Race baiting ballots

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A campaign is underway to ban affirmative action in five states already embroiled in debates over illegal immigration.

Efforts are proceeding in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma to put initiatives on November ballots that would end programs to increase minority and female participation in government and education.

The push is led by Ward Connerly, a California management consultant who successfully ran similar campaigns in California, Washington and Michigan.

It is part of Connerly's effort to ban race- and gender-based policies nationwide.

The initiatives will add to the racially charged atmosphere in state elections, says Michael Kanner, a political science professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. All five states have had big increases in their Hispanic population since 2000, leading to racial tensions and debates over illegal immigration.

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A race 'rights' issue will bring them to the polls.