February 2009
Dear Friend:
We write to invite your organization's participation in the 2009 Voter Education Initiative, "Don't Lose Your Vote," sponsored by the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. This current year brings the NYC mayoral election and other primary and general elections for the important public offices of Public Advocate, Borough President, and City Council Member. This project seeks to prevent a repeat of the large scale disenfranchisement that occurred in last year's historic elections. During the 2008 elections, over 100,000 New Yorkers were unable to effectively exercise their right to vote because of their lack of voter education training. Many of these citizens believed that they were registered to vote, or enrolled in a political party for the primary election, but they were not! In the November 2008 general election, for example, nearly 40,000 votes were actually cast in Brooklyn, mostly by Black and Latino voters that may not have been counted. Why? Because either their voter registration cards had not been processed in time, their registration may have been invalidated, or there was administrative failure by the Board of Elections in New York City (BOE). Thousands of formerly incarcerated persons did not vote because they were unaware of their right to register and vote like every other citizen, or because their registration applications had been improperly rejected.
During 2009, the Center for Law and Social Justice will conduct free voter education and training workshops for Brooklyn residents, particularly new voters, young people, and formerly incarcerated persons. This effort will include "Don't Lose Your Vote" training workshops. We would like to present this voter protection training at one of your organizational meetings or at community meetings, public schools, community organization, faith-based institutions, or senior citizen centers in your neighborhood. Through a participatory and multi-media format, these workshops will inform participants about voter registration and election procedures, dispel misconceptions about how felony convictions affect one's right to vote, and provide orientation on the new electronic voting machines scheduled to be employed in New York City beginning in 2009 and the Ballot Marking Device that the BOE started using in 2008. Participants will be given the opportunity to register to vote, and will leave prepared to help others to register or check their registration.
Please contact us if your organization is interested in our bringing a "Don't Lose Your Vote" workshop to your organization's meeting or neighborhood. Project staff member, Lateefah Carter and attorney Joan Gibbs, can be reached at 718 270 6293/97 or at lcarter@mec.cuny.edu or jgibbs@mec.cuny.edu.
We look forward to partnering with your organization in this crucial initiative. With your help, we can ensure that Brooklynites are equipped with the knowledge to effectively exercise their voting rights.
Yours truly,
Esmeralda Simmons, Esq.
Executive Director
About Attorney Simmons
ESMERALDA SIMMONS is the founder and executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice in Brooklyn, New York. The Center is a small but very effective community-based legal advocacy and research institution that is a unit of Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. Prior to founding the Center, Esmeralda had already had an accomplished career as the First Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights for New York State, and as a Civil Rights Attorney for the US Department of Education, a New York State Assistant Attorney General, and a New York City Assistant Corporation Counsel. She had also served as a law clerk to a federal judge.
An activist and a leader, she has been involved in the community empowerment movement in Central Brooklyn and in progressive political causes for over thirty-five years. As an attorney, she specializes in racial justice issues, such as quality public education for students of color, voting rights, and cultural rights. She chooses to work locally with community organizations using advocacy, community education, coalition–building, and organizing methods, as well as civil rights and human rights legal tools. Esmeralda is a deeply spiritual woman who is grounded in African culture. She finds constant inspiration in the vision of her ancestors, her belief in peace, and her respect for life and cultural diversity.
