Press Releases
Feb 12, 2008
All media inquiries, please contact Edrea Davis by email, or (818)613-9521.
Prairie View Students Demand To Be Counted In The 2008 Election
Press Conference 11 AM Tuesday at Federal Courthouse in Houston
Houston, TX – Student leaders at Prairie View A&M University, Black Youth Vote! Texas, and a host of local community leaders, elected officials, and organizations, will hold a press conference Tuesday February 12, 2008, to announce plans for a march that will call for federal intervention and protection against continuous student voting disfranchisement in Waller County Texas. University officials have already excused students for the March, which will be held on the first day of early voting.
WHO:
Andre Evans - Prarie View A&M University Students Government President
Christina Sanders - Black Youth Vote! Texas Judge
Dewayne Charleston - Waller County Judge
Mayor Franklin Jackson - Mayor of Prarie View
WHAT: Press Conference
WHEN: Tuesday February 12, 2008
TIME: 11:00 AM CT
WHERE: Federal Courthouse (on the front steps) in downtown Houston 515 Rusk Street
WHY: In 2004 an estimated 5,000 students marched to demand the right to vote without intimation. In the 2006 election, hundreds of newly registered students were turned away from the polls and forced to vote with provisional ballots because their names were never added to the Waller County voter registration rolls. Recently the Waller County Commission decided to eliminate six early voting locations in the county including the one adjacent to campus.
CONTACT: Organizers are available for interview contact:
Christina Sanders (713) 899-0737
DeWayne Charleston (281) 608-3305
Herschel Smith (832) 888-3677
ABOUT BLACK YOUTH VOTE
Black Youth Vote!, the youth division of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, is a national grassroots coalition of organizations and individuals committed to increasing political and civic involvement among Black men and women aged 18-35. Founded in 1996, the youth led organization educates young adults about the political process and trains them to identify issues and influence public policy through participation.
