Jim Crow politics on display as Brooks County absentee case pro
, Macon Political Buzz Examiner
December 26, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.
The issue is absentee ballots, but during the 2010 primary season in which many voters didn't bother to vote nationwide and in Georgia during a mid-term election, the Brooks County African-American community exercised their voting rights.
Many voters in Brooks County are older African-Americans who are senior citizens in their 60's, 70's and 80's that witnessed first-hand the politics of Jim Crow in the last century, but had to deal with GBI agents coming to their doorsteps of their small rural town with guns strapped to the side asking questions.
Some were voting for the first time or the first time in years in 2010, but there has been an ongoing effort by Republicans to present more obstacles and/or threats to eligible voters so they would be discouraged not to vote.
In 2009, Nathan Deal used the phrase 'ghetto grandmothers' in a meeting that featured a Cherokee County Republican Party audience during his run for governor and used that remark to explain why he was promoting proof-of-citizenship legislation.
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Georgia is becoming more diverse with the African-American and Latino communities growing, and now the the Peach State is 45 percent minority. This is the driving force behind these efforts to discriminate.
Some may remember that Deal had written a letter to President Barack Obama and demanded that he present an acceptable long-form birth certificate in order to get on the ballot here in Georgia.
The new voter I.D. laws are designed to target minorities, but also younger people who may be college students.
Joe Mulholland had said the vote is 'sacrosanct', but supports Governor Deal's efforts of targeting African-American citizens in order to promote Jim Crow-type policies that has thrived in smaller, rural counties across the Deep South..
There is a reason why the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Act was passed in the 1960's. There is a reason why most of the South has to go through pre-clearance in regard to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
People in majority-minority cities such as Bainbridge, Arlington, Thomasville, Camilla, Moultrie, Adel , Valdosta and other cities across the state should know if their District Attorney--who is elected not appointed-- supports the Voting Rights Act or acknowledges there is a proven history of racial discrimination in regard to the voting process.
Alleged efforts by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation of harassing older African-American voters in 2010 after J. David Miller authorized an investigation is problematic.
In recent weeks, Attorney General, Eric Holder, has publicly announced a tough review of all new voter laws, including Georgia.
Mulholland alleges absentee ballot fraud happened during a November 28th appearance on FOX NEWS, but is asking the Quitman Free Press for help in obtaining more information.
If there wasn't information or proof, why indict the Quitman 10?
According to the rules for Absentee Voting: A Guide for Voters and Candidates, one of the questions that it presents is the following:
Question 4.4: If I am a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility, can I receive
assistance with my absentee ballot?
...."Only a physically disabled or illiterate voter who is a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility can receive assistance in preparing his or her ballot from one of the following: any elector who is qualified to vote in the same county or municipality as the disabled or illiterate voter; an attendant care provider or a person providing attendant care; or the mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of the disabled or illiterate voter.
The person rendering assistance to the disabled or illiterate voter in preparing the ballot must sign the oath printed on the same envelope as the oath to be signed by the voter. In addition, no person may assist more than ten such voters in any election in which there is no federal candidate on the ballot. If a federal candidate appears on a ballot, a person can assist an unlimited number of voters in that election...."
Two federal office races did appear on the July 2010 ballot in Brooks County. One was the U.S. Senate race that featured incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson and Democratic candidate Mike Thurmond. The other was for the 2nd Congressional District . Sanford Bishop was the incumbent and Mike Keown was the eventual Republican nominee.
As we enter into 2012, former Dixiecrat incumbents are trying to find a way to change the will of the people in regard to that 2010 election and in essence turn back the clock in rural Georgia.
The city of Quitman, according to the 2010 census, is 68 percent African-American and local seats that have majority-black districts that voted for President Barack Obama were being previously occupied by white Dixiecrats.
The city of Morven is approximately 57 percent African-American with a Latino population of close to nine percent.
Jim Crow politics is a part of the Peach State's history and unfortunately the lack of media coverage of what's happening in many of Georgia's rural counties has left the door open for the continued practice of voter suppression and voter intimidation and allegedly validated through the Board of Elections along with local law enforcement officials such as the District Attorney J. David Miller and now Bainbridge's Joe Mulholland.
Local accounts from the mainstream dailies Valdosta Daily Times and Albany (Ga.) Herald along with local television stations WCTV-TV in Valdosta and WALB-TV in Albany have been mostly vague or mostly limited and have focused mainly on the accounts of the local Dixiecrat incumbents who lost twice in 2010.
The main narrative from local South Georgia media is that there were an increased number of absentee ballots and that alone should warrant an investigation.
Three of the accused who are African American are part of the Brooks County Board of Education.
Brad Shealy, who had been the long-time chairman of the Brooks Board of Education faced the prospect of being voted out as chairman and witnessing a majority-black Brooks County Board of Education for the first time ever.
Shealy lost his position when new leadership was elected in January 2011.
Shealy's day job is the assistant district attorney under J. David Miller who originally started the investigation back in the late summer of 2010.
What role did Shealy play in regard to Miler contacting the GBI?
Is this classic retribution politics and prosecutorial misconduct?
This connection between Shealy and Miller deserves more scrutiny from the public and possibly federal authorities, but local media in Valdosta and Albany have stayed away for now.
However, Shealy is poised to reclaim his former chairman seat in early 2012 with the help of the Mullholland's indictment and the power of Governor Nathan Deal to remove officials who are under indictment.
Nathan Deal, who came into office with an ethics cloud over his head as a congressman pror to becoming governor in 2011, is someone who voted against re-authorizing the Voting Rights Act as a U.S. congressman and has questioned the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
The Quitman 10 believes they followed Georgia law and the accusation of fraud from local Dixiecrats is erroneous.
Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-5(a), (b), to enhance voting opportunities for every American and to remove the vestiges of discrimination which have historically resulted in lower voter registration rates of minorities and persons with disabilities. The NVRA has brought new voices to the political process by making it easier for all Americans to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
Butler, 70, a white Democrat, lost back in the 2010 primary by 247 votes to Willie Cody-- an African-American. The final vote tally, according to the Secretary of State website, was 514 to 267.
Even though Butler voiced is displeaure of African-Americans being able to use the absentee ballot in Brooks County, he didn't run as a write-in candidate in the fall of 2010 for the majority-black district.
Two of the five Brooks County Commissioners are African-American, but conservatives/Dixiecrats still hold the majority
The real issue is Jim Crow politics and the alleged contempt for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Voter Registration Act of 1993.
