expected to about economic security and the middle class. that is expected to begin at 4:25 p.m. eastern. in the meantime, mitt romney is -- live coverage starts at 5:00 p.m. eastern. >> regardless of who we are and where we come from and how much money we have, each of us comes. working together to create opportunity and a good life for all, all of us are enriched. as citizens and as human beings. >> my opponent is out raising taxes. the congress will push me to raise taxes. i will say no. they will push and i will say no. and they will push again and i will say read my lips, no more

taxes. quite c-span has aired every minute of every party convention since 1984. what of the conventions live on c-span starting monday august 27. >> mitt romney appeared yesterday in wisconsin with his running mate paul ryan. they will be splitting up the campaigning separately for the next two weeks. rnc chair gov. scott walker speaks first at this event. >> are you glad to be here today? i do not know about you. are you ready to fire barack obama n save america? are you ready to win? are you ready to win?

how about electing a paul ryan as the next vice president? i know just like everybody in this crowd, everybody here tonight i can promise we are not here tonight because we are worried about the future of the republican party. we are here to get there because we are concerned about the future of america. i believe we are in a battle for freedom. the same battle that founded this country. it is the same battle that jane's madison reaffirmed in bill of rights. here we are today. a country that surrenders its sovereignty to its bondholders cannot guarantee prosperity or freed them to anyone.

a country that variouburies its children and grandchildren in a mountain of debt. a country controlled by china cannot compete with china appear . america has a choice to make. are we going to continue down the path of the misery and broken promises? are we going to continue down the path with a president whose love with the sound of his own voice that this election is a defining moment. it is a rendezvous with destiny. it is this generation's time for choosing. we all have to say thank you @ to gov. mitt romney, a man of

character, a man of honesty, courage. thank you governor romney for ryan as a ondc your running mate. not one single parents out here looked at the beautiful house on the corner and said look at these lousy people over here. all of our parents like my dad used in the crowd tonight said "if you work hard, played by the rules, mom and dad will need to have that house. we won 86 seats. we have an opportunity -- we have an opportunity to succeed. we will work together to save this country with a man of his word. he has not shown the way that he

plans on governing the life he campaigns. that is what we want in this country. authentic people like scott walker would stand up and lead this state and what you all did in june in shining the pathway to liberty and freedom. ladies and gentlemen, the great as governor in the united states of america, scott walker. [cheers and applause] >> isn't it great to have a cheese head on the ballot? thank you for coming out. it is such a thrill for me and

my family. but i had surgery a couple of days ago. she wanted to be here. to what to support the next president -- she what to support the next president. let's give her a first round of applause. and their beautiful kids. they are ready to go. i will be brief.

on genes that we stood on this ground region on june 5 we stood his ground and claimed a victory for the taxpayers of the great state of wisconsin. on november 6 we will claim it for hard-working taxpayers all across america with your help. mitt romney showed us yesterday that he is not only experience to lead this country, he has the courage to lead this country. he made a bold decision. it is a great day for all of america. paul ryan -and will be a great vice-president. mitt romney has the experience

we need to turn america around. this is a guy who in the private sector, a lot of people tried to make excuses. if this is a leader who stood up and turn companies around. there are thousands of people working today because of his leadership in private sector. that is where we may jobs. not in government. a decade ago, tonight is the last night of the olympics. i've been watching it. remember a decade ago in 2002 when nearly had a global embarrassment to the united states. mitt romney came in and save the day and almost single-handedly turned the things around. he turned things around in the

olympics. he can turn things around for america. as governor remember the big dig? it is a federal government disaster. he took off his jacket and got to work like a great leader does. he turned that mess around. if he can do it in the private sector he can turn america are around. he has the courage and experience to be the next president of the united states. are you ready? are you ready to hear from the next president? i.t. ready to hear from the next vice-president? but give a warm welcome to own mitt romney and

paul ryan.

♪ ♪

>> thank you, everybody. thank you, wisconsin. it is good to be home. i tell you. i love wisconsin. i see my family over here. i have a lot of family. i tell you what. my family came here back in the 1800's.

it is where we have raised our family ever since. it is such a phenomenal place to live, to work, to raise your family. i am thinking about a deer camp over a in fairchild. our children. we live on the block eiger up on. my veins runs cheese, bratwurst, and a little spotted cow and some miller.

i was raised by the bucs and brewers. i like to fish here. i like to snowmobile here. i even think i should fishing region as a fishing is interesting. at to tell you what this means to be home. i want to say thanks to my friend scott walker. my friend writes this.

what we learned in this state a little while ago, is that we want to elect men and women who run for office and tell us who they really are, who they believe, what they're going to do. when they get elected, and they do that. that is what we do here in wisconsin. we are ready. we implemented our leaders. we said keep doing it. courage one.

we say it was confident that day. in november, we will help save america that day. i see so many familiar faces. >> we are all family. >> we are. and that was my brother that said that. -- was not my brother that said that. [laughter]

we have to make a decision. the president came into office with so much hope, offering so much change. he got the power he wanted. he got the party in control. he passed almost every item on his agenda. it is law now. now we're seeing the results. a country with a health care system that is about to be taken over. a country with four years of the trillion dollar deficit. the worst economic situation in years.

nearly one in six americans are in poverty today. do you know what that we're not going to take that. we're going to turn this thing around. the good news is this. we can do this. we can turn this around. we can get this economy turned around. we can get the economy back to work. i look at my kid. sam, i am over here. [laughter] i look at my kids. it has been a long day for him. i let my kids and i want them to have the future i had. that is what my dad told me. and this country, every generation makes things better and leaves their kids better off. it is our duty to save the american dream for our children.

we have a big choice to make. if we look at the path we're on and all the things the president has been doing, more governments, more regulations, the promise of a lot more taxes, we see a president who took what we pioneered here, getting people back to work and dignity and on to a lack of hitting their potential. if this president is going to do these kinds of things in very difficult election year, imagine what he would do the never had to face the voters ever again. we're not going to find out.

here is our choice. we can either stick with the politics of the past, with distracting and starting. we can put ourselves on the path toward a welfare state where we now see the government's role as not promoting economic avidity by giving us a new government rights, putting the government in charge. driving our economy. picking winners and losers. equalizing the outcomes. this country is so special. this state is so special. it is the only country founded on an idea.

it is very special. that idea is the declaration of independence. our right come from nature and god not from government. [cheers and applause] here is our choice. do we want that opportunity, at the safety net where people can make the most of their lives and get ahead or do we want to go down a pack of debt and despair? do we want to copy europe? no. is to take leadership. it take courage. it will take another objection that we had none could 2010 to get this right. when we do, we will look back at this moment as the day our generation fixed it so the american idea was turned back

and our children have a brighter future. as you now know, i spent some time with this man lately. we need a man of integrity. we need a leader of principle. we need somebody who has a bedrock principles, a moral compass, a vision for the country, and the expertise to put that vision into place. those are the things that describe this man mitt romney.

when you see how this man, how warmly is to his family, it to his associates, when you see the successes he has achieved, raising a beautiful family, creating small businesses, creating jobs, this is a person who knows that if you have a small business you did build that. this is a man who win the olympics was struggling the country called him to revive it. this is a man who as governor walked across the aisle, and got things done, balance the budget without raising taxes, increases the credit rating, and increase household income by providing leadership.

this is a special moment for all of us. we are all family. this is it. this is the election. we owe you the choice so you can decide what kind of country we will be. we won the election where we turn your support. where we win because you said go fix the mess in washington. we are going to fix this mess in washington. this is an exceptional nation. this is the greatest idea appeared there is no other system that has done more to help the poor, a spread

opportunity, to help people rise up than the american system of freedom and free enterprise. we have a leader here who understands that. who knows how to deliver that. that is our contract with you. ladies and gentlemen, we're going to do this. we're going to turn this around. this man is a mitt romney. he will be the next president of the united states of america. >> thank you.

what a welcome. i guess you think i made the right decision and the right choice. this is another big step to restore the promise of america. people ask me why i chose paul ryan. the answer is i wanted someone who was a leader. leadership comes from character. this is a man who has real

character, who loves america. to understand what it takes to get america on the right track. this america will help get america strong. i know what most people go to washington they are filled with ambition. he decided that america needed to have someone who would go to washington not thinking about how he could beat up on other people. it was someone who would go there to make a real difference. this is a man who recognizes that people have differences of opinion if they are honest. we reached across the aisle. he worked with people in the democratic party. as a result, he is the man who in washington is of knowledge, is recognized, is seen as an intellectual leader. he is respected.

as vice president, he will be respected by people across the nation and world. this is a critical time. you know this is a critical time for the country. you are here to celebrate the selection of an extraordinary guy. you also know this is a time of great seriousness for the nation. we have 23 million people out of work. [chanting "usa"] you see, this group here is respectful of other people's rights to be heard. here we believe and listening to the people with dignity and respect.

there is no question but if you followed the campaign of barack obama he will do everything to make this the lowest, meanest campaign in history. this is going to be a campaign about ideas and the future of america. this is about america's future for your children and the world. take your campaign out of the better. the stock about the real issues america faces people in america are hurting right now. the middle class is struggling. incomes have dropped by $4,000. utility costs are up. gasoline prices are up.

people want to know of america is line to come back. its is i am going to do five things. tore glad to work together get five things and that will get our economy roaring back. we will take advantage of our energy resources as well as nuclear, oil, gas, coal. we are going to make sure that our kids and our workers have the skills they need to succeed. we're going to put work back into welfare. no. 3, we are going to have trade that works for america. below open up new markets. when people cheat like china has, there will be consequences.

number four, we are going to do something that paul has been wanting to do for years. when we have republicans in house and senate and the white house, we will cut federal spending and get america on track to the balanced budget. we are going to champion small business. we will help them grow and thrive. i cannot believe that the other day when i saw that quote of the president in virginia appeared at cannot believe he said that. if you have a business, you did not build it.

someone else did that. then he said it is not fair. you took me out of context. go on youtube. read the context. you will find the context is worse than the quote. he said there are lots of smart people. he may think it is because you're working hard but a lot of people work hard. i cannot figure out where he was going. in this country, we celebrate

people who reach, a dream, aspire, and cheese. that is the nature of how america works. when the guy or gal, from the factory in says i took the class at the community college and i got some more skills, we celebrate and acknowledged that. when the kid says i made the honor roll, we celebrate that child. we say way to go. you make that happen. i know for them to make the honor roll they had to ride on a bus to get to school and there is a bus driver. but if he gets the honor roll, a he is the credit not the bus driver. this country is going to come roaring back. if we did those five things you will see america's economy come back and create great jobs, more take-home pay. you will be convinced that the future is brighter for your children. i have seen the. of america across this land. one thing that is me the greatest confidence in our future is that what lies in the hearts of the american people a patriotism and a conviction that america is a great nation.

we were all moved at the welcome you gave him. we were a touch. tears filled my eyes. i know you felt the same way. you are amazing. i am not sure about the kiss, but the rest of us felt emotional. i just got back to a time when i understood one more time how deep the passion is for this country. this was at the end of another olympics. we're just ending the london alembics. it has been urging olympics. it has been a spectacular to watch. at the end of our games, i invited a young man to come in and sit with vice president cheney to represent all of the

athletes of america. i chose the young man. he is about 5'4" he was a roller bladers. his friend said if you ever want to get in the olympics yet again to a different sport. he tried on ice skates. he went to the local skating club. he was fast. rollerblading transfers pretty well. and he becomes a member of the united states speed stating scheme. he is long track. he comes out to salt lake city. 5,000 meters he gets a the silver medal. 1500 he gets the gold medal. the fastest man on earth on skates.

i invited him to sit with the vice president. i said what was the most meaningful experience in olympic games and that he said carrying in the flag that had flown above the world trade center. he was one of the athletes selected to carry that live. it is about 8 by 12 feet. it is torn and burned. you have to bring it in horizontal the. he carried it in. we brought it into the stadium. we expected that when it was announced they would burst into tears. instead, total silence and reverence. we carry the flag and stopped in front of the choir and they began performing the national anthem. it was hard to hold onto my

emotion as they were singing those words. i was holding the flag. he said the choir did something i had not inspecteexpected. i picked the version they sang. it was an all 1930's version by robert shaw were you repeat line.the last he said this time as they sang it, a guest of wind blew in the flight and let it in their hands. he said it was as if the. of all those who have fought and died for american liberty had just gone that flag. tears began to run down my face. aziz told me the story, and tears filled my eyes. we love this country.

we understand that when the founders wrote those words that said that the creator in doubt us with our rights that they were right. among those rights are life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. we share the freedoms of people around the world. this is the greatest nation the world has seen. we are not going to change america into something we do not recognize. we will restore the principles that made america the hope of the earth. we will do everything to keep america strong. this nation has a mission to perform. we're good to make happen. you help us win the white house in in november. thank you.

>> a campaign event from yesterday. president obama is campaigning in iowa. we will have live coverage. he is expected to talk about economic security and the economic class. but romney is on a campaign tour through florida with the

republican senator. liveresidential candidate in miami this afternoon. paul ryan is also in iowa. you'll be speaking to the soap box area. they were given 20 minutes to speak on any issue. this was his first visit to iowa after being named the vice president candidate. >> we are anonymous. >> it is more of an internet phenomenon or a movement. it is many different people collaborating together online to protest against all sorts of different reasons and also to harass people for fun. >> parmy olson looks at the

impact the motivations of the hacker group anonymous. >> a discussion on voting rights. this was not at the convention in houston. -- this was held at the convention in houston. this event from early jell-o last -- july last about 1.5 hours. gamble>> this is a teaching session. we understand what the battle is. it enables us to engage more. would you repeat after me, we are seeing an attack on voting rights. an attack on progressive tax policies. an attack on public education. attack on labor rights. an attack on the principles of equal protection.

under the law. and the attack on the principle of equal justice in the criminal justice system. and vicious attacks on white, black, latino, and progressive leaders from the president to the attorney general all the way down. we have seen that before, we are seeing it again. we fought against the before, and we must fight against it now. 1870. say it with me. 1870. 142 years ago. these matters were settled with

the 15th amendment. why is this nation trying to undo what was settled 142 years ago? 1965. 47 years ago the voting rights act settled. 47 years later we are having to fight all over again. 1968 richard nixon lunches the southern strategy. 44 years ago, and here we go again. we fought 10. we will fight now. we won and then. we will win now.

i wanted to set that up because it is important that we understand what our president and ceo as he was speaking trying to rid us in history. we must understand the battles we have fought, the personalities that fought that, the tactics they used to when and how those tactics that we must use are still being -- are still very applicable today. leading us now in this fight in the 21st century that in many ways looks like the fight of the 19th century is not other than benjamin todd. >> every member of the naacp has to have the president of the follow.

rev. barbara is one of mine. i will follow him anywhere. she is one of the great leader is at the naacp. [applause] -- leaders at the naacp. i just want to be clear because we have a great panel and i want to get to them. two things. the first is that the game changed in 2011. we must understand it. prior to 2000 we had ambushed the gore and it became voter -- we had bush v. gore. in 2011 we saw the most massive assault through the passage of state laws we have seen and at 100 years.

we should not expected -- we should teach a because every time the vote expands it is followed by this suppression effort. now it has changed again. voter registration, gotv, protect the vote and protect our voting rights. and so we must be on the battlefield not every two years and every four years but every year. the last time -- the playbook after the passing of the voting rights act was illegal voter suppression. the lesson from 2000 is when you break the law to suppress the vote it gets really messy. this time they have reached back beyond that to the playbook

from after the civil war which was to use the law to suppress the vote. let's understand that was a battle that lasted for 40 years. we have to understand we are at least in a 40 year or this time. people on the other side know their history. they know where they got the playbooks from. we are wise to understand our history, too. what that means is that we will every year be going up and fighting both to expand the vote and to protect the vote, every single year. the second thing we have to understand is that the so-called disenfranchisement laws have been our greatest failure as a movement when it comes to the old jim crow era voting laws. we got rid of the poll tax and a grandfather clause and all of that. the literacy tests.

we did not get rid of the disenfranchisement because we forgot what they were about. this time we are being very clear that this -- we have to get rid of these. when you read the law, right after the passage of the 15th amendment where they stated clearly they were anticipating the black vote would expand over their objections. new york actually rejected the 15th amendment. they said we are pushing through this bill to offset the expansion. very clear.

it or not doing this to keep >> felons from voting, they were doing it to keep black people from voting. virginia in its jim crow constitutional convention, the delegates of the constitution advocating for the es felon disenfranchisement to be stuck in there where it remains today. because of this plan, the darkie will be eliminated as a factor of our politics. this said they will preserve white supremacy as the order of the day in every county in the state. we can no longer afford to forget our own history. we are bound to forget it if we do. we cannot afford to repeat this history. we are too far down the path of almost repeating it right now. please give your full attention to this panel. this is about what we have to do this fall. what we have to do every year. we are back in a 40-year war for our voting rights. we will win this time just like last time. thank you and god bless. [applause] >> by now everybody knows the president as helping us raise of more freedom fighters.

his son was born on july 4. what is the birthday today? you got to know your history. the 14th amendment, today as we sit in here that guarantees if you are born or naturalized, equal protection under the law. i want them to take their hands off of my equal protection. the 15th amendment says, nobody can deny -- i am using this language because there is a reason it did not say denied the right. it said deny it or abridge -- that means to cut off access.

no one can deny or a bridge my right to vote. at this time we have our panelists. i will introduce them all a one time. they're going to take a six or seven minutes slice out of a particular area. then we should take questions. if you have questions please write them down. we will be taking them up and it will come to the podium. the editor in chief of think progress. he is here with us today. let's give him a big hand. he holds a doctorate from georgetown law center. and then we have brendan mitchell. a recent honor graduates of westport high school where he was the president of the

national honor society and acted on the debate team and the thespian society. he has been an active member of the naacp since the age of 9 and currently serves as president of the florida state youth and college division. let's give him a big hand. [applause] then we will have mr. bryan rowland. perry view -- prairie view, from brooklyn, new york. a master's of community development. he has served his community through a numerous affiliations including the prairie view credit union, vice president of the chamber of commerce. he will come and share with us and his own way the power of organizing for the vote.

kemba smith will be focusing on disenchant -- this enfranchisement. she went to hampton university. it is important that we know this sister was sentenced to 25 years and served six years in federal prison. she regained her freedom after president clinton granted her clemency. but give her -- [applause] her case grew support from across the nation to reverse the disturbing trend in recidivism. particularly with an emphasis on men and women transitioning from prison and those who find themselves entangled in the criminal justice system. dennis also was incarcerated for five years and eight months.

rather than being overcome by success or failure, he studied and learned and has decided to help other people now have a second chance. we give him a hand today. [applause] mrs. barbara arwine, she is executive director for lawyers committee for civil rights under the law since 1989. she is known worldwide for her renowned contributions to critical justice issues

including the passage of a landmark civil rights act of 1991. let's give her a big hand. [applause] our panelists will proceed in the order and on the topic they have been given. after they each complete their time, then we will receive questions from the audience. >> thank you very much. i am honored to be here and be part of the panel. i think it is fitting that we are here in houston, tx for this presentation. this is a state that recently passed one of the most egregious of voter i.d. laws and the entire country. it is a law where if you have a state issued student i.d., that

is not valid. if you have a state -- if you are a state employee and it issued a photo and -- a photo id from the state for employment, that is also not valid. if you get a gun license, that is acceptable. you can see how this conception of voter i.d. in this state is clearly being used for partisan purposes and to try to change the power as some of the previous speakers have explained better than i can. this is also a city that is home to one of the most pernicious of voter suppression organizations, an organization called true the vote that really pioneered the tactic of flooding voters sites with poll watchers who are really not there to watch but to try to intimidate, harass, and do as much as they can to prevent the people they do not want to vote from voting.

it now recently announced a new initiative where they are going to go and sue a whole variety of states for not purging their voter roles like the were trying to do in florida. we are really at the center of the storm here in houston, texas. we are at the center of the storm in houston. i want to talk about the messaging war. if you listen to president benjamin jealous and the other speakers, you find this makes perfect sense. it's rooted in the constitution and is about a basic fairness and a fundamental right, so why is this going on? we know why there are people pushing this, but why are they achieving success? one of the reasons is to this point they have won the messaging war.

they have convinced people a problem exists that does not exist. they will say they are concerned about voter fraud, that they are trying to preserve the rights of voting and the integrity of the vote. even though there's no evidence this is a problem, 749 million votes in the last decade or so, they have identified o13 credible cases of in person voter fraud. so this is not a real problem, but they have convinced people this is a problem. there's a recent poll that found 70% of americans say that voter id measures are necessary to stop illegal voting. so they have 13 cases where voter id has not done anything

at all and they have convinced 70% of all americans that this is a big problem. this is not just republicans. 52% of democrats, 72% of independents believe this voter id is necessary to prevent illegal voting. until we start to change that number, all the initiatives that we are talking about will be hard, because people to think this is a good idea. and only 26% believe that such laws are unnecessary and discourage illegal voting. seoul a small minority of people. even more disturbing, 50% of people believe that opponents of voter id laws are trying to steal elections. hard to steal an election with 13 votes over 10 years, but that is what people believe is going

on. so there is a massicve, incredibly successful misinformation campaign that has been perpetrated by these groups theseby true the vote -- these groups like true the vote. now it has worked. that's why i think we have seen , 17 states moved to restrict voting rights, including some of the biggest and most important swing states. one minute? let me stop the negative talk and talk about what we can do about this, which is what you have to do with a massive information campaign is tell people the truth. it is a little harder than what

they have to do. when you are just making things up, it's pretty easy to figure out what to say. one example, this was a group that was mentioned, project vertias, they went around and released a video in florida -- project veritas. the video showed two people who voted and who were not citizens. they put that out with investigative video and put it on youtube and it got picked up everywhere. i 1 a web site it out of the center of american progress in d.c. what we do is try to investigate this. we did something other people did not think to do, which was contacted these folks. we called them and said is this true, are you not a citizen? they said, i am a citizen. i naturalized. the question is can you prove it?

said, yes, and they sent us their naturalization certificate and we put it on our blog. diminished onethis vanish argument that they said made this a big problem. that's only one small piece of the puzzle. there are many others. time is up. >> we are going to come back to you. >> i just want to encourage people to reach out to us. we want to tell the stories about what's going on. between 3 million people and for many people come to our website every month. we want to tell the stories of the people who know what's going on or are on the front lines. get in touch with us so we can work together. >> thank you so much, judd. i want you to think about something when you come back maybe for a follow-up. it's important. racism has always won the

message war. manifest destiny was the nice description of why people were put in slavery. in the 1870's they said their goal was to redeem america. that sounds nice when you take the christian notion of redemption and use that to describe terrorism. i'm glad you raised that. the only time we have been able to change the message is when we have made it a moral issue. we have elevated our language and routed it in the framework of our faith and in the framework of our constitution. so, racism has always had to duck about itself in terms that did not seem so harsh -- has always had to talk about itself in terms that did not seem so harsh. >> my name is brendan mitchell,

and i'm from the great purging states of florida. i'm a recent graduate. i just turned 18 in april. the november elections will be my first time exercising my right to vote. [applause] with that in mind, as i was asked to go into the effects of the attack on voting rights on college students, i am reminded of one of my final class is in high school, which was american government, that was required. two of the terms that i learned in that class, political socialization and civics. civics is rather elementary, the ability of people to exercise their rights as a citizen and to be good citizens in our society. political socialization is the development of citizens in this country and their political ideology. when i think about the attack on

voting rights, the first had come to my mind is education and schools are one of the greatest effects on a person posing political ideology, next to family. so i think to myself, they are attacking our voting rights because we are college students, yet they want us to develop our political ideologies through college. so they are putting -- they are actually putting an inalienable rights of life and pursuing happiness by deciding to move further wh your life and the constitutional right to vote against each other. it's almost like we have to make a choice. just moving forward and asking the question of why they are doing these things, college students, it's more a question of are we americans or not?

i would like to share some data with you all. in 2008, college students ages 18 through 24 in particular we re more active in the election than any other age group. 59% of all eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 were registered before the presidential election and 49% of them actually cast a ballot. that was the greatest number for that age group in american history so we ask ourselves why. we are powerful. the speaker of the house in new hampshire even said, "the kids coming out of the schools and basically doing what i did when i was a kid, which is voting

their feelings." that's because they don't have life experience. so i guess college students are supposed to be numb with the threats to cut programs and that our peers are getting killed every day and murderers are being upheld by stand your ground laws. and the question of affordable health care and providing college students with high quality health care is not a rgiht we should have. so those are the feelings we are voting for. noko, those are the facts. people vote on whether it affects them in their daily lives. so, voting our feelings is not the term. we are voting based on what will affect us in the future.

just moving forward, as of right now, 15 states have voter id laws, as mentioned. in texas in particular, your state college id just will not cut it for you. but you can use your gun license. so that's great if you are college students over 21, you can vote with your gun licence. however, that is not the major issue. these politicians want to take us back. the whole notion of a voting our feelings is the same thing that was used to suppress the rights of women voters in the beginning of the 20th century that were too emotional, they said. however, they want to take us back to the era when politicians implemented laws that denied african-americans the right to vote, back to the era of nullification in government, not allowing the federal government

to do their job, back to the era when only a small percentage of americans controlled the wealth. that is what they are trying to go back to, because college students and students alone have too much power. if we use it, we are an agent of change in this country. with that in mind as we fight back, it is said that one of the best methods in fighting back against voter id laws and laws stopping campus organizations from registering voters like in the state of florida, is educating our fellow peers and letting them understand what exactly needs to be done. i guess i can delve further into this in the question and answer period. [applause] >> thank you so much. could you let us know at five

minutes, to our timekeeper, because we want to get to some questions for our panelists. brian, roland. >> my name is brian roland. i bring greetings on behalf of the great city of prairie view, where i serve on the city council and as mayor pro tem of the great city of prairie view, texas. the word i'm going to talk about in reference to power to organize is called power. power defined by webster is the ability to act or produce an effect, possession or control, a board or influence over others. troubles in texas. student smart for voter rights in 2004, myself and some of my friends on campus at prairie view a&m university, the second oldest institution in the great state of texas, 1876.

they organized a march. before we get into that, there's a supreme court case that was ruled in 1979 called the order of 1978. it went to the supreme court. it allowed the right of all college students to be able to vote where they go to school. what college do you think brought the lawsuit? per view a&m university. prairie view. 19 students were indicted in 1993. charges were later dropped. there were taken to jail for voter fraud in led to massive voter registration drives on campus. this is real, ladies and gentlemen. the district attorney in 2004

wrote a letter in the newspaper to tell students they would be fine and could face jail time if they registered in the county. i want to thank everyone in here, because i grew up in the naacp and have been a member of the last 16 years. i came up through the youth council college chapter, which gave me the skills and knowledge and ability to be able to organize and to do some things we were successful at. what we did is -- power, we had to prepare ourselves and our community long-haul on these issues as our history indicates there have been continuous attempt to implement aggressive policies that suppress the vote in communities of color. it becomes critical when we organize our respective communities around important

issues that impact our civil- rights to participate in this democracy. several states have voting rights challenges this year. we need to educate the masses around voter rights. theults, if you do things above, you will build a strong community base that is actively engaged in our democracy and will create accountability within the leadership. prepare, organized, educate, and it results. i want to leave you with something, as saying. "extreme circumstance calls for extreme measures." and a couple famous black poets. d. "people, people, we

are the same, no, we are not the same. fight the powers that be." now i want to talk about kanye west. "i'm living in the 21st century doing it better than anyone has ever seen. prisons are opened. we have got nothing to lose." thank you again. don't forget, power. >> we will have some heart stops because we want to get questions. so if you hear me do the pretreating, clearing my throat, that means heart stoard stop. >> my name is kemba smith pradia, founder of my

foundation and the author of my own story. in april of 1995 i was sentenced in t virginia u.s. district sentencedo 24 years in federal prison as a first-time non- violent drug offenders. i was the girlfriend of a drug dealer who was physically abusive. due to our nation's heart and disproportionate conspiracy in crack cocaine drug laws, even though the prosecutor if stated i never handled, used, or sold any of the drugs involved, i was sentenced to the total amount of drugs within the conspiracy. thank goodness for organizations such as the n.a.a.c.p.., because it was their legal defense fund that represented me pro bono and the naacp advocated on my behalf. it was years ago that our president benjamin jealous, a rhodes scholar at the time, was one of the first people that actually brought my case to president clinton goes attention. after serving six and a half years, president clinton

concluded my sentence. had it not been for this act of the president of the united states, i would still be serving a prison sentence today until the year 2016. despite receiving executive clemency, one of the consequences of having been incarcerated was losing my right to vote. in 2009 during the most historical presidential election in the united states i was not able to cast my vote do to stay disenfranchisement-laws disenfranchisement- 2008. four states promptly disenfranchise people with felony convictions. florida, kentucky, iowa, and virginia. there are nearly 400,000 people disenfranchised in virginia. this disenfranchisement was adopted into the virginia state constitution in 1902. the reasoning was because it was quoted by a state delegate,

"this plan will eliminate the darkie as a political factor in less than five years for the complete supremacy of the white race in the. affairs of the" 90 days later, the number of black registered voters plummeted from more than 140,000 down to 122,000. the state constitution gives the governor complete authority to restore political rights. a convicted person in virginia would need to complete their prison sentence, pay any outstanding fines or court costs, complete their supervised release. after completing the supervised release, there's a mandatory two-year or five-year waiting before a convicted person can apply for restored voting rights. if you have a nonviolent drug charge, you automatically fall within the five-years.

i was not eligible to apply to have my rights restored until 2010. in 2009 i moved to indianapolis. to to indianapolis i was not sure of my voting status, but someone suggested i go to dmv and fill out the voter registration form and see what happens. i received my voter registration card within a few weeks and in november 2010 i was able to vote for the first time in indiana. [applause] recently, i moved back to virginia. as a wife, mother, i have a two- year-old daughter. i have a husband who is an air- traffic controller, so his schedule is busy, but i have to go through this tedious and bureaucratic process of applying for restoration of rights. i know that i am limited in time. sol 1 to list some things i

have do it as if i'm applying to go to college. number one, i have to get a certified copy of my driving record, a certified copy of a criminal record to show, show proof of all patent for court costs, three reference letters, and get my application signed by a notary public, letter petition has to be submitted by myself, a copy of letter from my provision officer outlining my period of supervision, and certified copies of sentencing order. that's for a basic human rights. i need to make sure -- i am fortunate that i have transportation and someone who can watch my daughter because she's not in day care now. i will make sure if i get my rights restored. just to people that are listening, and especially to governor bob mcdonnell, here's a quote from martin luther king. "is it expedient?

and then the question of it is politic? is it popular? is it right? there comes a time when one must take the position that it is neither safe nor politically popular but he must do it because conscience tells him it's right." thank you. k our sister. our sistthanik >> all these money steal on wall street and they get a bonus. and this good sister ends up in jail. somebody ought to say something is wrong with that. >> something is wrong with that. >> dennis. >> one of the great things that always happens to me when i come to the conference at the state level, i get mad all over again, and that's a good thing. the struggle of discontent.

it's always good to have some energy going back. a couple of things about felony disenfranchisement. 5.3 million people are affected in this country around just unable to vote because of their record. it goes across variations of states. in north carolina where i'm from you cannot vote until you are off probation and parole, inclusive of all fines and fees. that's pretty much across the country. in california if you can vote while on probation but not on parole. in pennsylvania can vote as soon as you are released. in maine and rhode island you can votes even as an inmate. maybe we need to study those two states to find out what they are doing to get that in our policy conversation. the old jim crow, there were the poll taxes. the new jim-crow felony disenfranchisement.

we have heard it over and over. there are some legal challenges over the last 30 or 40 years in the courts. talent is to the 14th amendment, 15th amendment, and voting rights act. we have not had any opinions yet in our favor, but there are some courts leaning our way in saying that from the totality of the circumstances, if it looks like this is not a law to hurt you from voting but to prevent you from voting, we will look at everything under all the circumstances. some courts are leaning that way. if it looks like it is something other than what you say it is, we will have some issues around the 14th amendment and 15th amendment. so i think that'll change. what can we do? we can study the state's already using this law. like the rhode island and maine, and study what they are up to. anybody can vote over there including inmates. if we can get back to our courts and have lobbied days.

we can get our state legislature and capitol hill to fight for enfranchisement. we can call on the formerly incarcerated to help support a coalition of formally incarcerated people, to help them carry it forward. also, those formally incarcerated men and women who are eligible, let's make sure they are registered to vote. i will stop right there and say thank you all for allowing me to come. i service criminal justice share of the state of south carolina under this great leader, dr. barbara. -- barber. >> any young people -- mark thompson, down, you are 100 years old. if you are young, stand up, if you are under 18. they said 25. i'm doing something different. let me do this.

21 and under. good. i want to say to you all, we need some civil-rights lawyers. i am prophesying over you all. we need some lawyers that will continue to fight. we have to dust off this constitution. barbara needs everyone of you all to be in terms. she needs a legacy. i want to believe some of you will become civil rights lawyers. give them a hand. [applause] thank you. i'm just teasing mark. brother mitchell used this andd, "interposition iing nullification." dr. king used those words as well. it means when the state tries to undermine or cancel the protections of the federal law

the state law. when dr. king used it, he used it to keep from cursing. but it's really an ugly word. "whose governors lips are dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, said.e we are dealing with two realities. we are dealing with jim-crow. that is straight up racism, just right at you, i'm going to destroy you. we are also dealing with james crow esquire, who is slick, sophisticated, hires consultants, goes in the back rooms and fines loopholes in the law, designed to undermine the

principle of law itself. this sister has been battling both of them, jim crow and his offspring james crow esquire. thank you, barbara, for being with us. >> thank you. good afternoon, everyone. this audience is composed of my heroes and sheroes, because you are the game changers. we will talk about what we need to do, how we respond to this challenge and what can be done. done its first of all, everybody has covered so much. i will just cover a few things that were not mentioned, just quickly. one of them is today the lawyers committee for civil rights under law and common cause released a report on deceptive practices and voter intimidation. that report you can get at our

website. and you will find that in the reported talks about all these deceptive practices where fires are passed out in our communities that say if you come to the polls and tried to vote, but you will be arrested. if you cannot pay your traffic tickets, your child support, your electric bill, your rent, if your telephone bill, your cable bill, whatever. they are just lying. the other fliers say things like, "if you show up and try to votes and you are registered by the naacp, league of women voters, if any other progressive group, but you will be arrested." another says open " because you are a great democratic voters, you should know democrats only vote on wednesdays and everybody else votes on tuesday's." in addition, there are robocalls.

we saw those robocalls in wisconsin and we have seen them in virginia and everywhere. these robocalls say things like, "it is 3:00 today, the election has already been decided, so you can stay home." "by the way, your precinct has been moved or it has been closed for today, so you have to come back and vote on wednesday >' all these lies that are designed to steal people's votes. we have issued a report calling for the federal government to pass -- there is federal legislation pending to make deceptive practices and voter intimidation illegal so that they could be put in jail for trying to intimidate voters instead of just a slap on hand. the other thing i want to mention, we have to register people. 60% of 3 million african- american voters who registered for the first time in 2008 will

need to be registered, but they don't know that. they think that they are cool. they will say they are good, i voted in 2008. they don't realize that because they moved order house was foreclosed, they lost their jobs, that they do need to be re-registered in most circumstances. also, 1.8 million black voters will need to be an re-registered in order for us to even obtain parity with a population of our country. people perish for the lack of knowledge, they say. one of the things that is being passed out right now by my wonderful colleague tonya clay house and others is the map of shame. i created this school because my son was smart enough to say, mom, you need a map.

so i went to my staff. my staff created this matter of shame. this has become popular because it thought everybody what was at stake. -- map of shame. since i showed it to you last july, it has gotten worse. there are more states out there trying to pass these terrible loss. if i just want to remind you that in addition to voter id and if in addition to everything else, we have limits on early voting, proof of citizenship, restrictions on voter organizations, and mass confusion because nobody knows what a lot is. what do we have to do? we have to stand up and be voter champions. each and everyone of us and everybody we know, we have to convert them into being voter

champions. so the first thing we want to do is massive voter education. all the people that think they are good and are not, we have to teach them that they have to get re-registered. second, we have active right now the election protection hot line. if you have a cousin or a sister and you are in a state and you don't know whether or not they have the right to vote because they are a former felon or they're on parole, call the hotline. 1-866-our-vote is that number. call it, because it is live and is open all business hours. please use it, because people have all kinds of issues out there. they don't know what to do if they move. they don't know how to read- register. they have all kinds of issues. they need it to be straightened

out. this is where you can call if you need information. please use it. the other thing i want to make sure you do in addition to knowing the map, i want everybody to pull out their smartphone. you know, the thing we cannot live without, our appendage. i want you to get our smartphone mobile app. this is election protection in your hand. text "our vote" to 90975 and you will get the election protection smartphone app. this application is excellent because it will tell you everything about voting in your state. and it will tell you how to -- if you don't know where to go to

o can help you, and where voter registration is, and how to get help. i want to make sure that we do those two things. i will stop right now because of time. there are additional resources that have been passed out. this is a fight, my brothers, sisters. we are in the fight of our lifetime. let us not have any doubt about what is going on it. yes, is reconstruction again. but what is really going on is the mess. people are getting the numbers. they know straight up that if this country is allowed to be what it should be and everybody is allowed to vote that it's going to be a more progressive nation. it will reject the conservative agenda. second, to be a more fair and

representative nation and we will have more women, more african-americans, more latinos, more native americans, more asian-americans sitting where they need to be sitting in the seats of power, and exercising that power. they know that. the only way to stop what is the inevitable evolution in this country is by coming up with these artificial barriers. guess what we do? we fight. peter down artificial barriers. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. -- we tear down artificial barriers. >> thank you so much. let's give this panel hana hand. [applause] i want you to remember tt when we talk about this week construction, this nation on two occasions had a chance to fulfill its noble ideals, right

after slavery. that reconstruction effort was undermined by frontal attacks on the voters. the civil rights movement represented the possibility of a second reconstruction. that was undermined by a tax on voters' rights and the assassination of our leaders, malcolm, martin, better evers, and the president of the united states. the election of president obama and the kind of electorate that brought him into office represented the possibility of a third reconstruction that would be completed. and democracy is hard. there is always been a challenge to expanding the electorate.

the noble documents of this nation when they were written did not include everybody. it did not even include all white people. let's be real about that. there's always been a struggle with a full, open democracy. the original constitution did not even include poor white people if they were not landowners. it did not include women or native americans, who were here first. and it fractionized us. somehow they thought you could take a person that god made and reduce them to a fraction. you cannot relax under democracy, because there are those who want to take advantage of the democracy itself. one final piece, we have to keep our eye on the issue of redistricting. that's all across this country,

particularly in the states where you have the voting rights act section 5. let me give you a little example of what's happening and how our opponents are perverting our victories. the voting rights act section 5 says that in certain states and places you have to have pre clearing. in a carolina we have seen this james crow esquire attempt to say the voting rights act says we must create majority black districts, so we are going to use the 51 plus principal and we are going to create your black districts. but the way we are going to do it is we are going to bleach, stack, and pack african-american

voters. we are going to do you a favor, we are going to give you an extra seat in the state senate and the state house, so you might go from seven blacks to eight or nine. and you ought to be excited about that because we know what's good for you in your community. but the trick in that is they add african-americans to districts that are less than 50% black voting population that are already electing black people. by adding african-americans to those voting districts they thereby undermine the ability not for blacks -- we're not just interested in electing black people. the key is not just electing black people. it is not just having a black

face in a high place. thurgood marshall even said to have to be careful with that because a black snake can buy you just like a white one and sometimes quicker. the political gain is electing individuals of your choice that will move your agenda. even if they are not african- american, they owe you their political reality. and they know that if they don't do right, you can change that reality. in north carolina, that's what we are in court now, they took 53% of african-american voters in north carolina and packed them into three congressional districts, thereby trying to remove our influence from nine of the congressional districts. they put 51% in 27 out of. 120 house of and 49% in 19 out

of 50 senate districts. they gave an extra black in the house. and in house. but what they have done is removed our political power and they thought we would be happy with just having an extra black rather than having black influence throughout the whole general assembly. now we are having to sue them in state court. this is important. we're doing this using a law that our black and white fusionist brothers and sisters of the past had sense enough to put in a law 144 years ago because they knew that somewhere down the road somebody was going to try to undermine democracy. that's where we are. we must watch this.

we must be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove and really understand what's going on politically. if we don't fight this asked a state -- and it's not compelling, people missed it because it does not get in the headlines, but if they are allowed to proceed with these redistricting plans of calmer weather in north carolina or elsewhere, you cannot change that for 25 years. by then, so what public policy would of been put in place that you may not ever be able. remember, when they put 3/5 of a person in the constitution, it took us 246 years of slavery and 100 years of jim-crow, and we have still not gotten everything fixed. but at this time, let me -have some questions from the audience it. thank you so much.

first question? all right. when do these suppression laws go into effect? are they already in effect and what is the impact already? >> if you pull out your map of shame, right here you should have it as a handout. once again, thank you, tonya. she is one of the most brilliant lawyers out here. she is the head of the national bar association, civil-rights section. i am fortunate enough that she works for me and for the lawyers committee as our public policy director. if you look at the map of shame, you will see there are these scales of justice on several

states. that is because it indicates these laws now are not in effect in those states. mind you, if we had not organized, some of these states like wisconsin have a scale of justice on it because we sued along with the aclu, the state of wisconsin. new hampshire,me hampshi that does not go into effect until 2013, but it has some precursor effects of this year. if you look at georgia and if you look at georgia -- i'm sorry, south carolina and alabama, mississippi, texas, you will see those scales of justice are there because we sued texas.

we are litigating with them right now. some of the lawyers are going to court today. we, also, objected to the justice department around south carolina and we are objecting in alabama and mississippi. let me get one thing straight. people say everybody thinks voter id laws are good. let's take the truth of that myth. one thing that happens in mississippi is that they had a voter initiative, a ballot initiative. in mississippi, it passed by over 80%. when we did an analysis like lawyers do, we went back and looked at who voted how./ we fund out that in the white communities, 82% of all people voted for the ballot initiative. but in the african-american

community, 75% of all african- americans voted against the ballot initiative, which shows the n.a.a.c.p. in the state of mississippi did its job. it shows that when you tell people what is at stake and they understand their interests, that they will vote correctly. so you cannot just go by polling data. if we went by polling data, none of us would be sitting here, frankly. polling data never would have supported the civil rights act of 1964. let's not be deceived. it was not popular in the south and was not carried by the southern bloc. neither was the voting rights act. president johnson, when he signed the act, he said to his colleagues, "i am conceding the south to the republican party henceforth." so we just after be very clear. this map shows what is in

effect. the good news is we have stopped trythere were 13 states trie to enact these laws. we have stopped that in seven of the states. we are suing pennsylvania, the advance the project is. we are doing other work all over this country to stop these laws. i want to commend everybody who has been part of that fight. we beat the laws in nebraska and michigan and have done good things. so thank you. >> thank you, barbara. the n.a.a.c.p. and these groups are working in coalition. the lawyers committee, the aclu. it requires that kind of combines legal front in order to do that. on some of these issues we are winning because governors are vetoing, like in michigan and north carolina. even though our governor has vetoed 18 straight times, more

than any other governor in history, trying to hold back these repressive laws. someone wanted to know in terms of what was the struggle for getting the governor to address disenfranchisement in your state? one has been a struggle? ,> i don't know if you heard but i have been living in indianapolis for the past three years, indiana. so i have been off the scene. but i do know that governor mcdonnell, there has been some praise, because past governors did not deal with the issue at all. with the massive back up, people were not able to get through good frustration process. but governor bob mcdonnell has made a commitment he will make sure each application is addressed within 60 days. my opinion, pockets time to do

what's right and there should be no application period. [applause] unfortunately, i do have to leave early, but i am glad i was able to make a comment. also, one of the things that bothered me is i am a taxpaying citizen. i represent over 5 million disenfranchised people across the country. 2 million of those people are african american. how do you explain to your kids, when you come out of a passageway, you learn from that. you are in the community educating, doing preventive measures to teach our young people about the importance of making choices, doing all you need to do for your family, how do you explain to your child not being able to exercise that basic human fundamental right, where your child sees everybody else on the news going to the polls? i had the experience of

explaining this to my young son in 2008, why i was not able to vote, which was very painful. i feel as if a virginia and these other states need to step up and do what's right. thank you. >> if you all would allow me to do what i would do in church, take a little pastoral privilege. i have read most of the questions. some of them will be answered in the next section through how to implement the plan at the local level, because that's what many of you are wanting to know. i want to do this, if we could take the panelists and in a minute and a half, what two things from the perspective you have raised on messaging, do we need to see happening? you are speaking to grass roots people. we have 2400 units of the

n.a.a.c.p. across this country and in almost every county and every state. here are people who have spent their own money to come here. what can they do when they go back home, from your perspective, on the issues you have spoken to today it? each take a minute and a half and then we will conclude. >> i think the number one thing to do in terms of messaging is to make sure that people pose the individual stories are told. i think what you saw in florida, where despite what the governor was trying to do, the election supervisors put a halt, was really driven by some of the individual stories that came out of people who were being impacted. the 92-year-old world war ii veteran and many other people. their individual stories were told. some of those, about half of the election supervisors are republican and about half of them are democrats. pretty much all of them stopped the act.

that's a good thing. hopefully we will not have what we thought was going to happen there. the second thing i would say is that we just need to do what we can to raise the issue in the consciousness to get it into local papers, local news. i think that's a lot of times people pay attention to the voting rights issues right around the election, but in all of that time, before your years before and the two years before, it really drops off the radar as far as what is going on. that is when the damage is being done. that's when all the laws are being passed. that's when the people on the other side of the issue will get busy. so we should keep up the vigilant and make sure the message keeps getting out. >> thank you. let's give him a hand. [applause]

>> just j to piggyback >udd said, i agree in fighting back against college oppression. --- just to piggyback off what judd said. we need to tell incoming freshmen what the need to do to vote. i have to put provisions in place so that i will be able to cast my absentee ballots because i will be out of state. we have to be more aggressive. we have to deny all these stereotypes they have of college students that we are feelings- based and brainwashed. with that in mind, we really have to be more aggressive as an association in informing. that's one of our greatest abilities, getting information

into communities and making it known that these are the messages. a lot of the supervisors of elections offices are even willing to work with units that may want to do registration. they will come out and do the registration for you so you don't have the liability of a fine. we need to get information into communities so that college students voices will not be muted and we will be able to say this is what we want and this is our future we are fighting for. >> thank you so much it. sounds like we need a fresh freedom summer led by a new generation of youngsters. i was a year old during? that during well, freedom fall. i was a year old when you all did it in 1964. [laughter] >> just a few things. one day we need to do is all

take the n.a.a.c.p. and voting rights. toolkit and. that's the first thing. from that we need to implement that on all levels, local, state, and nationwide. -- we need to read the n.a.a.c.p. voting rights cool k -- tool kit. you cannot be disconnected in your community but you want to participate nationally. all politics are local. if we get at that basic level, we will start to see the changes. one thing regarding affecting change and how things piggyback, elections are every four years for president. in texas, the governor is elected every two years. we cannot not participate in the off years, because that's when all the egregious as happens around this country. after 2008, one joyous occasion

happened and in 2010 we were still celebrating. thank you for the opportunity. again, make sure that we read the voter rights tool kit that the n.a.a.c.p. has put together. grab hold of voting rights as a game changer topic. it is the foundation of how we move forward. redistricting was very important. redistricting is the foundation. education, how it we reform education, criminal justice, economic development in our communities, all based on redistricting, because that's how the laws will be changed. again, thank you. [applause] >> the president did something this morning. everybody, hold up your hand. he said we have five games changers. there was a sister yesterday who

said he would not cut off your finger, your pinkie or york cour thumb. these five came changers are connected just like the fingers on your hand. the thumb is like the voting, because it separates you from a primate. it is what gives your hand the ability for your other figures to function. this voting rights piece is like a thumb. if you take that away, you undermine health care and education. i want to thank you for raising the hip-hop prophetic critique. some of the brothers and sisters in the hip-hop community have got it right. don't miss that. they know exactly what's going on. on.