Florida Voting Under Investigation."No justice, no peace" said one protester's sign. Like many African Americans in Florida, she was upset over what she believed was a massive undercount un·der·count tr.v. un·der·count·ed, un·der·count·ing, un·der·counts To record fewer than the actual number of (persons in a census, for example). of African-American votes in that state. In every election, in every state, some votes must be disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. for various reasons. But in Florida, a disproportionately large number of those ballots came from areas with many African-American voters. Why? There are several reasons. Voting machines in those areas were more likely to be old and defective. Some African Americans said they could not vote because their names were not on the voter rolls. Others said that the polls illegally closed early. And some said that the police stopped African Americans near polling places, which discouraged them from voting. "We may well be witnessing the greatest mass disenfranchisement dis·en·fran·chise tr.v. dis·en·fran·chised, dis·en·fran·chis·ing, dis·en·fran·chis·es To disfranchise. dis (taking away of the right to vote) of African Americans since passage of the Voting Rights Act Voting Rights Act Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1965 to ensure the voting rights of African Americans. Though the Constitution's 15th Amendment (passed 1870) had guaranteed the right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” of 1965," said Representative Charles Rangel, (D-N.Y). He was referring to a law barring voting practices that discriminate by race. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has begun an investigation of possible voter irregularities in Florida. "The question is: Were these simply efficiency issues, or were they discrimination issues?" said Mary Frances Berry Mary Frances Berry is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She is also the former board chair of Pacifica Radio. , commission chairwoman. Florida Governor Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician, and was the 43rd Governor of Florida as well as the first Republican to be re-elected to that office. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the younger brother of current President George W. , brother of the President-elect, has appointed a state task force to look into voting irregularities in Florida. And President-elect George W Bush has agreed to meet with black leader Jesse Jackson to discuss voting reform. |
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