[Recently] I attended the annual National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Convention in Washington, D.C. While we were there, an extraordinary amount of energy and effort was exerted to ensure the 1965 Voting Rights Act was reaffirmed, extended by Congress and signed by the President.

For those who are uninformed or unaware, it was this legislation that insured and still protects the right of African-Americans to vote. The 1965 VRA prevents obstacles from being imposed on anyone that would prevent or discourage them from voting as an American citizen.

We should not need a special act to give us this inalienable right we have and deserve, as American citizens. The extension of the VRA was approved after much controversy in which several senators and House representatives were accused of trying to prevent passing the extension. The fight is not over yet because this extension is for only 25 years.

The theme for the NAACP convention and the local NAACP branch’s call to action is “Valuing our vote: voting our values.”

In the most recent primary election on July 18, 2006, the voter turnout for African-Americans who are registered in Fayette County was appalling and a slap in the face of those who fought, in some cases died, and those who are still fighting to keep our right to vote.

Only 23 percent of the total number of registered voters voted. The percentage of African-Americans voting was far less than this. The result of this apathy is now the latest news in our local newspapers and in diners and other places where some claim this as a victory over complacent voters.

Those who failed to vote because they “feel that their vote would not matter or count” should be ashamed. I am not, nor will I ever be, a slave to partisan politics. The great civil rights organization that I am proud to be a member of is also non-partisan, but we know that the power of the electoral process is diminished when we fail to exercise our votes.

I seriously doubt whether those who failed to vote in the recent election fully understand the enormous power citizens have when they make known their position by their use of the ballot.

We must develop a profound understanding of the political process and begin to fully appreciate that this is the process by which our elected representatives develop policy and transform this policy into practice. In our great democracy this is the process that determines who gets what, when, where, and how much.

In his great speech in Washington, D.C., on the occasion of celebrating the 1954 landmark decision Brown vs. BOE which integrated the schools of America, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that to deny American citizens the right to vote is a “tragic betrayal of the democratic mandates of this great society.”

By the power of our vote we can transform the calculated misdeeds of those who would deny us the right of fair representation. Our failure to vote is a travesty to our disinherited ancestors who dared only to dream of freedom.

As president of the Fayette County Branch of the NAACP I call on all registered voters to focus on the efficacy of action possible through the voting booth. We advocate not for partisan politics, but for a fundamental understanding of the potency and power in our vote.

Only by exercising our right to vote can we collectively and democratically elect those who represent our best interests and those who will maintain the quality of life we enjoy in Fayette County.

In the general election on Nov. 6, 2006, we ask all citizens of Fayette County and especially those who have not taken past elections seriously, to exercise the power in your vote.

Reverend Edward J. Johnson, Jr.
President, Fayette County (Ga.) NAACP

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