Rights Group Asks Government to Postpone New Orleans Elections

[Judi Lynn]

Rights Group Asks Government to Postpone New Orleans Elections
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 19, 2006
The Department of Justice should postpone coming elections in New Orleans until displaced voters have been located, N.A.A.C.P. officials said Saturday.

"We're worried about the voting rights of our people in New Orleans who are not, for the most part, in New Orleans," said Bruce S. Gordon, president of the organization. "People should still have a say in what happens in the communities that were ravaged by Katrina."

Last week, Mr. Gordon asked the United States attorney general, Alberto R. Gonzales, to make sure election procedures were fair. The Voting Rights Act allows federal officials to scrutinize election changes that may hurt minority members.

"If it requires us to take legal action, we will fight this," Mr. Gordon said.
(snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/national/nationalspecial/19naacp.html

[Jim Sagle]

1. I understand the NAACP's motive, but it would be a VERY bad precedent.

Think 2008 - preceded by turra.

[BattyDem]

2. I agree ... this could be very bad!

:scared:

[bluestateguy]

3. I don't know

On the one hand, the city is still empty and dysfunctional. We don't know who is coming back, and tracking down all the evacuees to have them vote this early would be a pothole-ridden process---many people would slip through the cracks.

On the other hand delaying, cancelling or postponing the election gives legal precedence to those who love for nothing more than to use any "turrist" attack or threat to do the same thing on a national scale either this year or in 2008.

[Igel]

4. How many displaced voters? All of them?

90% of them? 80% of them?

Should just those that say they are planning on moving back be allowed to vote? Those that say they'd like to move back?

Does it matter if they have jobs and apts. or houses? Does it matter if they can fairly easily find out how to vote, or should we assume they're incapable of it?

Does it mean that those that are going to be living in NOLA (and points nearby in LA and MI) but have no plans to stay there shouldn't be allowed to vote? Should NOLA make an effort to make sure they vote absentee in their home location?

What about those that turned 18 after Katrina? Or those that have registered to vote in their new digs?

And why no concern whatsoever for those outside of NOLA proper? Surely NOLA isn't the only black-majority area that's holding elections.

[KamaAina]

5. Actually it is the only area holding elections *this spring*

chocolate or otherwise. The mayoral and city council elections are scheduled for April 22, already postponed from February.

That's where the urgency is coming from. Displaced voters need to be located right now, lest the election fall by default to those who had the resources to a) get back in and start rebuilding, or b) live on the higher ground Uptown to begin with. A slew of white candidates, including at least three repukes :puke: , have jumped in the race, like (great white?) sharks smelling blood in the water.

Another postponement may not be the only answer, though. Rev. Tom Watson entered the race last week with a promise to take the campaign to the displaced voters in cities such as Houston and Atlanta.

[Igel]

6. That's useful info to know:

We have a governor primary here, so it didn't seem likely to me that NOLA was unique in the Katrina-affected areas.

The Houston business might be a non-starter, though. Not a majority, but a large minority of the DPs have said they won't be returning. If there's a large get-out-the-vote campaign here, it'll be interesting to see if they follow up with moving back, or if people vote here and there.

[Name removed]

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