Anderson@Large

Democrats and Black Voters: SOS

As predictable as the swallows of Capistrano, Democrats are hitting the panic button over whether black voters will show up on Election Day.

And they should be concerned. A high black voter turnout (and here) is crucial to victory in several states, including Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

While Republicans assiduously court their base, Democrats want to hook up with black voters in the final days leading up to the Nov. 7 election.

Tellingly, Democratic operatives didn’t sound the alarm when black folks were not at the table when the pie was being sliced. They said nothing as new organizations like America Votes, Americans United and the September Fund, reportedly named after the month in which its founder Harold Ickes (sounds like icky) was born, were being bankrolled by major Democratic donors.

Parenthetically, even folks with deep pockets have their limits. Ickes, who reportedly raised only $3 million of the $10 million to $25 million he was soliciting, has been told to get out of here.

So, while the money has gone to progressive (read: white) groups that have never won an election, traditional voting rights groups that have measurable track records are expected to jump through hoops for some last-minute crumbs.

Consider: The Census Bureau reported that in the 1998 midterm election “African Americans were the only race or ethnic group to defy the trend of declining voter participation in congressional elections, increasing their presence at the polls from 37 percent in 1994 to 40 percent in 1998."

Similarly, the Census Bureau found that a record number of people were registered and voted in the 2002 midterm election. Among those registered to vote, turnout was 71 percent for whites and 68 percent for blacks.

Simply put, the racial gap in voter registration and turnout was closed by black voter empowerment groups -- not white progressives.

BTW, traditional voting rights groups could have addressed black voters’ disillusionment following the 2004 presidential election when John Kerry arguably snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in Ohio.

Instead, they were pushed aside in favor of America Coming Together, an instant organization headed up by Ickes and the equally icky Steve Rosenthal.  Together, they burned through more than $100 million, and then packed up their PowerPoint slides and Palm Pilots and left black voters standing in the rain.

Yes, it’s a new election and the stakes are high (and here), but it’s the same old sh, well, you know.

Voting in America: SNAFU

I’m back from the capitol of the free world whose residents don’t have voting representation in the U.S. Congress.

While the, ahem, leader of the free world, President Bush, babbles on and on about democracy in Iraq, voters in the DC suburbs had to stand in line to exercise the fundamental right of a democracy -- the right to vote. One reason: e-voting machines still aren’t ready for prime time (here and here).

And in Baltimore, voters were not charmed by the late poll openings. Fortunately, my colleague Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was on the case. The Lawyers’ Committee filed an emergency complaint to extend election hours. Barbara said:

We are committed to fighting for the right to cast a ballot throughout our nation. Today’s victory in Maryland represents an important component of our many efforts to ensure that voters are able to exercise their right to vote. The high level of calls we received today seeking voter assistance is alarming and underscores the need for the Election Protection Program.

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore City Branch NAACP, added:

While the United States tries to bring democracy to countries overseas, we are having problems voting right here in Baltimore.

Only in America.

American Blackout: Life Imitates Art

While bloggers and the mainstream media were watching the Lieberman-Lamont smackdown, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the star of the documentary “American Blackout,” was starring in her own political drama.

Voters in Georgia’s 4th Congressional District decided to bring down the curtain on her political career.  McKinney was soundly defeated in the Democratic runoff election by Hank Johnson, a former DeKalb County commissioner.

Like Lieberman, McKinney is out of step with voters in her district. Folks in the nation’s second wealthiest majority-black county no longer think she represents them. One voter, a 25-year-old law student, told the Associated Press:

As an African-American, I am very committed to our people and being strong, but there comes a time when some people overdo it.  I want her to be a strong black woman, but I don't want her to be a buffoon.

It's impossible for her to get anything done.

Though McKinney prides herself on “speaking truth to power,” she isn’t on speaking terms with the leader of the House Democratic Caucus. Truth is, no one in power is listening.

McKinney’s defeat may indeed herald the end of an era.  As Time magazine recently reported:

Now the next generation of black Democratic pols has arrived, armed with Ivy League degrees, elite jobs at universities and Fortune 500 companies, and political profiles that could make them more electable than their predecessors.  And they’re determined not to be defined solely by their race.

Voting While Black

The New Orleans mayoral primary will be held on Saturday.  Given Louisiana’s long history of voting rights violations (and here), the Louisiana Voting Rights Network is looking for volunteers to serve as poll monitors “to help prevent disenfranchisement before it occurs at the polls and to document Election Day abuses.”

Trained volunteers will be deployed in Orleans Parish. The training schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, April 19

New Orleans
7pm - 9pm
Tulane Law School, Room 151

Thursday, April 20

Baton Rouge
5pm - 7pm
Southern University Law Center

New Orleans
9am - 11am
Place St. Charles
201 St. Charles Avenue, 25th Floor

12pm - 2pm
Ashe Cultural Arts Center
1712 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard

6pm - 8pm
Trinity Episcopal Church
1329 Jackson Avenue

Friday, April 21

Baton Rouge
12pm – 2pm
Southern University Law Center

New Orleans
2pm - 4pm
Dillard University Post-Katrina Campus
Hilton Riverside Hotel
2 Poydras Street

4pm - 6pm
Dillard University Post-Katrina Campus
Hilton Riverside Hotel
2 Poydras Street

For more info, please call 504-899-1889 or send an email message here.

Democracy at Work

In the wake of pushback from democracy activists, there’s good news and bad news in the Sunshine State.

The good news is that Diebold is supplying voting machines to Leon County. The bad news is that Diebold is supplying voting machines to Leon County:

But the bad news is that this latest turn of events in no way addresses the overarching problem at the root of Mr. Sancho’s headaches: state laws that put too much control of a constitutionally protected right in the hands of private companies and have weakened the vote verification process.

And there is no evidence whatever that state officials think that’s a problem.

The state certifies three voting equipment companies to do business with all 67 county supervisors of elections. By law, they can do business only with certified companies. And, by law, supervisors cannot mix and match equipment from different vendors, even if it’s technologically compatible.

Mr. Sancho is known among his supporters and critics as a passionate advocate. An expert in his field and an unreconstructed voting rights activist, Mr. Sancho’s demeanor is off-putting to some. This might have been a factor in his previous failure to reach an agreement with any of the three companies.

Mr. Sancho, however, answers only to Leon County voters. They’re his boss, and continue to re-elect him because his track record in the administration of elections is the envy of any election supervisor.

Even so, he must act within the law, even when the law is flawed. Ours is.

For one, it does not effectively regulate the three private companies that election officers are required to do business with. The state regulates private utilities; there’s no reason there shouldn’t also be more oversight of firms that play such an important role in democracy.

(Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist is investigating possible antitrust violations in connection with the three companies’ earlier refusal to do business with Leon County. That probe is continuing despite Thursday’s announcement, a spokesman for Mr. Crist said Friday.)

In addition, while several other states are requiring procedures to ensure high levels of public confidence in the election process, Florida is not. Recounts and audits, Mr. Sancho says, are virtually banned in the Sunshine State as a result of election laws written in the past five years. He describes the Legislature’s failure in this regard as “nothing short of outrageous.”

The privatization of our electoral process is a storm cloud that threatens our democracy.

Swann Lake

A new poll found that Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell holds a commanding lead among black voters over his challenger, former NFL player Lynn Swann.  Swann’s 12 percent black support is about half of what Sen. Arlen Specter received in 2004.

Swann’s anemic black support should be a dog bites man story given that he has no political experience, no discernible platform, has never run for office, and, oh yeah, is a Republican.  But Swann is a GOP Great Black Hope, along with Diebold stock holding chief elections officer Ken Blackwell (and here), and Maryland’s Man of (Alloyed) Steele whose recent fundraiser featured Deadeye Dick Cheney.  Tellingly, Steele received 13 percent of the black vote in 2002 (here and here).

Lou Ransom of the New Pittsburgh Courier told BlackAmericaWeb.com:

Lynn Swann hasn't spoken to black voters yet.  He hasn't spent a lot of time in black communities and spoken to that constituency.  It is a little bit premature, but black voters still don't know very much about what he stands for.  I don't think he has a whole lot to say, but he hasn't spoken to (blacks) in a meaningful way.  He's not really campaigning or saying anything other than "Vote for me because I'm different."

He's different alright.  That's why black voters are saying to Swann and other Republican candidates:  Go jump in a lake.

Breaking the Code of Silence

E-voting machine vendors are learning the limitations of omertà when one is not packing heat.  Their thuggish behavior towards Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho is instead drawing heat (and here).

The Florida attorney general has issued a subpoena to the embattled Diebold to see whether the company violated antitrust laws and the civil rights of voters.  The investigation is bringing long overdue attention to the risks of e-voting and privatization of the voting process.

I’ve admired Ion from a distance for a number of years and finally met him last month. While other election officials remain silent as vendors do a job on our right to vote, Ion is a stand-up guy who’s simply doing his job.  As Herbert Thompson, chief security strategist for Security Innovation, told the Associated Press:

Ion is one of the few to ask the questions. Like, what is this thing actually doing to my vote? How is it processing my vote?

Nowadays, with the electronic voting systems, you don't know what even looks suspicious if you're an elections official. You need people who understand software and software security to understand what the risks are.

This sentiment was echoed in a recent Miami Herald editorial:

Florida Secretary of State Sue Cobb should take a cue from Attorney General Charlie Crist. Instead of berating Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho for trying to improve ballot security, the state should question vendors who can’t guarantee tamper-proof systems.