The Omaha guide., 1932-09-24
Negro Holds Balance
Of Voting Power


cited Here, states the survey the
Negroes Of voting age numbered 32,-
SOS in 1880. The normal increase in
the number Of voters each year is two
per cent. Thus at the present time a
fair estimate Of the number Of Negro
voters in the State is $4,000. This
number will seem small when COM
pared with the total vote in the State,
but when it is remembered that in
1928 Massachusetts went Democratic
By a bare plurality Of 1872, and it is
realized that party lines this year are
even more narrowly divided, it can be
plainly seen that Negro voters in the
State viii do much to decide which
way the States II electoral votes will
GO"
Discussing the State Of New York,
the analysis stated: New York, with
AZ electoral votes, was won in the last
election by President Hoover by a
margin Of 104,4sl votes But in the
Borough Of Manhattan, where there
were 224 $40 Negroes Of voting age
in 1880, the Hoover vote was lo6,3y6
10 a Smith vote Of 317,227. 1t is plain,
therefore, that with Tammany Hall
OBJECTIONS against the Roosevelt can
didacy and with general ~dissatisfac-
ton over the Hoover candidacy accen-
tuated BY widely spread poverty over
the Harlem area, the now over 100000
Negro voters in Manhattan viii be
n highly significant factor in the No
vensber election This vote, coupled
with over 10000 Negro voters in other
sections Of the State, is more than
enough TO swing the fall election
whichever way it wills"
The discussion Of the pivotal State
Of Ohio was equally interesting. About
this mid-western State which went to
Hoover by a large plurality in 1928,
the survey concluded: "The 26 elector-
al votes at stake in Ohio have been
rendered doubtful by the prohibition
question. The election of a Democra-
&c governor and United States Sena-
tor on a wet ticket have done much to
foment a strong Democratic and wet
sentiment with which Republican lead
ers must cope. The candidacy of SEN
ator Fess, a pronounced dry, has added
to the already b~urdensome task before
the Republican Party. Under these
circumstances Ohio is certainly a
doubtful State and sentiment of the
over 100000 Negro voters residing
there is no small portent Of which
way political winds will blow in the
fall"
Although Pennsylvania and Illinois
are not listed as doubtful States, "any
sudden change Of sentiment on the
part Of white voters because of such
issues as prohibition, farm relief or
the bonus, will place the Negroes in
these States in a key position Also"
states the survey. "In such Southern
States as North Carolina, Texas and
Oklahoma where the activity Of the
Negro electorate has been heightened
during the last two years, it is pointed
out, that while the full Negro voting
strength will not be martialled in these
localities, it is well to expect that
thousands of Negroes will vote and
that this may well show in November
a result which cannot now be ade-
quately predicted"
"An element in the equation Of Ne
gro voting strength, which has not
been fully realized, has been the phe-
nomenal increase Of Negro voters to
found on the registration books Of
large urban centers,D declares the
study. I'm the city of Baltimore, a
recent police census, indicates that
while whites and Negroes are on a
ratio Of five to n by population, the
ratio Of the number of new eligible
voters is only three to one. The ac-
tivity of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
of the United States in opposing
pro Parker Senator'S, the increasing
influence of the Negro press, the in
crease in literacy are but a few of
many elements which have conspired
to awaken the Negro electorate and
cause greater concern among Negro
men and women about casting their
ballots"