On Tuesday, local and state elected officials, along with several clergy and community activists were among more than 500 people who crowded into the 34th Street Church of God to hear Civil Activist Jesse Jackson speak.

Rev. Jackson, Founder of Rainbow/Push Coalition, was in town as the guest speaker for the Coalition on Voter Empowerment Rally to encourage everyone to fight the efforts to control their voting power.

“They (the Tea Party and Republican Party) are using kamikazi tactics, because they don’t care about sacrificing anyone for their purpose. This is a civil war on the rights of states. Restrictive voting is not a Black thing, because more whites are being impacted than Blacks with this legislation.”

Rev. Jackson said you don’t stop an election, you control it by disallowing who can vote and legislating people away from the polls.

“Race has become the front man for economic control.

“We can win Florida if we organize. Let’s win the 5 protected districts and the others will fall into place. Personal contact and less social meetings. In other words, we need more face-to-face and less Facebook.”

The voting section of the department of Justice is currently reviewing the changes to Florida’s election laws that passed the legislature this year as HB 1355 for its compliance with the Voting Rights Act. [private]

Rev. Jackson presented the “Map Of Shame,” that outlines vote suppression legislation by state. The  map indicates Florida is one of the states with repressive election legislation, along with Ohio. The map also shows Florida as being one of the states that will require a photo voter identification card.

Community-based voter registration efforts in several minority communities have been suspended or permanently cancelled because of the new law’s registration requirements. The result has been restricted access to voter participation.

Florida’s new law cuts by 40% the number of days counties may now offer the opportunity for early voting, including a specific ban on early voting on the Sunday prior to election day.

The new law will also force many voters to vote by provisional ballots even though they are legal, qualified voters. These provisional ballots are only half as likely to actually be counted as a regular, normal ballot. [/private]