PRIMROSE — At the inaugural Kennedy Dinner, hosted by the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee on Sunday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-17, said this election year voting rights may be a concern in some parts of the country.
“The Voting Rights Act was gutted three years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. What the Voting Rights Act did was it made a list of jurisdictions where there had been voting rights abuses, mostly in the southern states, mostly in the deep South,” Cartwright said before a crowd of more than 125 at St. Nicholas Hall in Primrose.
In June 2013, the Supreme Court, in a vote of 5 to 4, struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing nine states to change their election laws without advance federal approval.
The law had applied to nine states — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia — and to numerous counties and municipalities in other states, including Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, according to an article published on the website for The New York Times.
“The Voting Rights Act said these are the jurisdictions where, historically, there have been problems. So we’re going to institute a rule that any time there is a voting rule change in any of these jurisdictions, it has to be pre-approved by the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., before they’re allowed to do it. That was the pre-clearance rule. And the Supreme Court held that in tact. But what they did three years ago is said ‘The list of jurisdictions is outdated. That was 50 years ago. You have to do it over,’ ” Cartwright said.
“Maybe they realized that Congress is Republican-controlled right now and they’re not passing civil rights acts right now. Or maybe they’re on the up and up. But either way, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is now still inoperable because of that. And I say that because I want you to pay attention to it in the fall,” Cartwright told the crowd.
“If you think Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the Republican party — and he is, and he will continue to embarrass them — what will really come out as an embarrassment this fall is when we see the same types of voting rights abuses happening in the deep South that happened all along. And they’re going to do it and they’re going to get away with it because there is, effectively, no pre-clearance rule right now. So stay tuned this fall. There are going to be a lot of regrettable, sad voting rights abuses particularly in the deep South but also in other places. These are the things that the Kennedys fought against,” Cartwright said, referring to the family of John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. president, who Sunday’s dinner was named in honor of.
Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. And Sunday was the 48th anniversary of the assassination of his brother, Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy, a U.S. senator who was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California. He died the next day at age 42, according to www.history.com.
“Civil rights were something that the Kennedys stood up for. Things were changing in this country. And part of looking forward and being a forward-thinking person was standing up for civil rights. Let’s all pledge together to do that,” Cartwright said.
The Inaugural Kennedy Dinner was held to bring together members of the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee, and the plan is to make it an annual event, Hugh Reiley, the committee’s chairman, said Sunday.
“One aspect of the dinner is to recognize the contributions of individuals who have supported and sustained the values of the party,” Marybeth Matz, the committee’s finance officer, said.
The following 19 individuals, who were very involved in the Democratic politics, were honored posthumously at the event:
Peter J. Swoboda, Frackville; Beatrice A. Beatty Belsak, New Ringgold; Margaret H. “Betsy” Leganza, Orwigsburg; Margaret G. Doyle, Cass Township; Metro Litwak, Shenandoah; John R. Klinger Sr., Pine Grove; Connie A. Caldonetti, Tamaqua; Sen. Albert I. Nagle, Auburn; John G. Toner, Saint Clair; Robert D. Evans, Tamaqua; Ronald J. Parker, Pottsville; George J. Koval, Pottsville; Peter J. McCloskey, Pottsville; Ethel McCloskey Joyce, Pottsville; Patrick J. McGeever, Pottsville; Mayor Michael A. Close, Pottsville; Mayor Terence P. Reiley, Pottsville; James M. Benedict, Pottsville; and Magisterial District Justice Charles V. Moran, Minersville.
“I’d like to take a minute to explain how these people were selected. They are not meant to be the only people to be recognized. This is meant to be an ongoing event. There are others who will be recognized in the future. However, these are the ones that we’re honoring today,” Chester C. Corse, the committee’s parliamentarian, said.
Matz said an invitation to Sunday’s event was sent to Hillary Clinton. While the presidential candidate was unable to attend, she did send a letter to the Schuylkill County Democratic Party. Dated June 5, 2016, it was put on display at the event.
“I am delighted to send my warmest greetings to everyone gathered in Pottsville for the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee’s Inaugural Kennedy Dinner. While I regret that I cannot be with you in person, I am sending my best wishes for what is sure to be a wonderful evening in the company of your fellow Democrats and in support of the progressive values we hold dear,” Clinton said in the letter.
She goes on to say: “There is a lot at stake in this election. We need to secure Democratic victories up and down the ticket, not just in the presidential race, because we know all too well what happens when we don’t. Across the country, we have witnessed the effects of the steady, deliberate push by the Republican Party to flood our cities, counties and states with politicians who preach their out-of-touch, out-of-date agenda. We have to fight back, we have to compete everywhere — at all levels of government — and we have to win.”