Offered January 22, 1996
Designating March 24, 1996, as Voter Education and Participation Day in Virginia to honor the memory of Evelyn T. Butts.
Patrons -- Jones, J.C., Crittendon, Heilig, Melvin, Moss, Robinson and Spruill;
Senators: Lambert, Lucas, Maxwell and Miller, Y.B.
WHEREAS, 1996 marks the 30th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision that elimanated the poll tax; and
WHEREAS, a Norfolk political activist and public servant, the late Evelyn T. Butts, was the moving force behind this historic decision; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn T. Butts challenged the poll tax in the early 1960s, and, with the help of attorney Joseph A. Jordan, Jr. and U.S. Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall, prevailed in the U.S. Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, not content to rest on her laurels, Evelyn Butts immediately led a voter registration drive that added thousands of registered voters to the rolls in the Norfolk area; and
WHEREAS, on the 30th anniversary of the end of the poll tax, it is appropriate and fitting that the manifold contributions of Evelyn T. Butts be remembered and commended; now, therefore be the it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby designate March 24, 1996, as Voter Education and Participation Day in Virginia, in honor of the memory of Evelyn T. Butts; and be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly urge the citizens of Virginia to register, to vote, and to be active participants in our democratic political system.