Alabama city battles questions over closing precincts near black voters
Four years after Daphne elected its first ever black mayor, the fast-growing bayside city in south Alabama is facing scrutiny over the closure of polling places in neighborhoods with a large population of black voters.
Election law watchdogs are pushing the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into a March 21 decision by the City Council to eliminate all but two locations where residents can vote during the Aug. 23 city elections.
Among the groups calling for action are the Voting Rights Institute and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. The NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund is also singling out Daphne's move to close polling places five months before the elections for mayor and city council.
"It's ridiculous what they are doing," said Alec Barnett Jr., head of NAACP chapter in Baldwin County.
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