Archive - Oct 22, 2008

LEDE:  As we continue to look at one battleground state, North Carolina, history reveals it's a state with a tense racial history. 
 
For instance, the Greensboro Country Club, a plantation-styled building surrounded by luxurious homes on manicured green lawns, did not admit people of color until the late 90's.

• Voter Suppression Protection on Election Day
• Colorado Battles its Own Voter Registration Form
• Racial Legacy In North Carolina Plays Role in Presidential Election
• The US Constitution Free Zone
• Sexual Violence in Kenya

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• Nepal's Ruling Party Admits to Employing Child Soldiers
• Bomb Blast in India Could be Linked to Manipur Separatist Groups
• Lawsuit Demands the EPA Protect Air Quality in National Parks
• EU Lawmakers Criticize 'Virtual Strip Search' Security Equipment in Airports

Across the country, there's growing concern that voter suppression efforts are increasing and getting more sophisticated. Public interest, civil rights and legal groups are leading massive voter education campaigns and preparing to dispatch observers and lawyers on election day to respond to problems. Wade Henderson is President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Voter suppression tactics could disenfranchise thousands, and watchdog groups are documenting voter purge cases in Michigan, Colorado, Georgia, and Mississippi. Gerald Hebert is executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit working on election law, campaign finance and government ethics.

Taking a closer look at the swing state of Colorado, many are facing widespread voter registration problems that could impact the election. Thousands of eligible voters are being blocked from the roles because they failed to check a small box on their voter registration forms. Watchdog groups are calling the box "unnecessary," and in violation of the National Voter Registration Act and the Voting Rights Act. Community voter registration groups are demanding the Secretary of State's office accept the new voters. Meanwhile, election officials in two major counties have come out in resistance against the Secretary of State's policy by accepting the "incomplete" voter applications. Blake Wesley is in Denver and has the story.

Today we continue our special series on one battleground state, North Carolina, where  history reveals it's a state with a tense racial history. It elected US Senator Jesse Helms, the most outspoken modern day segregationist, into office five times until his retirement in 2002. Just 6 years after Helms left office, North Carolina could support the first major party African American nominee. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell is in North Carolina and brings us this report.

The American Civil Liberties Union says that border patrol has created a "constitution-free zone" over much of the United States. US Customs and Border Protection considers all land within a hundred miles of a border to be an extension of the border – and an extension of their powers. Tanya Snyder has more.

The past 20 years have seen rape and gender-based violence systematically used as a tool of war. It happened in Bosnia, in Democrat Republic of  Congo and more recently, in the post-election violence that exploded this year in Kenya.  More than six months have passed since the end of Kenya's post-election crisis which killed a thousand people and displaced half a million. And now another alarming figure has come to light. Since the start of the year, Nairobi's Women and Children's hospital has treated 1700 survivors of sexual violence. Most of them are female, many under 18.

Health workers estimate that only 1 in 4 sexual crimes are reported, meaning possibly thousands of women and children in Nairobi alone have been victims of sexual violence this year.