WASHINGTON - Millions of Americans will be barred from casting ballots in Tuesday's crucial midterm elections due to electoral rules at the state level, which effectively exclude many minority voters to the detriment of Democrats.
Here's a look at states where these restrictions could impact the poll's outcome.
1.5 MILLION FLORIDIANS DISENFRANCHISED
Nearly six million Americans are excluded from voting because they are imprisoned, on parole or awaiting sentencing.
African Americans, who are overrepresented in the US penal system, are four times more likely to be unable to vote than the rest of the population, according to The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization.
Rules vary widely state by state, with some like Maine and New Hampshire allowing inmates to vote.
But in places such as Kentucky, Iowa, Virginia and Florida, any conviction -- even for a minor offense like possession of marijuana -- results in lifelong disenfranchisement.
In Florida, where the Republican Donald Trump was just 112,000 votes ahead of his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, nearly 1.5 million people are deprived of voting because of a criminal record.
In addition to choosing their governor and members of Congress, Florida residents will vote on whether to restore voting rights to people with prior felony convictions once they have finished their sentences, besides those convicted of the most serious crimes.
PROOF OF STREET ADDRESS
There is no national identity card in the United States. Instead, each state defines what documents can be used as identification at the polling station.
And according to the American Civil Liberties Union, an influential civil rights organization, several states have imposed restrictive rules since 2010.
North Dakota has since 2016 required its residents to present a document with proof of a street address.
But the state is home to thousands of Native Americans who live on reservations in rural areas with but a single post office box.
They might be turned away at the ballot box, where Heidi Heitkamp -- a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 2012 by just 3,000 votes -- is campaigning to keep her seat.
Backers of the rule hold it prevents fraud, as North Dakota does not require voters to pre-register.
'EXACT MATCH' RULES
In Georgia, the data voters provide when registering at the polls have since 2017 been compared to those given when applying for a driver's license or social security number.
If there are discrepancies, authorities might refuse the registration.
Some 53,000 applications are currently pending, 70 percent of which belong to African Americans, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Democrat Stacey Abrams -- who hopes to become the first black woman elected governor in the US -- has accused her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, of using his position heading the office that oversees elections to influence the vote.
Kemp in turn says voters can cast ballots if they clarify their situations, and accuses Abrams of wanting to let undocumented immigrants vote.
Even if applications in limbo are ultimately approved, Abrams fears the challenge to register might cause these voters to stay home.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - Walk into your average ad agency in America and you could be forgiven for thinking you had traveled back in time, with many still resembling the white male bastions immortalized in the series "Mad Men."
That may be about to change as the industry redoubles efforts to recruit more minorities, sensing a chance to strengthen ties to populations that feel assaulted in the Trump era -- and better reflect contemporary US society.
Outreach efforts towards minority populations have long been complicated by the paltry number of African Americans who work in advertising: they remain in the single digits as a percentage of staff, while Latinos also are underrepresented.
For award-winning ad veteran Valerie Graves, who rose from being among the first black copywriters at the firms where she worked, to leading entire creative departments, the sector needs to recognize that non-whites "drive the popular culture of this country and of the world."
"It hardly seems likely that we're not capable of doing advertising at a very high standard," she said, urging industry leaders to "realize that diversity is not just something that (they're) being forced to do but is something that responds to the demographics of the country."
That message seemed to be resonating at last week's giant Advertising Week conference in New York, where numerous panels spotlighted efforts both to bridge the diversity gap, and connect with minorities alienated by President Donald Trump's tough stance on immigration and racial issues.
"There's a real opportunity to forge a bond," said Ludwig Ortiz, a senior vice president at Energy BBDO.
When Ortiz' firm surveyed Hispanic shoppers -- long seen as a key sector poised for growth -- 70 percent said they had seen displays of prejudice rise since the 2016 presidential election.
Researchers have also found that Hispanics took notice when Apple, Facebook and other technology companies called on Trump to maintain protections for so-called "Dreamer" immigrants, brought to the country as children, said research consultant Marissa Romero-Martin.
Hispanics "are looking at what brands are doing and not doing," Romero-Martin said.
LONE VOICES
An ad by Budweiser emphasizing the positive role of immigrants drew positive reviews at last year's Super Bowl.
But other campaigns have misfired -- such as when Pepsi was roundly criticized for an ad in which Kendall Jenner made light of the "Black Lives Matter" movement -- in what marketers see as sympomatic of the lack of internal diversity.
Nearly half of advertising employees believe the industry is "terrible" or "not great" at hiring diverse professionals, according to a 2016 survey by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's).
"We are losing an opportunity to bring in diverse views," said Keith Cartwright, executive creative director at BSSP, who often finds himself the lone African American at client meetings.
To remedy the situation, the sector has put in place mentoring programs and scholarships to introduce young minority talent to industry leaders.
But a key driver has been large clients -- such as Verizon last year -- who are increasingly demanding that their ad agencies step up the pace of change.
The telecoms company did not set quotas for minorities, but demanded "meaningful progress" from its ad firms, said Diego Scotti, its chief marketing officer.
"We have 130 million customers," Scotti said. "We appeal to everyone, so we have to represent internally the understanding of our audience. If we don't, we won't be successful."
HP saw a jump in the promotion of women after delivering a similar ultimatum to its ad firms, although it says minorities are still too few.
"On the underrepresented minorities, we didn't move the needle as much as we want," said Antonio Lucio, HP's global chief marketing and communication officer. The company shifted recruitment to different schools and agencies to address the problem.
MAJORITY-MINORITY 'CLASH'
Her own success story aside, Valerie Graves fears progress will remain slow until there is a change in "mind and hearts."
But speakers at the New York fair urged executives to stay the course when they encounter resistance in the diversity push.
"When you really start to see organizational tension, don't get scared and back away," said Keesha Jean-Baptiste, senior vice president of talent engagement and inclusion at the trade association 4A's.
"At that point that's when real change happens, which is underrepresented groups and majority culture starting to clash and creating real dialogue and a place of discomfort that start to drive outcomes... that change the nature of who's rising to the top."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
