Black Voters Complain Of Discrimination At Some Polls

The complaints kept on coming in on the Election Protection Coalition's hotline yesterday, with many black callers across the country complaining of racial discrimination and profiling. In Cuyahuga, Ohio, a caller alleged that all black voters were being asked to show ID, while white voters were not while in Philadelphia, there were claims that a person claiming to be poll watcher instigated an altercation with legitimate poll watcher, the 3rd such incident of the day in the mostly African-American community. In Delaware, a black voter made the same claim, saying he waited in line behind 30-40 white voters, none of whom were asked for identification. When he came up to vote, they asked for his ID.  In Palm Beach County, Florida, minority voters reported to the hotline that they received middle-of-the-night, live harassing phone calls warning them away from the polls while a radio DJ in Hillsborough County, Florida, stated that he had received many calls (most of which were from African-Americans) claiming that poll workers were turning voters away and not "letting" them vote. [more]