Voter Intimidation in Orlando?« Thread Started on Aug 20, 2004, 5:38pm » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Voter Intimidation in Orlando?On August 17, DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile joined Florida's Senate Democrats and called on Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to immediately put an end to the intimidation of elderly black voters in Florida.According to published reports, State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an "investigation" that has frightened voters, intimidated elderly volunteers, and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November."Governor Bush should be as troubled as anyone that Florida state police at random have chosen to enter the homes of elderly African American voters in Orlando," McAuliffe said. "This appears anything but random and it is now incumbent upon Governor Bush to demonstrate that Florida is capable of holding an election that is fair and above reproach."Brazile added: "In no state should one select group of people become the exclusive target of state police. We call on Ed Gillespie and the RNC to urge Gov. Bush to put an immediate stop to the disturbing tactics of this investigation. The investigation of elderly Orlando voters during the Florida state primary and a few months before the presidential election continues the perception that voting in Florida is neither free nor fair."-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOP Intimidation Tactics Backfire« Thread Started on Aug 20, 2004, 5:39pm » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------GOP Intimidation Tactics BackfireIn the wake of a bold but unsuccessful legal attempt by the Kentucky ACLU in November 2003 to block a GOP plan to place challengers at 58 predominantly African American precincts in Jefferson County, the NAACP and other voter advocates redoubled efforts to turn out the black vote.Perceived threats of voter intimidation and attempts to suppress the black vote generated a backlash which resulted in consistent voter turn-out in the targeted precincts, while voter turn-out in predominantly white precincts in the 2003 general election was slightly down.This year, Jefferson County GOP party leaders indicated there is no current plan to use poll challengers for the 2004 General Election. The decision not to use poll challengers coincided with an announcement by Rep. Anne Northup (R-KY) which made it clear that she didn't think poll challengers were necessary.As a regular feature of the Voting Rights Institute Newsletter, we will outline examples of voter intimidation and voter fraud so that citizens can be on the look out for these attempts to disenfranchise voters. Click (http://redir.democrats.org/rdr/002Sw003hJ0004S) to download a chronology of GOP intimidation of minority voters since 1981.We need you to serve as the eyes and ears of the Voting Rights Institute to bring to light these tactics. Please let us know of similar activities in your state by emailing us at vri@dnc.org.