commission's original 
plan proposed a black district of 54%, less than the 
65% threshold needed to make a strong black district. 

Three black Dothan residents have taken the controversy 

of single-member-districts to federal court. Conyers Vv. 
Houston County, a suit requesting that single-member- 
district elections be implemented before 1986, was 
filed in September. Houston County will hold their 

next county commission elections in 1986. The case has 

been assigned to Federal District Judge Truman Hobbs. 

  

DEMOCRATIC SUMMER 
  

On Saturday, November 23, the Campaign for a New South 
(CFNS) sponsored a Black Belt Solidarity Summit at 
Selma University "to. call for solidarity and 
solutions... an agenda for progress and excellence." 
Out of the day-long conference, which was attended by 
numerous local and national black leaders and 
activists, came plans for the recreation of the 

Missisippi Freedom Democratic Summer that will be aimed 
at addressing the "chilling effect" that the Black Belt 
investigations may have on black voters in the Black 
Belt and on their level of participation in 1986 
elections. 

Task forces were formed in the morning sessions and 
worked throughout the day on the issues of education, 
organizing, politics, economics, health, the youth, 
litigation, religion and communications. 

At the conclusion of the task force sessions, ad hoc 
committees were formed to pusue the suggestions made at 
the conference. Later in the day, a candlelight vigil 

was held to commemorate "the struggle against apartheid 
in South Africa and against racism and poverty in the 
Black Belt.” 

Also as a result of the conference, efforts are being 

undertaken to reenact the Mississippi Freedom 
Democratic Summer of twenty years ago. During the 
summer of 1986, activists from throughout the country 
will be asked to come back to the Black Belt to address 
the voting issues that remain problems even twenty-one 

years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act! 

Activists will conduct voter registration and education 

region's black voters. It is hoped that the activities 
of the summer will serve to negate the "chilling 

effect" that the Justice Department's investigations 
have had on black voters in the Black Belt. 

At the end of the conference there was a rumor that the 
day-long conference might possibly lead to the creation 
of a new state-wide issue-oriented organization that 
would focus on electoral politics. Further information 
could not be obtained at the time to substantiate the 
rumor. 

For more information on the Black Belt Solidarity 

Summit, the resulting Ad Hoc committees or the 
reenactment of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic 
Summer, contact Lawrence Wofford of the Campaign for a 

New South at P.O. Box 1305, Selma, Alabama 36701. 

TALLADEGA PARTIES MEET WITH MEDIATOR 
    

Advisory Board Member Ed Still reports that the tirst 

meetings between Talladega city officials and would-be 

black plaintiffs who are seeking to change that city's 

at-large election system have been scheduled for 

December 10th and 11th. The meetings will be conducted 

by a mediator from the U.S. Justice Department's 

Community Belations Service ln the "hopes that: a 
settlement between the two groups can be acheived 
without costly and lengthy litigation. The would-be 
plaintiffs include members of the Talladega County 

Democratic Conference, a chapter of the ADC. 

 



  

NEW PUBLICATIONS DETAIL oie iin STUDIES, VOTING rns 

Page 6 

  

  

Although the results of the 1984 general election have 
long since been tallied, there has been a recent 
deluge of reports analyzing the effects of the massive 

voter registration drives that were conducted prior to 
the election. Voter registration experts are split 
over their interpretations of the effect that 

registering the traditionally underrepresented -— 
women, racial minorities and the poor -- had on the 
election. 

Other recent publications detail voting barriers, voter 
registration purges and the effects of majority 
vote/runoff primaries. Handbooks are also available 
to assist groups develop registration campaigns 
targeted at low-income individuals, minorities and 

public-assistance recipients. 

Copies of the reports described below should be 
available by contacting the addresses provided. 

Subject: Voting tendencies of new registrants in 1984 
General Election 

Source: Church Committee on Voter Registration 

110 Maryland Avenue NE 
Washington, DC 20002 

Subject: Negligible effect of new registrants on 1984 
General Election 

Source: Committee for the Study of the American 
Electorate 
421 New Jersey Avenue SE 
Washington, DC 20003 

Subject: Effectiveness of 1984 registration efforts; 
effects of registration on level of 
participation in elections 

Source: Human SERVE 
622 West 113th Street 

New York, NY 10025 

Subject: "Voting and Registration in the Election of 

1984" 
Source: U.S. Bureau of Census 

Washington, D.C. 

Subject: Voting barriers in the South 
Source: Citizens Commission on Civil Rights 

620 Michigan Avenue NE 
Washington, DC 

Subject: How to respond to official purges of voter 

registration rolls 
Source: "Monitor" Magazine (Feb./March 1985) 

Voting Rights Act Monitoring and Litigation 

Project 

League of Women Voters 
1730 M Street NW 
Washington, DC 20036 

Subject: 

Source: 

Subject: 

Author: 

source: 

Subject: 

Author: 

Source: 

All of 
the Publications Department of the 

161 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA Touncil, 

Subject: 

Subject: 

Subject: 

Subject: 

Subject: 

Subject: 

Subject: 

"How to Develop a Plan to Register Low- 

Income and Minority Voters” 
"Training Volunteers to Register Low-Income 
and Minority Voters on Line or in a Waiting 

Room" 
Project VOTE! 
201 16th Street NW 
Washington, DC 20036 

"the Historical Origins of the Run-Off 

Primary" 
Morgan J. Kousser 

"Focus" Magazine (June 1984) 

"The Majority Vote Requirement: Its Use and 

Abuse in the South" 
Laughlin MacDonald, Director 
Southern Regional Office, ACLU 
"Urban Lawyer" Magazine 
National Quarterly on Urban Law 

1155 East 60th Street 
Chicago, IL 60637 

the following publications are available from 
Southern Regional 

30303 

Political changes in the South since 1965 

passage of Voting Rights Act 

"Forty Years Since the White Primary" 
SRC 40th Anniversary Paper #1440 ($6.00) 

"Black Officeholding and Political Devel- 
opment in the Rural South" #1754 ($2.00) 

"Black Belt Schools Beyond Desegregation” 

#3810 ($2.00) 

"An Analysis of Voting Patterns in Alabama 
and Georgia: the Presidential Primary of 
March 13, 1984" #8720 (55.00) 

"The State of Voting Rights in Georgia in 

1982: 16 years of federal enforcement of the 

Voting Rights Act" #8716 ($3.00) 

"Government in the Sunshine: Open 

Records/Open Meetings)’ Alabama Report 

#4228 ($2.00) 

  

  

THE ALABAMA VOTING RIGHTS PROJECT 
CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF ALABAMA 

P.O. BOX 447 
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36101 

Vol. 11; No. 1 

  

Non Profit Organization 

US Postage 

PAID 
Montgomery, Al. 

Permit No. 99       

  

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