21) Voting While Black

VOTING WHILE BLACK

www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=16367

...In every national American election since Reconstruction, every election since the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, voters – particularly African American voters and other minorities – have faced calculated and determined efforts at intimidation and suppression. The bloody days of violence and retribution following the Civil War and Reconstruction are gone. The poll taxes, literacy tests and physical violence of the Jim Crow era have disappeared. Today, more subtle, cynical and creative tactics have taken their place.

...Controversy has erupted over the use in the Orlando area of armed, plainclothes officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to question elderly black voters in their homes. The incidents were part of a state investigation of voting irregularities in the city's March 2003 mayoral election. Critics have charged that the tactics used by the FDLE have intimidated black voters, which could suppress their turnout in this year’s elections. Six members of Congress recently called on Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate potential civil rights violations in the matter.

Racial Minority Disenfranchisement

www.fairvote.org/?page=162

Even though the ability to base the the right to vote on race was abolished over 135 years ago with the passage of the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution and even after signing of the historic Voting Right Act of 1965 by Lyndon B Johnson, minority groups continue to experience a disproportionately high level of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement. Minority groups are also more likely to cast ballots with outdated voting machines, complicated ballots or deal with overly complicated registration procedures. African Americans are still the most likely to be targeted, but Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans, especially in South Dakota and New Mexico, have reported voter suppresion efforts.

The Texas Nexus: Where Racial and Partisan Gerrymandering Came Together

by Karyn Strickler May 19, 2005

www.commondreams.org/views05/0519-24.htm

Naive American voters still believe that they select their Congressional representatives. Texans are under no such illusion after the bitter redistricting battle that took place there. Partisan and racial gerrymandering has created a situation in Texas and across the nation, where very few U.S. Congressional seats are competitive today -- in effect allowing Congressmen to choose their voters.

U.S. House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay (R-TX), led the way for Republican Congressmen in Texas to pick their voters. The untold story of DeLay’s belligerent power grab in Texas redistricting involves partisan political domination, intrigue, alleged corruption and perhaps most significantly -- minority disenfranchisement.

2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_U.S._presidential_election_controversy_and_irregularities

Controversial or irregular aspects of the 2004 election

…Voter Suppression: There are reports, some documented through video, of long lines at certain precincts in urban areas that favored Kerry.

A report issued by the DNC stated that the difference in wait times was racially based. According to the DNC report, the average wait time across the state of Ohio for an African-American was 52 minutes, as compared to 18 minutes for whites. Remarks were made by DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Speculations as to the cause of the delay include more efficient voting in suburban areas (machines in suburban areas were more heavily used), suburban voters were less easily discouraged from voting, or poorer districts were provided inferior and less equipment per capita. [The DNC report believed differences in the voting experience between African-American voters and white voters caused voter disenfranchisement by the state of Ohio since African-Americans tend to lean heavily towards the Democratic party.

2004 United States election voting controversies, Ohio

www.answers.com/topic/2004-united-states-election-voting-controversies-ohio

….Detailed analyses indicate that reports of malfunctioning voting machines were tightly clustered in black neighborhoods, further exacerbating machine shortages. Of the 82 precincts for which voters reported that one or more voting machines were not working, the vast majority were in neighborhoods where over 75% of the population were black, while non-working machines were reported in only five precincts where less than 5% of the population were black. In one precinct 7 of 17 voting machines were not working.