The Illinois times. (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-19??, 1950-09-29
the Black
BALLOT BOX

- sections ef thsa nation. ssp
~ asate ballot boxes are main
tanned fer the races. | am told II
ane lavasiaa where the one far Ne
gfoes has black paint bob.
A lasiy whom | met questions
the eenstitutlonality IT such
practice. Then there is the direct
insult that Is attached. This lady
recalls that upon going Ia soss
she remarked TO her husband.
Darling rs black r. The sessn9
attendant registered expression os
shame.
lie Anew. would venture. that
beyond the stigma af insult that
the separate. black ballot box am.
piled. there could lie the big steal
BEING very blunt. the lava and
high courts Of the land might die
tate that citizen mast he regis
teswd and has vote accepted. butt
under tbs iwo ballot hox system
Il would es an easy matter 10 for
get tn count that citizens vote
Doubtless, many persons Nha
have gone thru the task Of quail
flying and voting have never had
their VOTES counted. have recent
~ heard that Ia one eity election
IN thla area candidate Aho
should have won" LOST.
As the story goes. persons in
charge Of the voting booths in thla
candidates. section failed 10 70.
turn 10 the voters their coupons,
dctaehahla part OF the bsliota,
which serve a. receipts. In the mb
sence Of voting machines, NO RI
CElPT naturally NO CONTEST.
Under ordinary conditions. IL
would ha expected that elections
would he ga carried out that on.
posing candidates would supervise
voting and the counting Of the bal
lot. Hut in a one party election
such democratic procedure can be
quite lax.
This whole matter has iesi me To
wonder II the proposed Lodge
amendment aboiishiaR the else.
torai college would not be OF ulil-
mats and far reaching good 10 tho
nation M whole. The Ledge
amendment would have out lmwsd
the electoral college as q unit for
electing presidents.
In short, Senator Lodges pro-
posal would have Apiit tbs ~lsr-
torai vote In confederation of the
pepmAss v~4ss tA~w aAaAinktmw~1Ass
winner take VII sehssns which now
exists In presidential elections. |
believe that the Lodge plan would
have eventually brought = two.
party system 10 the south.
Temporarily. certain key pc.
litical esnters. where Negro lead
ership claims q balance Of power,
may have lost some political sig
nificanee IA far m the national
scene IL concerned. BY far, u would
be better II this so~alled balance
were to operate In areas In which
the greatest numbers Of Negroes
live and til problm IL most tense.
II In my conviction that the Ian.
plications OF the black ballot box
will more quickly be erased WHEN
there are two active party oper-
atoms in the solid south. II tbs
Republicans should launch action
Ia this section on behalf ut a pres
identisl andidate, IL ould be a.
sumed II would enter other fed
eral, state and local politics In
serious manner.
A further conviction Of mine
Is that the outside political iaflu-
enee based upon balance OF po~
wer" political leadership Ii 81 tbs
most PSEUDO and definitely In
effective At the local level. The
National level politician uses thia
seller" somewhat effectively In
Washington. In Atlanta No!
Here the political alertness Of
the Negro voter Ia the factor that
Is making life more pleasant for
the Atlanta Negro. Naturally
man. woman and child In Atlanta
are interested In those thies that
confront them from day to-day.
Washington Is somewhat remote.
When Atlantans Of color re-
gistcr to the tune of 10000 and
see mayor elected by the narrow
margin of slightly more than
hundred votes, they see better
schools and other city services
and more respect from city au-
thoritres.
They see the concept of the
black ballot box being tucked q.
way in moth balls.