Jackson, MS – “An accurate census count in 2010 is essential to proper allocation of federal grant dollars to local communities and is critical to the creation of fair political districts to ensure people of color have accountable representation at all levels of government,” notes Echo Director Leroy Johnson as he explains Echo’s 5-year census and redistricting program of work.

In the Spring 2009 Southern Echo:

* Became a census partner with the national Census Bureau and Mississippi state level bureau to ensure effective access to information;
* Created state maps to show where hard-to-count census tracts are and the amount of federal grant dollars allocated to each county;
* Held census training sessions with its partner organizations in the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable;
* Began outreach to grassroots community organizations across Mississippi to establish local Complete Count Committees to ensure the census bureau has accurate address data for every home before the census count is taken, to press for employment of local persons to do the census count who are familiar with community and are trusted by the residents, to monitor the accuracy of the count and file objections where necessary; and
* Will present 2 workshops on census and redistricting at the Pushback Network Convening in Las Vegas at the end of June.

The organizational work to build an effective 2010 census process will lay the foundation for the organizational framework needed to ensure the creation of fair political districts when the census data is released in 2011.

Under Nevada state law, men and women with a felony record can vote if they were honorably discharged before July 1, 2003, or have a single non-violent felony after that date. The law applies to people convicted in Nevada or any other state.

In order to prove these rights have been restored, people must provide documented proof of honorable discharge or completion of sentence from prison, probation, or parole. PLAN hired Voter Restoration Advocate Meredith McGhan to help men and women get copies of those documents from Nevada, the federal government or any other state and register to vote in the upcoming general election.

Many people in Clark County and statewide have received letters from local elections departments informing them that they cannot vote because of past legal trouble. McGhan said many, perhaps most, of them can restore their right to vote.

“We can help them through the process,” she said.

PLAN works to restore the right to vote because helping people participate in the civic life of our communities makes it much less likely that they will re-offend, McGhan noted.

“This is something that works for the people involved, for our communities and for the democratic system,” she said.

McGhan said there are thousands of people in Clark County alone who could restore their vote. PLAN registered 400 men and women in the 2004 election with a similar program.

PLAN is a coalition of three-dozen groups working for social, economic and environmental justice in the Silver State, with offices in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.

For assistance in restoring the right to call PLAN’s dedicated phone line for the program at (702)383-0079

Click Here to Download PLAN’s Voting Info Sheet.