Final figures show that an additional 23% percent of the electorate went to the polls on November 4th. Yes, indeed! Sixty-three percent of Montgomery County’s registered voters participated in this general election.

People took their responsibility of active citizenship to heart and made themselves aware of the issues, their concerns and gave serious study of the candidates and judged them accordingly. This is a momentous accomplishment. One of the primary pillars of American democracy was reaffirmed in Montgomery County, Tennessee. An active and engaged citizenry is necessary for the earnest governance of the people’s business. It is hoped that this new sense of concern and involvement will continue on into 2010 and and 2012. There is much work ahead for us all. Let’s be about getting it done. Because, now you see, “Yes, WE Can!”

As I have for nearly 40 years, I cast my vote today, though having seen the crowds, which includes hundred of new voters, waiting to exercise the privilege and right to vote, I was wondering just how long it would take. Less than 15 minutes. With at least 50 people ahead of me.

Six stations have trained staff ready and waiting to check your credentials, verify your ID, and move you on to a hallway where the ballot is posted for you to review (if you haven’t already). From there, it’s a few steps to the machines, and a few buttons to push.

There is ample parking at the Veteran’s Plaza lot, and the lane leading to the commission door is lined with enthusiastic campaigners and signs. Plenty of handicapped parking slots have been earmarked, and given that the pace of voting is quick, there seems to be a constant availability of handicapped parking slots for those who are mobility impaired.

Remember that no campaign badges, buttons, bumper stickers or other political material can be brought to the voting site, and discussion of the issues and candidates is prohibited in the waiting lines.

Don’t be alarmed at the number of voters ahead of you; it is a finely tuned process that, so far, is doing just what it is supposed to do. There’s no excuse not to vote. Not even the lines.

After the epidemic of primary race voter apathy, the 100-people lines are a breath of fresh air.

Terry McMoore

The last day to register to vote in Montgomery County is October 6.Early voting begins October 15.

The right to vote and exercising your right to vote is the most valuable constitutional right we have. It is both a right and a privilege.

If you don’t vote, you deserve the government you get. It doesn’t matter which side of the political fence you’re on, because all Americans have the same issues and concerns for their families and their country.

The economy, the war, taxes, education, health care, social security, women rights and, especially in our community, veteran’s rights are at the top of the list in every household.

Many people over the centuries have fought, marched and even died so we could have the right to vote, yet many still don’t vote. In the August primary election in Montgomery County, fewer than 12 percent of voters participated. With this kind of turn out how do we expect to ever hold our elected officials accountable to the public?

Some say the system is broken, so that is why they don’t vote. There is some truth about the broken part, but by not voting we allow the same governmental practices to continue regardless of which party is in power.

Your vote is your voice. I am starting to take the same position as most politicians: If you don’t vote then I don’t want to hear your complaining. Ever wonder why your calls, letters and e-mails to your local, state, and national representatives don’t ever get answered? It’s because any smart politician checks to see if you are a registered voter first, then your voting record over the years and how you voted.

This information is public record and if I have it — which I do — then you can bet the politicians have it, too.

Another excuse I hear for not voting is the claim that “my vote does not count or does not matter.” Well, let me give you a little history lesson.

In 1800, when the results of the electoral college votes were opened by both Houses of Congress, there was a tie vote for President between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. That threw the election of president into the House of Representatives where Thomas Jefferson was elected our third president by a one vote margin.

In 1824, the House of Representatives defeated front runner Andrew Jackson by one vote and elected John Quincy Adams as the nation’s sixth president.

In a 1999 city election in Hillsborough County, Fla., one of the city council candidates won by a single vote.

And in 2000 the U.S. presidential election was decided by less than 1 percent of the vote.

Even felons don’t have an excuse for not getting registered to vote.

In 2006 our Tennessee state legislators passed a bill that specified the following: If you are off of parole and have paid all your fines and restitution to the courts and state, and if your child support payments are up to date then you can apply at your local election commission to have your voting rights restored.

Folks, it does not get any simpler than that.

Many election commissions allow you to register to vote online, but personally I prefer that you visit the election commission in person or just drop by the headquarters of the political party headquarters of your choice.

Either way you need to get it done! Register to vote by the Oct. 6 deadline. It sets a good example for our youth and it’s your personal responsibility!

Tennessee NAACP members will be in Clarksville for their 62nd Annual State Conference, to be held at the Riverview Inn Hotel at 501 College Street in Clarksville. The NAACP is one of the leading organizations in this country and continues to fight for the rights of people in this country.

With only one week to go before the voter registration deadline on October 6, the NAACP wants to mobilize its members and the community to register, new voters before the deadline, and begin their “Get Out The Vote” Campaign.

Early voting in Tennessee will start on October 15. Tennessee still has over 100,000 un-registered voters in the state.

“People need to realize that voting in this election will affect our lives and our communities for years to come. Everything in this Country is broken, our economy, our health care system, and the rights of workers.  It is time you stand up and make your voice heard by voting.”  ~~ Marilyn Brown, Chair of the State Labor and Industry Committee

Speakers include, Mrs. Gloria J. Sweet-Love, President of the Tennessee State Conference, Mr. Fred Hammond, International Vice President of Human Affairs for the United Steel Workers, Keith Caldwell, Director of the Urban EpiCenter and Stephen Fotopoulos, Director Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and local advocates and community leaders.

Please call the Tennessee NAACP State Office at (731) 660-5580 or email for further information.

At a time when simple survival and finding a place to live is uppermost in the minds of thousands of American citizens displaced by Hurricane Ike and other seasonal storms of the past few months, the presidential election can easily be pushed aside.

But what happens when voters are disenfranchised by Mother Nature? If they can’t return home, or if home no longer exists? If, after the time to re-register for Election 2008 in a new community has passed, they are citizens without a ballot box? If they don’t have a permanent address from which to register?

Given the magnitude of issues facing America as a nation, given the magnitude of issues facing ordinary people hammered by forces outside of their control, it is hoped that, along with sustenance for life, that sustenance via absentee ballots or some alternative way to vote is offered to our displaced citizens. The potential exists for thousands and thousands of votes to vanish in the winds and waters of our recent storms.

Let not any force, including Planet Earth, deprive even one American of the opportunity, the constitutional right to cast a ballot and be an active participant in the choosing of our next president.

NASHVILLE, TN (8.6.08) – In a statement about the fragile state of our electoral system, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., singled out Nashville-based filmmaker David Earnhardt’s election integrity documentary, UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections, saying that it offered “warnings about the fragile state of our electoral system” and “evidence of how voting machines themselves can create problems.”

UnCounted made its premiere in November, 2007, to a standing room only crowd at Nashville’s Belcourt Theater, where Clarksville Online was the only media present to cover the event. Clarksville Online and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in December, 2007, teamed up with Uncounted producers David and Patricia Earnhardt to co-sponsor an equally packed screening of this film in Clarksville.

UnCounted details the issues of the past several elections, examining both the broader scope of problems with electronic voting and the focusing that same lens on a number of the most controversial problems including malfunctioning or potentially manipulated voting machines, the lack of verifiable voting (the paper ‘trail’), and an insufficient number of machines at a number of polls.

In his statement, Congressman Jackson held up Michigan and Tennessee, states that will hold their primary elections this week, as examples where people go to the polls without having an explicit right to vote.

“The affirmative right to vote is not in the Constitution. Until we put it there we will continue to have presidents selected by the Supreme Court, partisan officials crafting rules in their favor, and voters disenfranchised by political games or plain old sloppiness. The Advancement Project report details a dizzying array of Election Day meltdowns, and in Uncounted there’s evidence of how voting machines themselves can create problems. Without the constitutionally-protected right to vote, we don’t have the power to make sure that every vote is counted in a complete, fair and efficient manner.”

– Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

“Every Congress since 2001, I’ve introduced House Joint Resolution 28 (H.J. Res. 28), legislation calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting everyone the affirmative right to vote. It’s time to scrap the states’ rights-based system we have now, and place the right to vote alongside the constitutionally-protected right to free speech. Voting gives you the political power to protect all of your other rights. That power is the bedrock of our democracy. It should not be left to political whims, economic downturns and disenfranchising procedures,” said Jackson.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee

Conference highlights include:

• Marc Mauer addressing The US Record on Punishment (The Sentencing Project, Washington, DC);
• Jeff Manza discussing key findings published in his book Locked Out, Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy (Northwestern University, Evanston, IL);
• Rachel Bloom contrasting international disenfranchisement practices with the US record (National ACLU, Washington, DC); and
• Nancy Abudu highlighting pending challenges to the child support and restitution provisions of the current Tennessee law (ACLU Southern Voting Rights Project, Atlanta, GA).

Workshops are designed to:

• Answer attorney and paralegal questions about the new law and share methods for addressing voter restoration issues (CLE credits available);
•  Offer agencies, organizations and churches strategies to help former felons register to vote (CEU credits available);
• Help former felons and their family members to improve their public speaking skills to better persuade the public to support voter re-enfranchisement.

For further information or to register contact the ACLU-TN Right to Vote Campaign at 615-320-7143 or rtv@aclu-tn.org, or visit the website at www.aclu-tn.org.