U.S. Census Bureau Black History Month Feature for February 3

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily Black History Month feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3: VOTING

Profile America for the third day of Black History Month.  As the presidential campaigns heat up, there are competing charges of vote fraud and vote suppression.  It hasn't always been easy for all Americans to cast their vote in elections.  It took the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, ratified after the Civil War, to establish that the right to vote could not be denied because of race.  Discrimination in the registration of voters was prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  That same year, poll taxes were eliminated in federal elections by the 24th Amendment, and federal court rulings did the same thing at the state level four years later.  In the last presidential election, 65 percent of eligible African-American citizens turned out to vote, about 5 percentage points more than the 2004 election.  This special edition of Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Sources:  U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB12-FF.01

Profile America Special Edition:  Black History Month  2012  is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov  (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau