(Dallas, TX – Feb. 5, 2008) – "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" monitored calls live on-air from the 1-866-MYVOTE1 voter empowerment hotline, which received over 1,000 calls from citizens reporting voter irregularities during Super Tuesday primaries.

The hotline, a partnership between "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" and the NAACP, has received over 20,000 calls total since the effort was launched last month.

In the first several hours of voting, over 1,000 incidents of voter infractions were called into the national hotline by voters at the polls.  Throughout the morning, Joyner and his on-air team urged voters to stay in line and to report any problems they were encountering to the MYVOTE1 hotline number throughout the day. Meanwhile, the NAACP mobilized efforts locally to try to resolve voter issues in troubled areas.

Additionally, during the broadcast, both Democratic candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton called in to to speak to listeners. The show also featured special local reports from noted news anchors Monica Pearson in Atlanta, Art Norman in Chicago and Sherri Jackson in Birmingham. 

“I am proud of the work our show did today,” said Joyner, whose show is aired in more than 115 markets, reaching over eight million listeners.  “We are determined to make sure that every listener has a chance to vote this election season and make their voice heard.”

The majority of calls centered on long lines and delays in voting due to insufficient voting machines and problems associated with the enforcement of Georgia’s new controversial voter ID law.

Widespread problems in Georgia were the main topic of Tuesday's show, with most of the issues being concentrated in the 13th congressional district of the state that included parts of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and Henry counties. 

According to Greg Moore, executive director of the NAACP National Voter Fund, the problems faced in Georgia by thousands of voters were tied directly to the larger than expected influx of voters during the primary and the failure of many county election officials to plan for the large influx of new voters.

“This is looking more and more like a carbon copy of what went wrong in Ohio in 2004," Moore said. "Georgia lacks any statewide standard for machine to voter ratio that can help mitigate long lines and unnecessary delays. Add to it the problems with the initial enforcement of the controversial mandatory voter ID law, and you have a prescription for disaster.”

Other minor delays due to machine problems and long lines were reported in Illinois, Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri.

 
About “The Tom Joyner Morning Show“
 
The nation’s # 1 syndicated urban morning show, which airs in over 115 markets reaching nearly 8 million listeners, has distinguished itself over the years as continuously giving back to its audience with quality programming, highly popular promotions, special events and philanthropy.  Since 2004, Joyner has awarded millions to nearly 2,000 contest winners and his foundation has raised more than $55 million to help keep students in historically black colleges and universities. The morning show, with co-hosts Sybil Wilkes and J. Anthony Brown, also features news analysis with Jacque Reid, celebrity news with Jawn Murray, political commentary by Tavis Smiley and comedic observations by Huggy Lowdown the Celebrity Snitch. 
Joyner’s website, BlackAmericaWeb.com, has more than 1.5 million registered users and features news with special reports by award winning journalists and exclusive political coverage as well as interactive elements with on-demand audio.

For additional information, contact Maiya Hollie, Communications Manager, REACH Media, (972) 371-5851 or maiya.hollie@reachmediainc.com.