The Commission on Social Justice and Human Concerns Addresses the Importance of Voting

The Commission on Social Justice and Human Concerns of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church addresses the importance of voting in this historic election year. The ability to vote is our constitutional right which many persons fought, marched and died for over the decades. We encourage everyone to register to vote in a timely manner, participate in the electoral process and upcoming congressional, state and local elections, and to vote for a presidential candidate of your choice . Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2008. It is more important than ever to get out and vote and to get others to vote. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2004 the voter turnout rate for African Americans was 60% and over 9 million eligible African American voters did not vote. Together we can make a difference by increasing awareness and participation in the voter registration process. We encourage our members to be engaged in voter registration efforts and education drives in our local churches around the United States, and getting people to the polls on Election Day. For additional information concerning voter registration for your state and/or the deadline to register, please visit www.rockthevote.com/electioncenter The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, under the leadership of Senior Bishop William H. Graves, is a 137-year old historically African American Christian denomination with more than 800,000 members across the United States, and has missions and sister churches in Haiti, Jamaica, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition to the four CME colleges is a seminary, Phillips School of Theology, which is an affiliate member of the Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, GA). For additional information about the denomination, visit http://www.c-m-e.org/ .

For additional information, contact:
Bishop Henry M. Williamson, Sr.
Chairman, Commission of Social Justice and Human Concerns
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Telephone: 323-294-3830
E-mail: ninthhq@sbcglobal.net