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Posted on 09/22/2004 9:28:39 AM PDT by Hi Heels
Typical Reuters bullsh!t. Disgraceful.
"In a mayoral election in Philadelphia last year, people pretending to be plainclothes police officers stood outside some polling stations asking people to identify themselves. There have also been reports of mysterious people videotaping people waiting in line to vote in black neighborhoods."
Too bad video cams are so expensive that allmost everyone dosen't have them allowing them to catch these "mysterious pretenders" in action.
You think the "thousands" of Kerry lawyers in position this year might be able to get a couple of these cameras themselves ?
( I suspect these voters might be put off by the poll workers asking them to identify themselves )
What a racist statement. In the 19th century, blacks were prevented from voting due to literacy testing which often was very biased, so they didn't need this law to stop black votes with a felony law. The Felony law was to stop Irish and Italian and redneck criminals from voting...
First and foremost, post BARF ALERT beside the headline.
And if your are disabled? What then?
I'll bet those "laws" were authored and passed by Democrats...
oh for petes sake
STOP THE INSANITY
will someone please?
Maybe if the Demo-craps had their way, every prisoner would have a jacuzzi and weekly massages?? Felons shouldn't vote in any state, if you can't get with the program then there are consequences to live with. Too bad, you should have thought about it before you committed said felony.
The timing is suspicious.
LOL. Yeah, and as if felons are any kind of likely to vote.
You know this Pisses me off and after seeing what we did to Dannyboy, I am going to stop sitting on my hands and write Reuters. This headline is very misleading, it's crap and I don't think we should take it anymore!
You want a reason to vote for George W. Bush?
There she is. Her term expires in January.
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Just how many blacks are there in New Mexico???????? Not many. We have lived in many areas of the country, but I must say the most non-black place was New Mexico. I was a white, disenfranchised citizen in New Mexico. I believe my voter registration was misplaced because I checked the Republican box on the form. And I don't think race/ethnicity had anything to do with it because it is very difficult to determine what ethnicity someone is in New Mexico based on name.
Prove it. Produce a flyer.
Minority voters may be deterred from voting simply by election officials demanding to see drivers' licenses before handing them a ballot, according to Spencer Overton, who teaches law at George Washington University. The federal government does not require people to produce a photo identification unless they are first-time voters who registered by mail.
But individual STATES might.
Additionally, Florida is one of 14 states that prohibit ex-felons from voting. Seven percent of the electorate but 16 percent of black voters in that state are disenfranchised.
So, change the law. Better yet, DON'T COMMIT A FELONY.
Ah, Reuters.
On a related note, I am happy to report that as new residents of the SWING state of Ohio, my husband and I have thus far been mailed voter registration forms three different times. Once from the board of elections, twice from the Republican Party and ZERO from the Dems.
Interesting...
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - None of three black voters called as witnesses before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, investigating charges of a "conspiracy" to block minority voters, could show yesterday that they had been denied their right to vote in the Nov. 7 election.
The key leadoff witnesses -John Nelson, the Rev. Willie D. Whiting and Roberta Tucker, all of Tallahassee - testified under oath that they had concerns and had read about problems concerning voter irregularities, but that all of them had voted at their polling precincts.
Mr. Nelson said he saw unmanned police cars near separate polling precincts on Election Day and thought that was "unusual." Mr. Whiting said his name had been purged from the voting rolls after he had wrongly been identified as a felon, but he was allowed to vote after a call to an election supervisor. Miss Tucker said she was stopped at a police roadblock near a polling place, but she was allowed to proceed after producing a valid driver's license.
The commission, which voted unanimously last month to investigate accusations by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of widespread voter fraud involving minorities, could not explain why no witnesses were called to verify the accusations.
The hearing continues today and again next month in Miami.
Meanwhile, Gov. Jeb Bush told the commission that a preliminary investigation into the charges found no evidence of wrongdoing, but inquiries by both state and federal authorities are continuing.
Mr. Bush, subpoenaed to appear before the commission, said he was "confident" the Florida Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Justice Department would uncover voter irregularities if they exist.
"I am confident that the attorney general's office and the U.S. Department of Justice are the proper authorities to deal with these issues," Mr. Bush told the commission, adding that he had appointed a separate task force headed by former Florida Attorney General Jim Smith to look into widespread problems involving voting procedures and faulty equipment.
The state task force began its hearings on Monday and has until March 1 to make recommendations to the governor prior to the start of the state's legislative session.
The Civil Rights Commission voted to begin an investigation after Mr. Jackson and the NAACP said Florida officials and law enforcement authorities had engaged in a conspiracy to deny minority voters access to the polls.
Commission Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry described the accusations as "a very serious problem" and told reporters that "we know some bad things happened," despite the fact the commission was unable yesterday to produce a single witness during the day-long hearing to say they had been denied access to a polling precinct.
Mr. Bush told the commission that the roadblock in Tallahassee reported by Miss Tucker had been set up two miles from a polling precinct as part of a random police check on drivers and vehicles. Law enforcement authorities confirmed that 150 vehicles were stopped and 18 warnings were issued, a dozen to white motorists. They said the officers stopped every fifth vehicle, without regard to the occupant's race.
The governor did not elaborate on the Justice Department probe, only confirming that it was under way. Justice Department officials have said only that lawyers from its civil right division had been in Florida, but that no decision had yet been made on whether a formal investigation would be undertaken.
Mrs. Berry said she had not yet reached any conclusion on whether there was "a systematic conspiracy to discriminate" against minority voters, but said state officials were responsible for ensuring that elections are "fair and efficient."
"I am religiously and studiously avoiding reaching any conclusion of what happened here," she said. "I have not concluded that there was a conspiracy."
She also noted that Florida law allows the governor to appoint "special officers to investigate violations of election law," but had not yet decided whether the evidence was sufficient to suggest that he should have done so.
"I just don't know yet," she said.
Mrs. Berry also suggested that Florida's election failures were probably "bipartisan," since voters in both Republican and Democratic counties experienced problems.
Last month, Mr. Jackson - who is not scheduled to testify before the commission - accused Mr. Bush and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris of organizing the election to deny blacks and other minority voters access to the polls. During a rally here, he said a "pattern of voter suppression" by state officials and law enforcement officers prohibited minorities from entering polling precincts throughout the state, allowing Texas Gov. George W. Bush to "steal" the election.
Mr. Jackson accused Mr. Bush of ordering the placement of state police near polling precincts to intimidate minority voters.
The NAACP also charged that minority voters had been prevented from casting ballots, adding that "voter intimidation, voter-eligibility discrepancies and illegal tactics" took place before and during the election.
NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said polling places had been relocated without notice, some voters were denied access to polling booths, polling places refused to provide bilingual ballots as required by law and police officers intimidated and harassed minority voters.
The NAACP filed a lawsuit this week, with other civil rights organizations, accusing Mr. Bush, Mrs. Harris and others of suspected wrongdoing during the Nov. 7 elections. The suit said black voters and others were disenfranchised by institutionalized racism and called for sweeping changes in how Florida elections are operated.
The presidential election was decided by Florida's 25 electoral votes, which went to George W. Bush. Turnout among black voters increased by 70 percent in the November election over 1996, with 93 percent of the black vote going to Vice President Al Gore.
The commission voted last month to hold the hearings, with Edward Hailes, the commission's general counsel, saying the panel would probe voting machine irregularities, altered ballots, limited access to polling places and the presence of police that might have deterred some people from voting.
The hearings continue today, with Mrs. Harris and Florida Attorney General Robert S. Butterworth scheduled to testify. Also on the agenda are Col. Charles C. Hall, head of the Florida Highway Patrol, and L. Clayton Roberts, director of the Florida Division of Elections.
That's some "fair and balanced" article from Reuters. What a load of crap.
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