Many Black voters in South Florida wary of election system

• Black Churches in South Florida are stockpiling absentee ballots.

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist person," Murray said, "but the more I hear, I think there might be something funny going on. You don't know who to trust. I think there's a better chance of my vote being counted if I vote early and absentee." Thornton and Murray's suspicions about using touch-screen machines to vote this fall reflect a racial divide that is already showing up in polls and is leading many community leaders to boost efforts to get out the vote, even if it takes absentee ballots. A recent poll, in which 600 Floridians were interviewed between July 15 and 19, found about one-third of whites said they lacked confidence in the voting system, but two-thirds of African-Americans had little or no confidence. The poll was conducted for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Florida Times-Union. In response, black churches in South Florida are stockpiling absentee ballots. [more]