NAACP Urges UN to Probe Racism In U.S. Elections

Patrick Goodenough of CNSNews.com reports an NAACP delegation visiting Geneva hosted a panel on the “disenfranchisement” of U.S. citizens and addressed the U.N. Human Rights Council. The NAACP urged the U.N.’s “special rapporteur” on racism to investigate “racially discriminatory election laws,” and said the U.N. should then make recommendations that would restore the political and voting rights of all U.S. citizens.

NAACP Senior Vice President for Advocacy Hilary Shelton told the panel that the restrictions on voting “prevent those most in need of an advocate from the ability to elect someone who will represent their concerns:  the need for a decent public education, for a health care system that addresses their specific demographic needs, as well as the creation of decent jobs, a functional criminal justice system and other basic human needs.”

The NAACP's Lorraine Miller opposed any attempt to keep felons from voting: "We remain deeply concerned with the continued practice and discriminatory impact of felony disenfranchisement.” This is the second NAACP visit to the HRC in six months. Read more at CNSNews.com.