Press Releases
Rev. Al Sharpton To Urge “Souls To The Polls” At South Florida’s Largest Black Church Sunday August 5th—The Last Sunday For Early Voting Before The Aug 14th Elections —
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!!! MEDIA ADVISORY!!!MEDIA ADVISORY!!!
REV. AL SHARPTON TO URGE “SOULS TO THE POLLS” AT SOUTH FLORIDA’S LARGEST BLACK CHURCH SUNDAY AUGUST 5TH—THE LAST SUNDAY FOR EARLY VOTING BEFORE THE AUG 14TH ELECTIONS —
AFTER URGING FLORIDIANS TO VOTE, REV. SHARPTON & NAN WILL CUT THE RIBBON FOR NAN’S NEW MIAMI-DADE OFFICE
WHO:
Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network (NAN)
Bishop Victor T. Curry, Pastor of New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International
WHERE:
New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International
2300 NW 135 Street, Miami, FL 33167
WHEN:
Sunday, August 5, 2012
11:00 a.m.
2:30 p.m.
Ribbon cutting to celebrate National Action Network’s new Miami-Dade office
New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International
BACKGROUND:
Reverend Al Sharpton and National Action Network’s Ministers Division will continue NAN’S “Voter Engagement Tour” in Miami, Florida, on Sunday, August 5 and again on Tuesday, August 7th at New Birth Baptist Church of Faith International where Bishop Victor T. Curry presides. NAN’s voter engagement tour is being led by Pastor Michael A. Walrond, Jr., head of NAN’s Ministers Division in conjunction with Education for a Better America. Sunday’s event is outlined above. On Tuesday, August 7th the event will start at 11:00 a.m. and the day-long program will begin with a luncheon with clergy members with a focus on creating an infrastructure in each city to continue voter education and protection. Teaming up with Education for a Better America, NAN will host a workshop during the latter part of the afternoon designed to inform the voting public and engagement volunteers about new and existing laws that will impact them in their respective communities. The evening will feature a rally at New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International at 7:30 p.m.
The voter engagement tour kicked off in Florida last month and will tour the country in key states across the country where voter suppression and disenfranchisement is practiced and voter identification laws are prevalent.
Florida’s elections process is once again in the national spotlight as the debate over voter ID laws continues to escalate. Florida will request or require voters to show ID (e.g. Florida driver’s license; Florida ID card issued by the Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; U.S. passport; Debit or credit card; Military identification; Student identification; Retirement center identification; Neighborhood association ID; or Public assistance identification) at the polls on Election Day this November. The Justice Department has filed suit to stop the practice, arguing that it violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities, and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which governs voter purges. (NPR/August 2/2012). According to the Florida Division of Elections there are 11,401,072 registered voters in Florida. Because of the specific requirements of Florida’s Voter ID law many of these voters could be turned away at the polls on Election Day, with significant consequences for the state’s — and the nation’s — election outcomes. Thirty-three states, including Florida, have enacted voting identification laws, ranging from legislation requiring photo identification to cast a ballot to those allowing some other sort of identification, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. (NCSL/August 2/2012)
From now until Election Day, NAN’s goal is to educate and empower the electorate on how to combat these restrictive new voter requirements and ultimately protect voter rights. NAN will tour many of the states and cities impacted by these new draconian laws and align efforts with the local community.
NAN’s mission is to work to ensure that every vote in every community across the nation is counted. Voter suppression efforts are threatening the notion of democracy as we know it. When about 5 million Americans may be disenfranchised from the polls this November, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, we understand that complacency is not an option.
For additional information, please contact the National Action Network at (212) 690-3070.
Media Contact:
Rachel Noerdlinger
[email protected]
VISIT WWW.NATIONALACTIONNETWORK.NET