If you still think that the Republicans Party isn’t driven by racism, this story might change your mind. Apparently, George Bush has decided to send in the brown shirts and the Stormtroopers to "oversee" election procedures in twenty-three counties across this country. Well if you are saying to yourself, "Oh, isn’t that nice of him to ensure election integrity?" You are wrong! What you will notice about this list of counties is the huge proportion of above national average minority residents. It is frightening how blaringly obvious this move is to depress voter turnout. He is sending ***800*** agents from the Department of Justice and other federal "monitors." It is quite remarkable.
This caught my eye because I am originally from South Dakota and I noticed that the counties the Feds are storming in on are predominantly Native American.
Polling place activities will be observed by federal monitors in the following places:
Perry County, Alabama;
Apache, Cochise, and Navajo Counties, Arizona;
Kane County, Illinois;
East Carroll Parish, Louisiana;
Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts;
Bolivar, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Washington, Wilkinson, and Winston Counties, Mississippi;
Salem County (Penns Grove), New Jersey;
Cibola and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico;
Kings County (Brooklyn), New York County (Manhattan), and Westchester County, New York;
Buffalo and Charles Mix Counties, South Dakota; and
Dallas, Fort Bend, and Galveston Counties, Texas.
Justice Department staff will monitor elections in:
Pima County, Arizona;
Alameda, Riverside, and Santa Clara Counties, California;
Duval, Hillsborough, and Seminole Counties, Florida;
Madison County, Indiana;
Ford County, Kansas;
Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, Louisiana;
Macomb County, Michigan;
Madison County, Mississippi;
Alamance County, North Carolina;
Colfax County, Nebraska;
Bergen County, New Jersey;
Cuyahoga County, Ohio;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Dorchester and Georgetown, South Carolina;
Bennett, Jackson, Mellette, Shannon, and Todd Counties, South Dakota;
Gonzales and Waller Counties, Texas;
Chesterfield County, Virginia
King County, Washington
Now let's parce this out.
Please note that I have looked at the census information of all counties listed and I have listed the predominant minorities living in these counties. The list is so overwhelming I decided to abbreviate.
Alabama: Perry County [68% African American]
Arizona: Apache [77% Native American], Cochise [30.7% Hispanic/Latino], and Navajo Counties [48% Native American]
Illinois: Kane County [24% Hispanic/Latino]
Louisiana East Carroll Parish [67% African American]
Massachusetts; Boston [25% African American and 14% Hispanic] and Springfield [21% African American and 27% Latino/Hispanic]
Mississippi: Bolivar [65% AA], Jefferson Davis [57% AA], Jones [26% AA], Kemper [58% AA], Leake [37% AA], Neshoba [19% AA and 14% NA], Newton [30%AA], Noxubee [70% AA], Washington [65% AA], Wilkinson [68% AA], and Winston Counties [43% AA]
New Jersey: Salem County [15% AA and 4% His/Lat] (Penns Grove)
New Mexico: Cibola [40% NA and 33% Lat/His] and Sandoval Counties [16% NA and 30% His/Lat]
New York: Kings County (Brooklyn) [36% AA and 19% His/Lat], New York County (Manhattan)[27% His/Lat and 17% AA], and Westchester County [16% His/Lat and 14% AA]
South Dakota: Buffalo [82% NA] and Charles Mix Counties [28% NA]
Texas: Dallas [20% AA and 30% His/Lat], Fort Bend [20% AA and 21% His/Lat], and Galveston Counties [15% AA and 18% His/Lat]
Arizona: Pima County [29% His/Lat]
California: Alameda [15% AA and 20% Asian and 19% His/Lat], Riverside [36% His/Lat and 6% AA], and Santa Clara Counties [24% His/Lat and 25% Asian]
Florida: Duval [Duval 28% AA and 4% His/Lat], Hillsborough [18% His/Lat and 15% AA], and Seminole Counties [11% His/Lat and 10% AA]
Indiana: Madison County [low percentage of minorities on the census-Does have Indiana State University]
Kansas: Ford County [38% His/Lat]
Louisiana: Jefferson [23% AA and 7% His/Lat] and Orleans Parishes [67% AA]
Michigan: Macomb County [Macomb College ?]
Mississippi: Madison County [38% AA]
North Carolina: Alamance County [19% AA and 7% His/Lat]
Nebraska: Colfax County [26% His/Lat]
New Jersey: Bergen County [10% His/Lat and 10% Asian and 5% AA]
Ohio: Cuyahoga County [27% AA and 3% His/Lat]
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia [43% AA and 9% His/Lat]
South Carolina: Dorchester [25% AA] and Georgetown [39% AA]
South Dakota: Bennett [52% NA], Jackson [48% NA], Mellette [52% NA], Shannon [94% NA], and Todd [84% NA] Counties
Texas: Gonzales [40% His/Lat] and Waller Counties [29% AA and 19% His/Lat]
Virginia: Chesterfield County [17% AA and 4% His/Lat]
Washington: King County [11% Asian and 6% His/Lat and 5% AA]
I used the Census website to gather this data.
I am a poll worker and these people will make things very difficult, especially if they behave like assholes and try to challenge every minority voter. Not to mention, if they are dressed in anything other than street clothes, they will scare people. This is really ridiculous.
We need everyone of these sites to have a Democratic poll watcher to counter this. The poll workers need clear rules on what these people can and can't do. Please if you can on election day-volunteer to sit at a polling station. And if you live in one of these counties-please have a camera phone to see how these "agents" behave. We must watch the watchers.
Update:
The department is going into areas covered by the Voting Rights Act and into battle ground states:
The department is required to monitor polling places covered by the Voting Rights Act or related court orders. In addition, its Civil Rights Section will send watchers to counties in several battleground states.
They state they are not using the criminal prosecutors however, I do not trust that these people will not attempt to intimidate.