Louisiana groups aim to protect voter rights

• The effort follows enactment of new election laws in some states
• Voter ID is not as much of an issue in Louisiana
• Groups are hosting webinars, hosting speakers in churches and passing out fliers

WASHINGTON -- Civil rights groups and community activists in Louisiana are taking to the airwaves, knocking on doors and partnering with churches to make sure voters are prepared when they go to the polls next month.

"We try to hammer it in every chance we get," said JeNelle Chargois, who says she regularly talks about election issues on her daily radio talk show, "The Open Line," in South Louisiana. "I think there is still some confusion. I'm hoping that people will get the news and understand what the process is."

Chargois, vice president of the Louisiana NAACP, is among the community activists, civil rights groups and voting rights advocates working to educate voters across the country about election rules and changes in their states, including new voter ID laws.

The effort follows enactment of new election laws in some states, including laws that require a government-issued photo ID to vote. Supporters of the laws, mostly Republicans, say they protect against fraud. Opponents, mostly Democrats and civil rights groups, say the laws could suppress Election Day turnout among minorities, seniors and the poor.

Voter ID is not as much of an issue in Louisiana, where there has been a law in place for years, advocates say. The state law is also not as restrictive as other more controversial laws, including a new one in neighboring Mississippi.

Several of the new laws have been struck down or delayed and won't take effect this election, but civil rights groups worry voters may still be confused or may not know the valid forms of identification.

The nonpartisan National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and other groups are working "to make sure when people show up at the polls they are able to cast their vote without fear or intimidation," said the group's president, Melanie Campbell.

"Information is what is going to make a big difference," she said. "There is so much confusion. So many rules were changed."

Election Protection, a coalition of about 150 groups, has launched a national effort to inform voters. The group is sending about 4,000 monitors to potential problem areas, including New Orleans.

It has set up a national hotline (1-866-OURVOTE), and has received more than 22,000 calls - most of them requesting voter information. Voters also can reach out through Twitter, Facebook and Election Protection's mobile phone app (www.866ourvote.org/pages/election-protection-smartphone-app).

This year "is the worst and most confusing voter environment that we have seen since 2000," said Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is leading the Election Protection effort. "The good news is that there are more entities organized to protect the vote and to counteract all of this confusion."

In Louisiana, groups are hosting webinars, sending emails, hosting speakers in churches and passing out fliers.

"Folks are really beating the streets to canvass and let folks know just how important this election is," said Trupania Bonner, executive director of Moving Forward Gulf Coast Inc., a Slidell-based community group that works with organizations in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. "It's been a whirlwind of voter ID laws across the U.S. It's voter ID laws, coupled with voter purges, coupled with these billboards across the country and the talk about states' rights."

"For Southerners, all of that is bad language," he said. "We're talking about turning back the hands of time here."

Arnwine said the national coalition is working with groups in Louisiana and Mississippi to make sure there aren't roadblocks for voters. Both states have a history of discrimination in elections.

Mississippi recently passed a law that requires voters show a government-issued photo ID before they can vote. The law must be approved by the Justice Department because of the state's history of discrimination. Officials are still compiling information requested by U.S. officials, so the law will not take effect next month.

"We expect a lot of confusion," Arnwine said. "So what we're trying to do as Election Protection is voter education. We're very worried about the misinformation."

Chargois said her biggest concern is that voters have the right identification when they go to the polls.

Louisiana voters can show a driver's license or other "generally recognized" photo ID with their name and signature on it when they go to the polls, according to the Louisiana secretary of state's website. Those without a photo ID can bring documents such as utility bills that include their name and address. They must also sign an affidavit.

"It's extremely important that people make every effort to go out to vote," said Chargois. "It's not about re-electing President Obama or anybody else. Our right to vote didn't come like everyone else's."

With early voting underway in Louisiana, activists say it is also important to educate voters about their rights and initiatives on the ballot, including some constitutional amendments. Bonner said his group is providing a "cheat sheet" to help explain the amendments.

The NAACP will also have poll watchers at sites. In past elections, said Chargois, some polling sites have been closed early.

"We're on it," she said. "We live in Louisiana. There are crooked politics going on every day. We have to always be ready."

David Bositis, a senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that focuses on issues that affect black people, said the new measures, particularly voter ID laws, won't have much impact because many black voters have IDs.

Bositis said he's more concerned that too many blacks don't vote. In 2008, 40 percent of black people didn't vote, he said.

The new election laws, however, may motivate some blacks to go to the polls, Bositis said. "It's an element of perceived hostility by the Republicans towards African-Americans," he said.

Nationally and locally, groups are also turning to churches to get information to voters and urge them to vote.

The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation is partnering with black churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and a dozen other states on its voter protection and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts. In Florida, churchgoers at 200 churches plan to march to the polls to vote after Sunday service.

In Lake Charles, the Greater St. Mary Baptist Missionary Church is helping seniors get absentee ballots, and using its vans to get people, particularly seniors, to the polls.

"The biggest challenge will be to get voters to go to the polls. I just hope all this negative campaigning doesn't lead to voter apathy," said pastor Samuel Tolbert. ". . . Every vote is going to count."