Mr. McLEAN. Well, I trust that you are also going to try to get them this opportunity to try to vote-I mean, you have not said you would, you have not mentioned it.

Senator ERVIN. Well, I have never attempted to deprive anybody of his right to vote and I have always preached that any citizen who is qualified to vote should be permitted to vote.

Mr. MCLEAN. There are 32,000 Negroes in Halifax County. The biggest voting place there is Weldon, and yet, here is the record and this record is as of 1952 and this comes from the chairman at that time, and he is enumerating what the Negroes there have done about being registered and we find this:

In Scotland Neck there are 60; in Enfield, 58; in Palmyra, 10; in Weldon, 39; and in Littleton, 26; and then he gives the percentage of the registrations and he gives us these figures:

For Enfield, 61.7 percent; Weldon, 66.6 percent; and Littleton, 60.5 percent-so, they have not got anybody registered there, and yet, in this county there are 32,000 Negroes.

Senator ERVIN. What date was that?

Mr. McLEAN. 1952. And that is based on the census of 1950. Senator ERVIN. Well, talking about figures, a lot of people pluck things out of the air. In North Carolina, we have a lot of white people who do not register and vote. We have, I would say, about 800,000 white people who do not bother to vote. Likewise, there are a great many of the colored people who are not concerned about voting. A great many of both races do not care whether they vote or not.

So, I do not think that our population figures necessarily mean as much as they are sometimes said to mean in this connection.

Mr. MCLEAN. Well, there are many more Negroes who would vote, especially in the Black Belt, if they were not in some way intimidated. Now, I do not mean that they fear bodily harm. In fact, I know of only one person, and this happened to be a woman, who was afraid to give her name for fear that she would be harmed physically.

But there are many ways to make it hard for them to qualify and sometimes they cannot qualify. One is by keeping a person waiting and testing him, maybe an hour or maybe 2 hours. In my area you can go and register any day, and the registrar is glad to serve you. But that is not true in many other areas of the State.

Senator ERVIN. Another thing that militates against heavy voting is the fact that we have one predominant political party. There are no contests in many counties, and folks are not going to be so much concerned about voting when there is only one party ticket in a county. Is there anything further?

Mr. MCLEAN. No.

Mr. MITCHELL. I would like to thank you Senator, for your patience in hearing us and giving us this opportunity.

Senator ERVIN. Well, I am glad to do it. I did not want to inconvenience the witnesses and make them stay over until tomorrow if they could get away today.

Mr. MCLEAN. That is very kind and we certainly appreciate that. Senator ERVIN. Off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

Senator ERVIN. We will insert in the record a letter signed by R. C. Maxwell, executive secretary of the State board of elections of North Carolina dated February 18, 1957.

Also, an affidavit of Raymond Maxwell, executive secretary of the State board of elections with reference to Snow Hill and Bull Head precincts in Greene County, N. C.

Also, an affidavit from Raymond Maxwell, with reference to the registrar at the Court House precinct in Camden County, N. C., calling attention to the corrective efforts taken by the chairman of the county board of elections.

Also, an affidavit from Raymond Maxwell concerning the Bolivia precinct in Brunswick County, N. C., in which reference is made to the grandfather clause.

Those will all be included in the record.

(The documents referred to are as follows:)

Senator SAM J. ERVIN, Jr.

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS, Raleigh, N. C., February 18, 1957. '

DEAR SENATOR ERVIN: I received your letter today dated February 14 relative to the statements made by Attorney General Brownell before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and you sent me a copy of the quoted statements of Mr. Brownell relating to certain acts on the part of the registrars in Brunswick County, Camden County, and Greene County, N. C. You asked me to obtain such information as I could in reference to these incidents mentioned from the election officials in these counties in the form of affidavits and to forward these affidavits to you for use in the current hearing on the so-called civil rights bills.

After reading the enclosed written statements of Mr. Brownell on these counties, I recalled that charges concerning these incidents occurred in the registration period just preceding the primary election held on the last Saturday in May of 1956. I further recalled that these exact complaints were made to me as exccutive secretary of the State board of elections at that time by Mr. Charles A. McLean, field secretary for the NAACP, Winston-Salem, N. C., and that I sent copies of the statements of Mr. McLean concerning these incidents to the chairman of the county board of elections in each of the three counties involved, with a request that the chairman investigate the charges with the registrar or registrars involved and make a written report to me as soon as possible on said charges. I have in my file a copy of the report of the investigation and reports made to me by the chairmen of these three counties and since all of the information you require is already available in my office, I thought perhaps it would better serve your purpose to have affidavits from me setting forth the facts concerning these charges in these three counties, which you may feel at liberty to use in connection with this hearing before your subcommittee. The charges contained in the testimony of Attorney General Brownell in the three mentioned counties in this State were properly investigated and corrected where correction was needed so that no further complaint arose in those three counties during the remainder of 1956, in which a special general election and a regular general election were held and the registration books were open for both elections. I found that it was true that some of the registrars in Greene County had a questionnaire with a list of questions which they asked Negro applicants in order to qualify them for registration, and that some of these registrars did use the questionnaire on several Negro registrants. Upon investigation by the chairman of the county board of elections of Greene County the registrars stated that they did not know that they were violating the law in using such questionnaire, but upon being told that it was a violation of the law the chairman of the county board of elections reported that the use of the questionnaire was discontinued immediately and thereafter all applicants were given the same kind of qualifying test for registration.

If I can be of any further help to you please let me know.

With highest regards and best wishes, I am,

Yours very truly,

R. C. MAXWELL, Executive Secretary.

AFFIDAVIT OF R. C. MAXWELL, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS REGARDING CHARGES BY MR. CHARLES A. MCLEAN, FIELD SECRETARY, NAACP, AGAINST REGISTRARS OF SNOW HILL AND BULL HEAD PRECINCTS IN GREENE COUNTY, N. C.

To Whom It May Concern:

I, R. C. Maxwell, executive secretary of the State Board of Elections of North Carolina, hereby certify that on May 5, 1956, I received a letter from Mr. Charles A. McLean, field secretary, NAACP, concerning the failure of registrars in Bull Head precinct and Snow Hill precinct to register Negro applicants unless they could answer a list of 20 questions, which questions related to candidates running for office in the county as well as to whether they would support the NAACP should that organization attack the United States Government, and that white applicants for registration were not required to answer any of such questions, which complaints by Mr. McLean in his letter to me of May 4 read as follows:

"It has been reported to me that in Greene County, at the registering place in Bull Head precinct of which Mr. Alton Newborn is registrar, Negroes are not only required to read and write, but are required to take a written examination containing many questions some of which are as follows; name the congressional district, name the counties in the district, name the candidates for various offices to be voted upon at the election. If the NAACP would rise against our present Government, which side would you be on?"

On the same day that I received the letter from Mr. McLean concerning these charges against Greene County, I sent a copy of Mr. Charles A. McLean's letter to Mr. James H. Potter, chairman of the Greene County Board of Elections at Snow Hill, N. C., requesting said chairman to investigate these complaints with the registrars involved and give me a written report on same as soon as he could possibly do so.

I further certify that by letter dated May 10, 1956, said chairman, Mr. James H. Potter, of the Greene County Board of Elections, wrote to me concerning said charges as follows:

"DEAR MR. MAXWELL: This is with reference to your letter of the 7th, regarding the registration of Negroes in one of the townships in this county. I have investigated the complaint made by Charles A. McLean, of the NAACP, and found that Mr. A. B. Newborn, registrar of Bull Head Township, has been very strict in the registration of both white and colored. I have discussed the matter at length with him however and do not think there will be any further complaints from anyone who meets the requirements for registration. Mr. Newborn has been registrar for a number of years and is very conscientious in carrying out his duties. Please let me hear from you if there is any further information desired in this matter.

"Yours very truly,

"JAMES H. POTTER,

"Chairman, Greene County Board of Elections."

I sent a copy of this report immediately to Mr. Charles A. McLean, fiield secretary of the NAACP, Winston-Salem, N. C.

I hereby further certify that after receiving the above-quoted letter from the chairman of the Greene County Board of Elections I called him over the telephone to find out if it was true that the registrar in the precinct mentioned in his county did have a list of questions which were asked colored applicants for registration, which questions were similar to the ones above mentioned. I was informed by said Greene County chairman that he had found out from his investigation that some of the registrars in the county did have a list of questions to ask Negro applicants, which questions were similar to the ones above quoted in the letter of Mr. McLean, but that he as chairman of the county board of elections had instructed all of his registrars that the use of such a list of questions to ask applicants for registration, regardless of race or color, was illegal and would not be tolerated and that the registrars using the questions informed him that they did not know they were acting contrary to the law in using such questions and that the practice would be stopped immediately.

89777-57-34

I was informed that the practice was stopped immediately upon the orders of the chairman of the county board of elections, and I further certify that I received no further complaints from this source of this nature for the remaining period prior to the primary of May 26, 1956, and the general election of 1956. R. C. MAXWELL, Affiant.

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,

Wake County:

Sworn and certified to before me this 18th day of February 1957. [SEAL]

My commission expires January 30, 1958.

MARY M. MCCORD, Notary Public.

Affidavit of R. C. Maxwell, executive secretary of the State board of elections, regarding charges against registrar at Court House precinct in Camden County, N. C., that said registrar gave a reading and writing test to Negro applicants for registration but did not require such test for white applicants

To Whom It May Concern:

I, R. C. Maxwell, executive secretary, State Board of Elections of North Carolina, do hereby certify, that on May 4, 1956, I received a letter from Mr. Charles A. McLean, field secretary for the NAACP, concerning the actions of the regitrar at the Court House precinct in Camden County, N, C., which complaint of Mr. McLean reads as follows:

"At the courthouse in Camden County, I saw the registrar, Mrs. Godfrey, turn down several people after they had attempted to take dictation given by her at a speed much too fast. Among those turned down were disabled World War II veterans who said they had voted when in service, they expressed much bitterness and disgust, and among others turned down were local high school graduates."

I further certify that on the same day I received the above complaint from Mr. McLean I sent a copy of same to Mr. W. J. Burgess, chairman of the Camden County Board of Elections, with the request that he investigate these complaints with the registrar of the court house township precinct and give me a written report on same as soon as he could do so; that on May 8, 1956, Mr. W. J. Burgess, chairman of the Camden County Board of Elections, wrote to me a report regarding such complaints in the court house township precinct, which report reads as follows:

STATE BOARD OF ELECTION,

Raleigh, N. C.

DEAR SIRS: We have investigated the working of the registrars in regard to the complaint of the agents of the NAACP and as far as I can see there is no reason for any just reason for complaint, each one of registrars has registered several Negros. I advised each of the registrars to put all on the register that passed, giving each one the benefit of any doubt. I received the precinct return forms and all of the other forms for returns. I am sure that they are O. K.

Yours truly,

W. J. BURGESS, Chairman, Board of Election, Camden County.

I further certify that I sent this report of the chairman of the Camden County Board of Elections to Mr. Charles A. McLean and that I received no further complaints concerning the registration of Negroes in Camden County during the 1956 primary and general election.

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,

Wake County:

R. C. MAXWELL, Affiant.

Sworn and certified to before me this 18th day of February, 1957. [SEAL]

My commission expires January 30, 1958.

MARY M. MCCORD, Notary Public.

Affidavit of R. C. Maxwell, executive secretary of the State Board of Elections, State of North Carolina, relating to charges by Charles A. McLean, field secretary of National Association for Advancement of Colored People, against the registrar of Bolivia precinct in Brunswick County, N. C., for his practice as registrar "to qualify Negroes under the educational test and to register whites under the grandfather clause."

I, R. C. Maxwell, do hereby certify that I am executive secretary of the State Board of Elections of North Carolina, and that on May 23, 1956, I received a letter from Mr. Charles A. McLean, field secretary for the NAACP, in which Mr. McLean enclosed a letter from one Herbert J. Bryant addressed to Mr. Charles A. McLean on May 12, 1956, which letter is as follows:

Mr. CHARLES A. MCLEAN,

1453 Hattie Avenue,

Winston-Salem, N. C.

DEAR MR. MCLEAN: I am writing to call your attention to a situation that we have in our county. E. O. Rabon, registrar in Bolivia precinct acknowledge to me today in the presence of two witnesses that the educational test is reserved for colored only.

This acknowledgment was occasioned by the fact that 2 white ladies came into the polling place today at least 5 minutes after I and 2 colored ladies had presented themselves for registration, and were registered and gone before the 2 colored ladies could complete writing their respective sections of the State constitution.

After they were registered I asked him if the educational test was reserved for colored only. He said "Yes."

He further explained that there were only two sections under which applicants were registered *** One was educational test for colored and the other was the grandfather clause for white.

I have in my possession a letter from Mr. Raymond Maxwell in which he explained that the law applies alike to colored as well as white; and that this information had been sent to all county chairmen.

I am writing for your advice concerning the discrimination that is being practiced in this precinct by this particular registrar. I have the names of the 2 white ladies aforementioned also the 2 colored witnesses to his acknowledged discrimination.

May I hear from you at your earliest possible convenience.
Yours very truly,

HERBERT J. BRYANT.

I further certify that on May 23, 1956, I sent the original of said letter of Herbert J. Bryant, along with 2 other letters sent to me by Mr. McLean, to Mr. Arthur Dosher, chairman of the Brunswick County Board of Elections, asking Mr. Dosher to investigate immediately the charges made by Herbert J. Bryant and others on the failure of the registrar of Bolivia precinct to register said Herbert Bryant and 2 others, and to report back to me immediately the result of his investigation of said charges; that on May 29, 1956, the said Arthur Dosher, chairman of the Brunswick County Board of Elections, wrote a letter to this affiant as executive secretary of the State board of elections enclosing a report of his investigation of the charges against the registrar of Bolivia precinct concerning the failure of the registrar to register the colored applicant, Herbert J. Bryant, and two others, which report by the Brunswick County Election Board chairman is as follows:

"Statement to Arthur J. Dosher, chairman and members of the Brunswick County Election Board by Mr. E. O. Rabon, Bolivia precinct :

"On Thursday, May 10, 1956, James Allen Johnson came to my office and he wanted to register to vote, and I selected a section of the Constitution for him to read and write, and when he wrote the first time he wrote a part of the section I gave him and a part of another, and had it all tangled up. I went back and showed him the first section and asked him to write it again. When he wrote that time he wrote 15 words that he could not pronounce. This section contained about five lines, the boy seemed somewhat excited and I told him that Saturday would be the last day for registration and if he would meet me at Bolivia precinct on Saturday that I would give him another chance. He did not appear.

"I told Herbert Bryant (who was registered on the books before) that the only way that I know that people could register is under the grandfather clause and the educational law.