St. Paul recorder., 1962-12-14
LESS THAN 10 OF NEGROES IN SENATOR
JAMES EASTLAND'S HOME COUNTY
ARE ALLOWED TO CAST BALLOTS
(ANP Washington Bureaul

washington (ATNHJ - Inc NOME
county of one of the United States
most powerful senators was re-
vealed as a place where less than
one per cent of Negroes over 21
are allowed to vote, last week,
when Atty. Wiley A. Branton di-
rector, Voter Education Project,
excoriated d Sunflower County,
Miss, home of Sen. James o. East
land, chairman, Senate judiciary
Committee.
The attorney, speaking at the
final session Of the 10th annual
conference Of the National Associ-
alton Of Intergroup Relations Of
ficials, here disclosed that there
are five million Negroes of voting
age in IL states in the South, but
only IL million Of these are regis
tered voters.
Famed as an NAACP attorney
who worked closely with former
NAACP Legal Counsel Thurgood
Marshall, Branton explained the
purposes of the Voter Education
Project which is headquartered in
Atlanta.
The project, endowed with near
ly a half million dollars by three
major foundations, acts mainly as
a research organization and seeks
to determine the causes why SO
many Negroes - and whites -
are not allowed or do not vote in
the South.
Its aims, Branton said are to
discover methods for non-partisan
voter registration in the South and
to develop educational programs
geared toward creating a more
politically Hterate electorate in the
South.
The Voter Education Project
works closely with the NAACP,
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and the Student Non
violent Coordinating Committee, all
organizations engaged in the ac-
tive efforts of getting more Ne
groes registered to vote.
Illustrating the immensity and
difficulties involved, Branton told
of the ordeals Of volunteer work
ers in Indianola, county seat OF
Sunflower County.
There, he said, six Negroes were
arrested simply for passing out
hand bills giving voter registra-
ton information. The city fathers
had decreed that handbills passed
out on the street would eventually
clog up the sewers, and therefore
should not be allowed.
Thus, before handbills can be
passed out, an indemnifying bond
must be gotten from the city.
Branton said the six were ar
rested, kept in Jail overnight, and
tried the following morning at 7:3O
am. The reason for the early trial
was that the judge is also the
mayor, and the owner of a coal
and iron store. He wanted the
trials out of the way before the
business day began.
Samuel Block, of Greenville,
Miss, was the first tried, said
Branton, and since he did not have
a lawyer, the judge told him he
could ask the arresting officer
anything he wanted.
Block began by asking the Of
ficer: Did you actually see me
passing out any handbills ?"
To which the judge interrupted:
But you don't have to answer
him." and the officer didn't. All,
Of course, were convicted.
In another Mississippi town, a
Baptist church used as a local
meeting place was stripped of its
tax exempt status, free water priv
ileges, and eventually had its fire
insurance cancelled. To date, no
agency has reinsured the church,
lamented Branton.
In Sen. Eastland's County, alone,
Branton revealed that there are
approximately 1920 Negroes Of
voting age, but little over 100 are
registered.
Concluded Branton: For Negroes
to walk into a place and even in
quire about voting rights takes in
these days and times tremendous
courage.