Southeast Queens has long beamed with pride for having some of the highest minority voter participation in the borough – on par with the rest of Queens and well above the national average – but that may well be about to change.

The most recent figures from the NYC Board of Elections show that southeast Queens’ registration and voter turnout have slipped for the third year in a row.

"This is the wost time in the world for us to fall into apathy," said Senator Malcolm Smith, "But like the rest of the country, many of us are tuning out."

Historically, the African American community as a whole has lagged behind the rest of the country when it comes to making their voice heard in the polling booth. During an election year this can be particularly unfortunate, since minority participation can be a determiner of our nation’s political outlook for decades to come, Smith said. Early statistics indicate that at the moment the prospects of the community more fully utilizing opportunity are uncharacteristicly dim, which has many local politicians worried about the community’s political and financial future.

Numbers from the New York City Board of Elections show that while southeast Queens retains an above average voter turnout, the area is well ahead of the general trend of decline.

The total number of registered voters in Queens has dropped yearly since 1997 by 10,000 a year ( or 9.75 percent ). If your first question is whether 10 percent of the voters in an election can make a difference, the answer is yes, according to local officials.

"That adds up to a resounding silence," said a spokesman for Congressman Gregory Meeks. "Any time we don’t make ourselves heard it sends the message that we don’t care."

While local politicians are quick to point out that Queens’ southern districts involvement is still relatively strong, they agree that to exert influence on the state and national level a more complete participation is imperative.

Southern districts compare favorably with northeastern ones with approximately 14 percent of eligible votes cast a piece – that translates to 36,962 northern votes verses 29,136 for the south. But as local voter turnout continues to fall, the gap between southeastern districts and the rest of Queens is growing, Board of Election officials said.

"It’s a lack of initiative," said Smith, who believes that one problem,oddly enough, may be the stronger economy. "When everyone does well they forget that there is always more to do. There are more jobs now than in the last few years, so people figure their work is done. It’s when things get bad that we feel the need to get active."

This may be a fatal mistake, he added.

In 1980, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice established its Special Section on Voting to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The primary mission of the Voting Section is to implement the commitment that minorities not be denied a fair opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice. This opportunity is guaranteed under the Voting Rights Act, but the Supreme Court has established new legal claims that, if not applied properly, threaten to make that opportunity more difficult to preserve.

In April 1997, the Section filed a complaint against the New York City Board of Elections to enforce the act with respect to the conduct of a May 1996 community school board election in the Bronx. The Section’s complaint alleged that to prevent blacks and Hispanics from reaching a majority on the district board, white poll workers at several polling sites in predominantly white neighborhoods altered paper ballots by placing a white write-in candidate’s name on them before handing them to some white voters.

It is also alleged that they instructed other white voters to write in the candidate’s name on their ballots.

While such allegations during an election year are nothing new, the findings should illuminate one fact for black voters – their right to be heard is not a guarantee. "Its a privilige," said Smith "you have to fight for if you want to keep [it]."

Regardless of race, that fighting spirit has historically been embodied by a community’s youth. Young America’s political involvement was at an unprecedented high during the 1992 presidential election. Civic-mindedness was in vogue, and youth-oriented initiatives like MTV’s "Choose or Loose" drew record numbers of teens who appeared to take their responsibility very seriously.

Sensing that, then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton availed himself of the opportunity to turn that enthusiam to his advantage. Along with saxophone playing and boxers verses briefs, healthcare and education were the watchwords of that campaign. If the Southeast Queens community hopes to have a similar involvement in the upcomming presidential race they may find it is already too late, Smith said.

Smith and other politicians urge people to remember that part of your responsibility to get involved includes getting others involved as well.

"It all falls apart when people think they can only function in one capacity," said Smith. "We need education at the academic level, everyone young and old needs to understand the correlation between money and choice." Exercising that right is the only way to protect it.

"Our children are our future. If more young people get involved, that’s the key. Other races know this formula and have been using it to their advantage for years."

Rock the Vote is a non-partisan, non-profit organization, founded in 1990 by members of the recording industry in response to a wave of political attacks on freedom of speech and artistic expression.

It is dedicated to helping young people realize and utilize their power to effect change in the civic and political lives of their communities.

Along with MTV’s Choose or Loose organization, the group has orchestrated a network of voter registration drive aimed at young adults and teens. In the last year however, their efforts in Southeast Queens have met with luke warm results.

At the JAMS Festival held last weekend in Jamaica where a Choose or Loose drive was held registration had fallen by almost half since 1999. It was expected to be up by a similar margin, but as one organizer of the event put it "the interest doesn’t seem to be there."

In May of this year, rap impressario Russell Simmons along with Rev. Al Sharpton and political leaders, including Mark Green and Martin Luther King III launched Rap the Vote 2000. In an effort to generate voter interest, Rap the Vote will mount an aggressive Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign featuring Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J and Rosie Perez. The PSAs are expeced to begin airing soon on TV, radio, Rap the Vote is a joint project of 360HIPHOP.com, Russell Simmons’ website launched June 20, and a group of high-profile investors including hip-hop artists.

The group expects to act as a vehicle to register young urban voters, particularly in opposition to injustices such as police brutality and racial profiling. The group’s slogan will be "Register. Vote. Represent."

Rap the Vote 2000 aims to register more than 850,000 new young voters – the total number registered by Rock the Vote in the past two Presidential elections combined (1992 & 1996).

WHAT CAN I DO?

If you’d like to get involved the first thing to do is get registered. If you are over 18 you, can do so by contacting: www.rockthevote.org or 360HIPHOP.com, Russell Simmons’ website.