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Citing Intimidation of Black Voters in Florida and Other Manipulations, Greens Call for Vigilance in 2004 Elections. |
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August 25, 2004 Contacts: Citing Intimidation of Black Voters in Florida and Other Manipulations, Greens Call for Vigilance in 2004 Elections. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green leaders and candidates are calling national attention to apparent efforts to intimidate African American voters in Florida. Citing reports in a series of columns by Bob Herbert of The New York Times that Florida state troopers are interrogating elderly black voters on vague charges of 'voter fraud', Greens warn of a repeat of 2000's manipulation and obstruction of votes. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports to Gov. Jeb Bush. "The latest attempt to suppress black votes in Florida recalls not only 2000, but the history of obstruction and terrorism of African American voters in southern states," said Michele Tingling-Clemmons, co-chair of the Green Party's national Black Caucus and candidate for city council (Ward 7) in Washington, D.C. "Bush supporters are preparing a battery of means to ensure their candidate's reelection, including misusing homeland security forces to frighten elderly black voters away from absentee voting. Other methods include the use of computerized voting, which can be easily tampered with, as well as hints that the Bush Administration may postpone the November election if it decides the U.S. is under threat of attack, a dastardly attempt to intimidate Americans away from voting their conscience." Greens have called for verifiable paper trails, auditability, and open software in computer voting machines to prevent manipulation. The Green Party has called attention to other ways in which elections have been engineered: restrictive and difficult state ballot access laws enacted by Democrats and Republicans to block third party and independent candidates; underhanded efforts by Democrats to banish Greens and independents (including Ralph Nader) from the ballot; ownership by the Democratic and Republican parties of the Commission on Presidential Debates (labeled partisan in an August 12 Federal Court decision). Greens have also called the winner-take-all apportionment of Electoral College votes in most states a deliberate distortion of the will of voters as expressed through the popular vote. The Green Party's national Black Caucus and the D.C. Statehood Green Party have called for allocation of state electors' votes in proportion to the popular vote. Many Greens have hailed a state ballot initiative ('Amendment 36') to enact this reform in Colorado. "Americans need to be more vigilant in 2004 than ever before to ensure that our elections are fair and our votes are counted accurately," said LaVerne Butler, treasurer of the Black Caucus. "Unless we demand immediate accountability and reforms, we'll see our democratic election system replaced with something that resembles the elections of Augusto Pinochet, Ferdinand Marcos, or Saddam Hussein." MORE INFORMATION: D.C. Statehood Green Party release: "Plan proposes splitting electoral vote" Cobb/LaMarche 2004 search: elct, elws, rgt |