washington journal continues.

host: conversation with melanie campbell, president and ceo of the national coalition on black civic participation, an organization founded almost 50 years ago to do what, ms. campbell? guest: good morning. to really leverage the power of the boat, -- vote, protect the vote, organize initiatives about civil rights at all levels of society. host: what are the biggest barriers to black civic dissipation in this country right now? -- participation in this country right now? guest: you still have voter

suppression laws in louisiana making it more difficult to vote, making it harder for organizations like mine to register people to vote. when shelby versus holder took place in 2013, you had several states that passed laws to make it harder for people to -- people standing in line, you could not give them water in georgia david it is those things, continuous barriers, we still need reform. we still need congress to pass the john lewis voting restoration act, freedom to vote act, so we can correct some of those 21st century suppression laws that had been passed in several states. host: your organization registers people to vote. do you target certain areas, states to do that, how many people have you registered to vote ahead of campaign 2024?

guest: we have state affiliates who do that work on the ground. we are in 11 states plus the district of columbia. many of them in the south. florida, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina now, pennsylvania, ohio, michigan. i may have left some out but those are the states where we do our work. our state leaders have been doing continuous voter registration, and they do that year-round. we are a 365 civic engagement organization. host: when you do that voter registration, do you specifically target black voters? guest: black and underserved. primarily black communities, but in many cases, whoever needs to be registered. in a place like clayton county, georgia, where you have a larger latino population that has moved

into the county, it is whoever shows up to register. there are no discriminatory practices in that regard, but our primary focus is african-american. host: do you do anything specifically on election day when it comes to trying to get people to the polls, getting people to the ballot boxes? guest: on election day, we have what we call a unity power to ballot campaign that we do during presidential elections and midterms mostly, national campaign. we make sure that we get people information on how to protect the vote. we are one of the founders of the election protection coalition. we provide, encourage people to volunteer as poll workers, poll monitors, we promote the 866-vo te hotline, seven things you need to know to protect your vote. right now we are about to launch

are you vote ready so that people can check their motor status. sometimes you get purged. in some cases, that is another reason why we need reform for voting rights in this country. we don't wait until election day. we try to get people prepared to vote. v are youote ready? if you are not, you have an opportunity to do with online or in your local community. make sure you know where to go and vote. the things that tend to happen, over the years, election protection was launched. people don't know where to go. practical, boring things to some people, but it is those things that you can do to help somebody, inoculate yourself from your vote being suppressed, or getting a provisional ballot that will never get counted. host: does what you do before or

election day count as ballot harvesting? guest: no, we are not harvesting anything. [laughter] we are just getting people the power of the ballot. if you don't know the information, especially new voters, there is an intimidation factor that goes along with that. if people have good information, they have a better chance of making sure that they vote and that their vote is counted. host: conversation with melanie campbell, conversation on the national coalition on black civic participation. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independent, (202) 748-8002. as folks are calling in, what do you expect black voter turnout to be in election 2024? for comparison sake, what was it back in 2020?

guest: the vote turnout in 2020 was not as high as it was in 2016. many times what happens, it depends on the race. competitive race increases turnout. i don't care if you are talking about presidential down to school board member. if there is a competitive race, people have more interest and they show up more. in the united states unfortunately we still have a good turnout, 60%. but that is 40% of people that do not vote. i am encouraged by what we are seeing an interest -- in interest, people registering online, on their own. there is a lot of interest in this election no matter what side of the aisle you are on, or be it independent, because of the stakes that are out there,

people are going to show up. i hope it is more than 60%, but we will see. host: does your group specifically endorsed a presidential candidate? guest: absolutely not. we are not on any side. we are making sure that people exercise their right to vote, make sure their vote is protected by having the information you need, encouraging them to vote. guest: bill -- host: bill is up for us from memphis, tennessee. independent. good morning. caller: i was a member of the republicans for years, and i still lean toward republican, but i am concerned about the trends that are going on now. they have the voter registration stop here in memphis. memphis is mostly mexican and colored and liberal whites.

i think i like the way this young man runs his program because he seems to look at the conservatives more. at the same time, that is what they do in memphis anyway. host: you are talking about a group in memphis that does voter registration? caller: yes, we do registration here. i volunteered. when we went to the meetings, it looks like the mexicans and the colored took over the program. i walked out of the room. host: melanie campbell, any thoughts on those comments? guest: no comment. host: jim in johnson city, tennessee. go ahead. jimmy, are you with us?

you are on with melanie campbell. caller: yes, ma'am. there ought to be a two-day voting system where everyone goes to vote in person. there is no cheating, no mail inbox. bigger opportunity for people to cheat. if i can go up and vote, everybody else can do the same thing. i know some people have to be taken there with a car, but that's fine. we don't need all of this other stuff. two days, we would know who the president is. thank you very much. host: what do you think about that system? guest: you have senior citizens, people with disabilities who cannot leave their home. frankly, covid, most african-americans love to physically go to the polls to vote and we were very leery of absentee ballots, things like that, thinking that our vote

will not be counted. i think we have to make sure. i cannot judge a person who says that they cannot physically get there. does that mean if i have a physical or medical impairment that i shouldn't have my vote cast? that is the question each person has to ask. i believe as an organization, we should provide all of our means for eligible voters to be able to cast their ballot. host: what do you make of the comment that mail-in voting offers the bigger opportunity to cheat? guest: there are no fax to that. a lot of people are saying things, but the data does not prove it. people tend to have their opinions, but it have to have facts behind them, and it is just not there. host: i'm in line for democrats. bill in flint, michigan. good morning. caller: ms. campbell, my

question to you is the abysmal turnout of black voters. we recently had an election here in michigan. the voter turnout in the black communities, black communities, was less than 7%. what is your organization doing to increase the turnout of the voter once they are in the black community? guest: i didn't hear what state he was in. host: michigan. guest: i will say in michigan, i know several organizations that work hard year-round to get folks registered, to turn out and vote, also be an educated

voter. the biggest challenge we have doing the work, what he talked about, voting year-round, 365, as opposed to you you see a higher turnout in presidential elections, midterm elections. i am a native floridian from a small town. many years in georgia before moving to the washington, d.c. area. it's always been a challenge but i think it's gotten worse. we have a lot of work to do, but we do everything we can. the michigan coalition on black civic coalition, other organizations focus a lot on young people. the largest demographic, voting population in this country are younger people under the age of 40. that demographic we work hard to engage. peer to peer works, you are

right. local elections matter in your daily life more than anything. that tends to be less people participating in even statewide races. we have a challenge in this country. somehow we have to find a way to get back to where people believe in a lot of what is going on. so much bad information, this information, in some cases, outright lies take place. we have to make sure that we educate, motivate, encourage, and listen to people. i don't believe in voter apathy. i believe it is about people's disappointment. sometimes people don't have the information. when you talk to people between 18 and 24, they don't understand the process, civics is not taught in all schools anymore. understanding how the vote matters to your day-to-day life.

those kinds of things that go on. i said earlier, they are not the sexy things that people want to talk about in politics, but they make a difference. if you feel that that mayor has an effect on your life, school board member, or that governor or state legislature, understanding how that affects one's life, that is when you see people turn on more. host: a chart on voter turnout by race and ethnicity over the years showing that black voter turnout was ahead of whites in 2008 and 2012, the years that barack obama was at the top of the ticket. the rest of the years going back to the 1980's, white voter turnout had the highest numbers in both midterm and presidential elections. does having kamala harris at the top of the ticket, do you foresee black voter turnout

rates achieving those rates of the barack obama years? guest: if past is prologue on enthusiasm, there is a higher level of enthusiasm that you see. if you look at how that plays out, not just crowd sizes -- crowd sizes never exactly mean turnout. but when you see increased levels of voter registration taking place, those kinds of things, i think you will see that. having a new regeneration of leaders running on the democratic side, republicans have a younger vp, so i think there is a generational shift taking place in this country. we will see how it plays out. historically it does make a difference. i think we will see increased turnout. host: donald tried to court

black voters in this country by taking a tough stand on illegal immigration, saying that illegal immigrants are taking black jobs. what do you make of those statements? guest: i think they are divisive, not based in fact. former president trump also talked about people taking black jobs. i don't know what black jobs are. that is why you have seen some backlash over those kinds of statements. this is a country that was built on immigrants coming to the country. i am in disagreement with that. the facts do not bear out that is the case. host: does illegal immigration disproportionately impact black americans in specific ways? guest: i don't have any data to prove that. host: this is stephen in alexandria, virginia. republican.

caller: thank you for everything that you are doing to facilitate additional participation in the political system. i am a voting republican, registered republican. i will not be voting for donald trump because i think he is a traitor, and anybody else who does vote for him is so by association. with respect to what you are doing, my main question is this, especially coming from virginia. if i have to -- if i go to the library and want to check out a book, i have to show some sort of id for that, be it a library card, drivers license, whatever. why do people take the position that, for voter identification, that it is somehow unnecessary or inappropriate? i need an explanation for that.

i wonder if i can get your perspective. guest: i think voter id has been adopted in so many states now. i am a virginian, by the way, so hi. in virginia, we have to show id. it is not at the level of concern that it was when it was being implemented. i don't agree that everyone has a driver's license. the reality is, in many states, not looking at the data in front of me, but you can see in most states have some port of voter id no. you don't hear a whole lot of that. i am not saying that it doesn't have its own barriers, but for the most part, when people vote, they have to show id of some sort. host: comment from one of our viewers watching, tweeting, asking you, how can yofind the

voter purges, full locations closed in blue districts, the general disenfranchisement in red states? guest: we have legal organizations like the legal defense funds, lawyers committee for civil rights under law, even naacp organizations that file lawsuits for some of these purges that take place that appeared to be targeted. part of the challenge of having voting rights reform is things like that, no discriminatory practices. if there are purges, if they are done in a way that is fair and does not discriminate. host: how does your group work with those groups on the legal side? guest: we work with the lawyers committee.

in many cases, our state affiliate is on the ground in those states that may be a part of lawsuits. jordan is one, others. we are not a legal national organization, but we work with several civil rights organization when need be, and they file amicus briefs, things like that as it relates to building. host: eileen in charlotte, north carolina. on the line for democrats. caller: in the past, i have worked with voter registration. i have worked in the polls. when we were doing voter registration, i found a lot of young people with legal issues are not aware of that in north carolina, all you have to do is have your court things settled.

probation, parole, whatever. there is no charge for you to register. i don't know other states that do that, but here in north carolina, all one has to do is register and vote. i have been hearing people telling -- not knowing that somebody has done it -- but i have heard other people telling people that they need to give their social security number, and that is not true, not in north carolina anyway. i don't know how many other states are set up the way that we are. when i am out and about, i talk to young people and encourage them. i asked them first of all, are you a registered voter? most of them say no, because they are just going to do what

they will do anyway. i say that is not true. your only voice is your vote. i am actually too old to do this anymore, i feel like anyway, but i just encourage all young people, all of my grandchildren, gen x, all of that, you need to go and vote. or i will disown you. [laughter] voting is so important. guest: thank you for what you have done and even when you continue to do even within your family. that is what matters. really encouraging, not judging people, no matter what age. if they say they are not interested, think it does not matters. we do listening sessions, bus tours when there is no election coming, really engage with

family, mothers, grandmothers. as women, we are the influencers in our family. i use to say the secret sauce to the black vote, because we didn't just show up, but we encouraged our significant others, nieces, nephews, grandchildren. i have great nieces and nephews now. being able to influence, trying to encourage them. it does matter when parents take their children to go and vote. when they see that, that makes a difference. church encouraging members to go and vote. all of those ways to encourage. that is the key to motivating people, giving them that information, not judging. let them know. giving people even the history. some places, our attack on black

history, the teaching of black history is extremely unfortunate. i am a native floridian, where they had made it harder to teach black history. but the history of black people voting is something we have to teach each generation. there was a price to pay for being able to vote in this country, when we were killed for it, hung for it, shot it, much more. that reality, but then bringing it to a modern moment, why does it matter to me now? very important. host: you mentioned black women. a story in the new york times about kamala harris and black men in this country. the headline, a delicate issue for black men backing harris. the story notes ms. harris has her own challenges after decades in law enforcement where she built a tough cop persona associated with the incarceration of black men,

became a proxy for a democratic establishment that is increasingly behind black men, left them disillusioned. the story notes that black men said they voted for donald trump by 12% -- that compares with 6% of black women in 2020. what do you make of those numbers? guest: if you look at the data, that has been generally consistent on black men voting for republicans, not just donald trump. during the bush era, i think it was as high as 15%. although there is a difference, there is not a significant difference. even if you say 12% of black men voted for donald trump, that means 88% voted for the democrat. i don't think there is a big difference.

i work with a lot of black men who were organizing, working hard to make sure that they encourage black men. i know the 100 black men of america, initiatives in georgia, who make sure that not just for the presidency, black men that have their own unique way of looking at politics, just like black women. none of us are monoliths. we vote on interests. it is economic issues that may drive the black community in a different direction but they can speak for themselves. i can speak for the black women that i work with. we are strategic about our vote. this election year is more about our pocketbooks than it has been

in the past. under the former president, donald trump, the number one issue for black women through our poll was a concern about racism and discrimination in this country. we have a lot of attacks that have taken place through court challenges. freedom fund, a venture capital firm, which was being sued over discrimination about venture capital. black women only get 0.06% of venture capital money in this country. we know there are barriers to our upward economic mobility. we will fight hard at the ballot box to vote for those who believe that those who don't have have an opportunity to get resources, improve their quality of life in this country. host: your expectation in 2024 is that it will be about the

same as 2020, in terms of the number of black male voters who vote for donald trump, you think about 12% again? guest: i think the majority of black men will vote democrat. it may fluctuate. it is up to the candidate, both sides of the coin, to work hard for the vote. but i don't think it will be that much of a difference if history proves itself to be that way. host:ueion from another viewer on twitter. does the national coalition on black civic participation support house bill hr 8271, the save act, which requires documentary proof of u.s. citizenship in order to vote in federal elections? guest: i am not familiar with the bill. i would have to check on that. i would say no, because i'm not

familiar with the bill. host: southfield, michigan. republican, good morning. caller: my question was, now that there are reports that 14% of illegal immigrants are registered to vote, how do i know that they are not voting in this election? guest: where did you get that information from? host: i think we lost them. guest: my question is where did that information come from, how effectual is that? a lot of bad information out here. i don't know where that number comes from. to respond to that is just responding to a black hole. i don't know what that is. i don't know any data that has proven it with that person has talked about. where does he get the data from, what source?

everything on the internet is not true. you have to do more homework. somebody may say it at a rally, town hall, say it to you in an open forum. ask hard questions, so when you you ask, you have hard facts to back it up. caller: i want to say to ms. campbell, first, i think your organization, organizations like yours are doing a great job. i am a black man who knows his history. when you said that, i said bingo. people don't understand the sacrifices some of our people made, and white folks, as well, made so that we could have the right to vote. if you don't think your boat is power, ask yourself, why are the republicans trying so hard to take it away from you?

anybody that is listening to the show, when the election comes, you see the long lines, ask yourself, why do we have these very long lines in democratic districts and we don't have them in republican districts? that is a form of voter suppression. as for the caller that said anything about the voter id. i agree, it is easier to produce that i do know. but in wisconsin, they made it harder for you to get that id. if you didn't have a driver's license, you had to go to the dmv to get a driver's license. in the cities, they would close down the dmv's that were closer to you, so you would have to get on a bus if you didn't have a car to go to the county. and then the dmv closes at 5:00. i work for a private college here in wisconsin. we had to change our student id's because they wouldn't use them for students who were out

of town to go to the local college, vote over there. they make it harder with all of the little tricks they like to play for you to vote. also pay attention to who is in court for all of these voter gimmicks. all of these republicans who were around donald trump who tried to steal the election because they didn't like the outcome. trump, we have to get rid of him once and for all. he is a drag on our democratic republic. i have lived through republicans, republican presidents in the past, but they were nothing like what donald trump is doing. for some reason, this man is trying to destroy this democratic republic of hours. we have to get rid of him for good. republicans, my advice to you is, get somebody who is honest. you have a man at the top of your ticket who is a convicted felon, adjudicated sexual assaulter, and he couldn't get a job at the local burger king with that on his application,

and you have them at the top of your ticket talking about how he wants to run the country. keep up the work that you are doing. i remember those freedom rides, getting folks to register. i remember when those folks did for us so that we could have the right to vote. americans, i don't care if you are white or black, but specifically to my fellow black americans, if you are not voting, you are spitting on the graves of martin luther king, all those folks who marched, so we could have this right to vote. it is a powerful right, and you have got to use it, if you want to see change. if you don't use it, you have no right to talk. that is what my dad used to say. if you don't vote, you have no right to say anything about what is happening in this country. guest: first of all, thank you for knowing how powerful history is. that is part of it. if you don't know your history,

you are bound to repeat it, good or bad. knowing what that vote means. it is a unique american story for what it means for african-americans in this country. it is very important and powerful for generations to always know that part of american history that is also black history but american history. i don't really have a comment. we are a nonpartisan organization when it comes to who people should vote for. i don't want to get into that, but just make sure that you do vote. the last thing he talked about, voter id laws, you are correct. which is why we need voting rights restoration, some the justice department can monitor these things. 2006, it was voted on to reauthorize the enforcement

powers of the voting rights act. that is what we are talking about. it is still the law of the land, but the enforcement of the u.s. justice department to be able to monitor, make sure the states are not discriminating against, not just black folks, minorities, disabled books. that is what we need to have happen. i think voting rights are on the ballot as a key issue. based on our research for black women, it is high on the list. freedom is on the ballot. democracy, in my opinion, is on the ballot. based on conversations, that is a concern, what kind of democracy we want. to be want to continue this american experiment here in the united states of america, or do we want to have autocracy possibly? it is a real decision that people are making in this 2024

election cycle. host: a couple minutes left. some news from capitol hill, a reporter with the hill newspaper on capitol hill noting, the conservative freed caucus has leed their official position today on funding for the fedal government for a continuing resolution to fund the government that stretches into 2025, but they want that coin with a bill to expand the proof of citizenship requiremt vote in an election. emily brooks saying it is a shot in the bow in the funding battle that will dominate the work on capitol hill in september. what do you make of that offer? guest: i am hearing you telling me this. if they do their job, make sure they have a proper

appropriations to fund the government, not play games with the american people in this election. it is too important. i don't think it will go anywhere. it is irresponsible, in my opinion, that they are doing that. that should not happen. take care of making sure they pass a budget, so the federal government, which impacts people's daily lives -- another reason that people are cynical about election officials. when you play games with people's lives, when you are talking about a budget, making it something that is innocuous to people's lives, it is not. it affects people's daily lives. they need to do the right thing and focus on what is important, get that job done, and not play games. host: on that freedom caucus proposal, some analysis from a ng time capitol hill reporter

with punch bowl news. he was responding to emily brooks' post, the freedom caucus proposal sayinthis will not happen. the senator whitehouse will not go with it. it will not fly on capitol hill. we will see what happens when the house and senate return from their august recess. a few more of your phone calls with melanie campbell. this is joseph in point pleasant beach, new jersey. good morning. caller: last couple phone calls, listening to your guest. i am ultra-maga. that guy that called from virginia, republican in alexandria, i believe him. he is calling me a traitor. i don't know why you didn't push back on that. i like trump aide i am a traitor. the last guy, the african-american who said i had to wake up. i don't need any advice with

anybody. host: you were on with melanie campbell. what is your comment? caller: she is upset about people getting registered. doesn't she understand that there are 6000 people taken off of the virginia roles, illegal aliens were voting? all of these struggles that the african-americans have had the last 150 years for the right to vote, and these people come here illegally, and that doesn't bother her? what president trump said about black jobs. i am second generation immigrant. my mother was from ireland, my father from italy. i grew up in the south bronx. it was a poor neighborhood when my mother was there. her father had a job that was not considered high-end, but it was a job. that is what it means. i was a busboy. black jobs. americans that have jobs that are not supposedly rich jobs,

and these illegal aliens are coming and taking their jobs. for some reason, this lady, it doesn't bother her. african-americans keep putting people in office that are hurting themselves. the great society, how did that work out? trunk is the last president in the last 50 years that have tried to help every american, black and yellow, and they are getting pushback from this lady, people calling. host: your chance to respond. guest: you have your opinion, i respect that you have your opinion, but i fully disagree. you cannot judge who i am and what i believe or don't believe, because i didn't say some of the things that you said. what i said is you have to have facts that back up what you are saying. people can say a whole lot of things but give me the data to prove it. when it comes to black jobs, i don't know what a black job is. the former president said black jobs. what is a black job?

i come from a small town, very poor, i get it. i didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth either. i know black folks have worked hard in this country like others. we have a unique history of how we were brought to this country. we didn't have an option, but we found a way to do what we needed to do, make it better, and we had to fight along the way. my great grandmother, mother, father thought that i had the opportunity to go get an education. we pay taxes like everybody else. we all have an opinion, but please don't put words in my mouth, with all due respect. host: melanie campbell is the president and ceo of national coalition on black civic participation.

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