Pushing to Be Counted in Fla.
Nearly a dozen African American ministers and civil rights leaders
walked into the Duval County election office here, television cameras
in tow, with a list of questions: How come there were not more early
voting sites closer to black neighborhoods? How come so many blacks
were not being allowed to redo incomplete voter registrations? Who was
deciding all this? Standing across the office counter under a banner
that read "Partners in Democracy" was the man who made those decisions,
election chief Dick Carlberg. Visibly angry, the Republican explained
why he decided the way he had: "We call it the law." Black leaders said
the scene at the supervisor's office last week was reminiscent of a
blocked schoolhouse door at the height of desegregation. They charge
that GOP officials are deliberately using the law to keep black people
off the rolls and hinder them from voting. Four years ago, ballots cast
from black neighborhoods throughout Florida were four times as likely
to go uncounted as those from white neighborhoods. Nowhere was the
disparity more apparent than in Duval County, where 42 percent of
27,000 ballots thrown out came from four heavily Democratic black
precincts.
- Pictured above:
Duval County election official Dick Carlberg, left, listens to
ministers and civil rights leaders, who question whether blacks are
being fairly treated. [more
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