Democracy for Westchester has come to Mt. Vernon.

On April 4, from 6 to 7:45 pm, DFW will sponsor a free public forum at the Mt. Vernon Public Library (Community Room, 28 South First Street, Mount Vernon) on the Voting Rights Act.

The Voting Act Rights of 1965 empowered the federal government to oversee voter registration and to make sure individual states do not suppress voting rights. For reasons of constitutionality, portions of the Act were made temporary. In 1982, the temporary provisions of that Act were extended for 25 years, but they are again set to expire. A federal commission has recommended renewal of the Act. Westchester residents may be unaware that Westchester County is one of only three counties in New York that are under a continuing federal injunction under this law, which suggests that we in Westchester ought to be more aware of this Act, and what it means to our community.

The forum will feature a panel discussion, which will review the history of the Voting Rights Act, explain the looming expiration of its important enforcement provisions, and suggest what members of this community can do to make these protections permanent. The panelists will include:

The Hon. Andrea-Stewart Cousins, Vice-Chair of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, was first elected to represent Westchester’s 16th Legislative District in 1995, the first African-American woman to represent Yonkers on the County Board of Legislators. In her six years as Chair of the County Board’s Legislation Committee, Stewart-Cousins led the effort to pass landmark legislative initiatives, including the County’s first Human Rights Laws; Smoke-Free Work Place laws; tougher gun laws; Living Wage legislation; and laws that prosecute “predatory lenders” and racial profiling.

Sondra K. Slade - President of the League of Women Voters of Bronxville. Ms. Slade is a member of the New York and Pennsylvania bars and the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. She has been an adjunct professor at Widener and Villanova Law Schools and was a lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.

Gregory Wallance - Member of a distinguished New York City law firm and a widely published author of fiction and non-fiction. His most recent book, Two Men Before the Storm, takes as its subject "Dred Scott and the Supreme Court Case That Started the Civil War."

This blogger has the honor of serving as moderator.

This event was organized principally by Mt. Vernon community activist Vicki Camacho, who came to DFW through the New Rochelle meetup, and hopes that this event can be the kick off for an active and regular DFW presence in Mt. Vernon.