-- MoMorton (just@hanging.out), January 02, 2001

Answers

-- Another Fascist Southern State (votefraud@TENN.too), January 02, 2001.

On November 11, 2000, the national NAACP conducted a hearing about discriminatory practices surrounding Election Day in Florida. Over 6,000 people had called their office with reports. The names of properly registered citizens disappeared from precinct rolls. Registration forms were mysteriously "never processed." African- American voters were singled out for "criminal background checks." 12,000 voters were cut from voting rolls by being mistakenly identified as felons, and a totally disproportionate number of these voters were African-American. Black voters who requested absentee ballots and never received them weren't permitted to vote when they went to the precinct in person on election day.African- American, Haitian-American, and Puerto Rican-American voters were denied assistance at the polls, assistance they were legally entitled to. African-American voters weren't told that their polling place was closed and weren't directed to the new polling place. And so on, and on. Similar reports came from North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Missouri, Michigan, Kansas, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, and even Iowa.

So maybe it shouldn't have surprised me-- although it did-- when I began to hear and see information coming out of my home state, Tennessee. I guess we all want to think it can't happen where we live.

The Tennessee Voter Empowerment Team met on November 17th to discuss the information they'd been receiving.

According to evidence gathered by me, NAACP branches statewide, the Tennessee Voter Empowerment Project, Nashville Pride,and the Tennessee Tribune, vote fraud may have happened here. Here are the reports that have been received, keeping in mind that you must insert the word "reportedly" in front of each one:

In Nashville:

Some African-American voters were told they couldn't vote without voter registration cards (not true!)

Some African-Americans were treated with incredible rudeness by election volunteers, to the point where they turned around and went home.

In Murfreesboro, white voters were placed ahead of African-American voters in line, and an election official reportedly said, "You know what it means to sit at the back of the bus."

Several polling places in African-American neighborhoods had a fraction of the voting booths that white neighborhoods had. The most egregious example personally known to me is Antioch Middle School. Witnesses have stated that the latter had, in early afternoon on November 7, a line 1/2 mile long. At 7:00, the official closing time, many people in line gave up and left. It is suspected but not yet known that they were not told they had a right to vote if they were in line by 7:00 p.m. I am investigating reports that other polling places in African-American neighborhoods may have illegally closed, or attempted to close, before voters in line by 7:00 p.m. had a chance to vote.

Pages of voter registration information inexplicably disappeared from the book at Graymar voting precinct, in a virtually 100% African- American neighborhood. At least one poll book itself went mysteriously missing and was later found, with no way of knowing who may have handled it in the meantime.

In Wilson county just outside of Nashville, African-Americans were told to remove NAACP signs from their cars, or leave. Nashville students from Tennessee State University, a historically black college, also state that they weren't permitted to vote even though they were registered.

In Chattanooga, Brown, and Maury Counties, African-Americans found out only on election day that the designated voting sites where they'd always gone to vote suddenly were closed.

In Memphis, many voters who registered through the DMV program weren't allowed to vote. In Nashville, many of these voters found out only on election day that they weren't registered even though they had filled out all the proper forms. They were then sent to stand in a 5 hour line with 3 voting booths and no election officials present for a minimum of one hour (this is illegal!).

These voters are disproportionately African-American, Hispanic, and/or poor.

African-American voters were sent to the Election Commission for voting-related errors that weren't the voters' fault. They were then told, after several hours of waiting in line, that the errors disqualified them from voting.

BRAND NEW EVIDENCE AS OF 12/22/00.

The DMV problem (people believing they were properly registered to vote with all forms filled out, only to find on election day that they weren't) was statewide,not limited to Nashville and Memphis. In many areas, such as Columbia and Brownsville, the poll opening times were changed from 7:00 a.m. to 8 or 9 a.m. No notification was sent to voters. This is completely illegal.

According to the Motor Voter Bill, names cannot be purged from voting rolls for any reason besides death of the voter. But they were. Many African-American neighborhoods in Memphis had exactly the same problem as Hadley Park and Antioch Middle School.

People who'd served jail time in Nashville but had the legal right to vote fought an attempt to illegally purge their names on election day.

In Bolivar City, people who'd served their time in jail were actually illegally kept from voting, the first year this had ever happened. Officials with the local Black Chamber of Commerce are filing a complaint with the EEOC.

We don't know how many other reports may emerge. We don't yet have any idea of how many people may have been affected by all this-- although according to the latest information, the number is likely to be in the tens of thousands. Before an investigation, we don't know who may ultimately be found at fault. We don't even know how the presidential vote for this state may have swung if these alleged incidents had not taken place.

We don't know! But we must learn.

-- Good Work, Tennessee Racists! (gop@thugs.com), January 02, 2001.

-- They Really Don't Like Blacks (do@they?.com), January 02, 2001.

No Hawk, they like blacks, they just don't like the election rules changed every 15 minutes.

-- Dr. Pibb (dr_pibb@zdnetonebox.com), January 03, 2001.

A worthy sword again poorly drawn.

Ya know, a fella could get the impression that you guys really like inequality. A sword drawn so badly so often can't to be meant to really help.

Is it the politics? Is that what fooling minorities is worth to you?

Is it the philosophy? Mediocrity "uber alles" with no bootstraps allowed lest you be thrown out of the club?

Is it your own poorly turned out lives that can't allow you to accept that a minority member might finish ahead of you in life's race and you thereby have to appear to fight for him as an excuse for your treading water?

Gimme a hint.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), January 03, 2001.

Well said, Carlos

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), January 03, 2001.

"Reports" of disenfranchisment??? LOL

Last time I voted, think about it - the folks handling the polling places are all about 1000 years old and nowhere near close to THREATENING OFF anyone, much less an "African-American".

-- socialists = fascists (rfp@mail.com), January 03, 2001.

Wow. Simple stories like this really get people to show their "true colors." Worried about your membership in the Master Race, boys?

-- Lots of Racists Here (wite@prowd.com), January 03, 2001.

"They like blacks, they just don't like the election rules changed every 15 minutes."

In my world, if you told a couple of reasonable people that there had been an election in Florida, it was very close, and one side wanted to recount certain counties but didn't oppose counting others, while the other side said that all manual recounts were out of the question, these two people could not honestly differ about which side deserved the epithet of trying to "change the rules."

-- Weak Pibbs, Very Weak (from@michael.kinsley), January 03, 2001.

You omit charges that deadlines had passed for recounting other counties. Only when the legal outcome looked bleak did the national sympathy crusade force a change in that resistance.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), January 03, 2001.

"You omit charges that deadlines had passed for recounting other counties."

Arbitrary deadlines are not normally used as a cheap excuse to thwart democractic principles. Besides, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the whole state should be counted. That was the law -- and it was based in sound legal precedent. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling wasn't based on any precedent at all. It was, in that sense, completely "lawless."

-- It's Reeaally Scary, Folks. (so@long.usa), January 04, 2001.

It's really scary is very demented.

-- Hawk (give@up.before.its.too.late), January 04, 2001.

Nice try Ra, aka "Barry"

-- I h@ve.farted (chicken@shit.imposter), January 04, 2001.

?????????

-- Barry (bchbear863@cs.com), January 04, 2001.

Hey, I'm an anon too.

Just ask what's his name.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), January 05, 2001.

You make my point "It's Really" (tough to keep up with your handles)

The Bore folk spouted deadline stuff about recounting counties they hadn't picked. Folded on that one only after their legal challenges looked like the shit they were.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), January 05, 2001.

People are missing the point about election fraud. It's an american tradition and the winner is supposed to be good enougth to win in spite of it. so if Al Gore can't beat a bonehead like 'Dubya' by a landslide he doesn't deserve to be prez.

-- al from cal (allenrb@ix.netcom.com), February 09, 2001.