Freedom's on the march. In New Orleans. Sort of. [View All]

[Rose Siding]

Elections will be held but something will be missing

Feds clear April 22 election
Friday, March 17, 2006
Despite objections by some prominent black leaders that much of New Orleans' displaced black population will be unable to participate in the city's April 22 election, the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday approved state and city leaders' plans for the election.

.....the Legislature rejected calls to set up satellite sites in cities such as Houston, Atlanta and Jackson, Miss., where tens of thousands of displaced voters are living.
....
Without opportunities for in-person voting outside the state...a disproportionate share of poor black citizens will not get to vote because most white evacuees are living elsewhere in Louisiana, while most black evacuees are in other states.

"Their transportation back to New Orleans would amount to a poll tax," Jackson said. "Those who are least mobile remain in exile and disenfranchisement."

Too bad for them, huh?

January 27, 2005
Iraqi expats begin voting
(CNN) -- As insurgent attacks continue at home, Iraqi expatriates in countries around the globe began voting Friday morning in the first democratic elections in almost 50 years.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/27/iraq.main/

January 29, 2005
Iraqi expatriates voting locally say no to any pullout
.....The voting in New Carrollton took place amid tight security, with uniformed and plain-clothes officers from Prince George's County Police Department and Maryland State Police stationed around the hotel.
Police set up a check point on the street adjacent to the hotel and vehicles entering the parking lot were screened by explosives-sniffing police dogs. Voters were subject to a pat down and sweep with a metal-detection wand before entering the polling place inside an unheated parking garage behind the hotel.
Although the voting in Iraq doesn't start until Sunday, more than 280,000 expatriates in 14 countries -- many of whom fled during Saddam Hussein's regime -- are eligible to vote over a three-day period beginning Friday.
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20050128-100246-5401r.htm

Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Iraqi Expatriates Cast Ballots
Strong voter turnout was seen in polling stations around the world....
Some 1.5 million Iraqis living abroad are eligible to vote at polling centers in 15 countries, including the United States and Canada. Tuesday was the first of three days of expatriate voting, while Iraqis at home will go to the polls on Thursday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178578,00.html

Raheel Mariam, right, raises her finger as her husband Gorgees looks on
at the Iraqi national elections voting center in Michigan.


That's Michigan, USA - and bless their hearts for voting.

No purple fingers here
http://www.wwltv.com.nyud.net:8090/sharedcontent/nationworld/katrina/dailyimages/090105argue.jpg

or here
http://public.amc.af.mil.nyud.net:8090/news/2005/September/09-06/050906-F-0000S-001_sml.jpg

or here
http://www.ifrc.org.nyud.net:8090/photo/Katrina0805/p13224.jpg