Activists pursue measures to insure Florida blacks vote

[Pachamama]

Activists pursue measures to insure Florida blacks vote

http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/shared/news/stories/BLACK_VOTERS_0825_COX.html

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In anticipation of the 2004 elections,
African-American political activists in South Florida are registering
voters on local buses, at hip hop concerts and even in hospital beds.

Black leaders insist that this Herculean registration campaign is non-partisan."We want to assure that people don't lose faith in the right to vote that our predecessors fought so hard for," says Maude Ford Lee, president of the NAACP's West Palm Beach chapter, citing snafus in the voting process in South Florida in 2000 and 2002. "Who they vote for is their business, not ours."

But scratch the surface a bit, and you find festering wounds. For example, for four years Republican President George W. Bush has refused to address the NAACP national convention, due to criticism of his policies by the group's leadership. Scratch a bit more, and you hit a swollen political vein: In 2000, African Americans voted 92 to 8 against Bush, and they are expected to vote overwhelmingly against him this time.

In other words, in the black community, the words "voter registration" translate as "Beat George W. Bush."

[Rambis]

1. Thank the supreme being

I have been really worried about this. I just hope when the day comes that these people are not "Harrissed" out, harassed out or intimidated out of going to the voting booths to pull that donkey lever. Floridians need to turn over every rock and shed some light on the slugs and the snakes that will try anything to fix the election. Then there is brother Jeb YIKES!

[qwlauren35]

2. I think we need to send them some money...

As soon as I figure whom to send it to, I think I will.