Super_User_For_Ever
2004-10-29 16:53:23 UTC
Bob Herbert: Florida investigation chills older black voters
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Bob Herbert
The smell of voter suppression coming out of Florida is getting
stronger. It turns out that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement
investigation, in which state troopers have gone into the homes of
elderly black voters in Orlando in a bizarre hunt for evidence of
election fraud, is being conducted despite a finding by the department
last May "that there was no basis to support the allegations of
election fraud."
State officials have said the investigation, which has already
frightened many voters and intimidated elderly volunteers, is in
response to allegations of voter fraud involving absentee ballots that
came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.
But the department considered that matter closed last spring,
according to a letter from the office of Guy Tunnell, the department's
commissioner, to Lawson Lamar, the state attorney in Orlando, who
would be responsible for any criminal prosecutions.
The letter, dated May 13, said:
"We received your package related to the allegations of voter fraud
during the 2004 mayoral election.
"This dealt with the manner in which absentee ballots were either
handled or collected by campaign staffers for Mayor Buddy Dyer.
"Since this matter involved an elected official, the allegations were
forwarded to FDLE's Executive Investigations in Tallahassee, Fla.
"The documents were reviewed by FDLE, as well as the Florida Division
of Elections. It was determined that there was no basis to support the
allegations of election fraud concerning these absentee ballots.
"Since there is no evidence of criminal misconduct involving Dyer, the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement considers this matter closed."
Well, it's not closed. And department officials said Thursday the
letter sent out in May was never meant to indicate the "entire"
investigation was closed.
Since the letter went out, state troopers have gone into the homes of
40 or 50 black voters, most of them elderly, in what the department
describes as a criminal investigation.
Many longtime Florida observers have said the use of state troopers
for this kind of investigation is extremely unusual, and it has caused
a storm of controversy.
The officers were armed and in plain clothes. For elderly black
voters, who remember the terrible torment inflicted on blacks who
tried to vote in the South in the 1950s and '60s, the sight of armed
police officers coming into their homes to interrogate them about
voting is chilling indeed.
One woman, who is in her mid-70s and was visited by two officers in
June, said in an affidavit: "After entering my house, they asked me if
they could take their jackets off, to which I answered yes.
"When they removed their jackets, I noticed they were wearing side
arms. . . . And I noticed an ankle holster on one of them when they
sat down."
Though apprehensive, she answered all their questions. But for a lot
of voters, the emotional response to the investigation has gone beyond
apprehension to outright fear.
"These guys are using these intimidating methods to try to get these
folks to stay away from the polls in the future," said Eugene Poole,
president of the Florida Voters League, which tries to increase black
voter participation throughout the state.
"And you know what? It's working. One woman said, 'My God, they're
going to put us in jail for nothing.' I said, 'That's not true.' "
State officials deny their intent was to intimidate black voters.
Tunnell, who was handpicked by Gov. Jeb Bush to head the Department of
Law Enforcement, said in a statement Thursday.
"Instead of having them come to the FDLE office, which may seem quite
imposing, our agents felt it would be a more relaxed atmosphere if
they visited the witnesses at their homes."
When I asked a spokesman for Tunnell, Tom Berlinger, about the letter
in May indicating the allegations were without merit, he replied that
the intent of the letter had not been made clear by Joyce Dawley, a
regional director who drafted and signed the letter for Tunnell.
"The letter was poorly worded," said Berlinger. He said he spoke to
Dawley about the letter a few weeks ago, and she told him, "God, I
wish I would have made that more clear."
What Dawley meant to say, Berlinger said, was it did not appear Dyer
himself was criminally involved.
● Bob Herbert is a columnist for The New York Times, 229 W. 43rd
St., New York, NY 10036; e-mail: ***@nytimes.com.
Related articles:
Bob Herbert: Troopers' visits chill black vote in Florida
Deroy Murdock: Cut voter fraud with foreign monitors
Kerry visits black churchgoers
Paul Krugman: Act now to avert election taint
Bob Herbert: Florida strong-arms elderly black voters
Other articles by this author:
Bob Herbert: Where is GOP's shame in sliming vets?
Bob Herbert: Curbing black vote aids Republican election bids
Bob Herbert: Iraq looms as Bush's Vietnam
Bob Herbert: Vietnam echoes more loudly now in Iraq
Bob Herbert: Paralyzed, a soldier asks why we're in Iraq
Bob Herbert
The smell of voter suppression coming out of Florida is getting
stronger. It turns out that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement
investigation, in which state troopers have gone into the homes of
elderly black voters in Orlando in a bizarre hunt for evidence of
election fraud, is being conducted despite a finding by the department
last May "that there was no basis to support the allegations of
election fraud."
State officials have said the investigation, which has already
frightened many voters and intimidated elderly volunteers, is in
response to allegations of voter fraud involving absentee ballots that
came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.
But the department considered that matter closed last spring,
according to a letter from the office of Guy Tunnell, the department's
commissioner, to Lawson Lamar, the state attorney in Orlando, who
would be responsible for any criminal prosecutions.
The letter, dated May 13, said:
"We received your package related to the allegations of voter fraud
during the 2004 mayoral election.
"This dealt with the manner in which absentee ballots were either
handled or collected by campaign staffers for Mayor Buddy Dyer.
"Since this matter involved an elected official, the allegations were
forwarded to FDLE's Executive Investigations in Tallahassee, Fla.
"The documents were reviewed by FDLE, as well as the Florida Division
of Elections. It was determined that there was no basis to support the
allegations of election fraud concerning these absentee ballots.
"Since there is no evidence of criminal misconduct involving Dyer, the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement considers this matter closed."
Well, it's not closed. And department officials said Thursday the
letter sent out in May was never meant to indicate the "entire"
investigation was closed.
Since the letter went out, state troopers have gone into the homes of
40 or 50 black voters, most of them elderly, in what the department
describes as a criminal investigation.
Many longtime Florida observers have said the use of state troopers
for this kind of investigation is extremely unusual, and it has caused
a storm of controversy.
The officers were armed and in plain clothes. For elderly black
voters, who remember the terrible torment inflicted on blacks who
tried to vote in the South in the 1950s and '60s, the sight of armed
police officers coming into their homes to interrogate them about
voting is chilling indeed.
One woman, who is in her mid-70s and was visited by two officers in
June, said in an affidavit: "After entering my house, they asked me if
they could take their jackets off, to which I answered yes.
"When they removed their jackets, I noticed they were wearing side
arms. . . . And I noticed an ankle holster on one of them when they
sat down."
Though apprehensive, she answered all their questions. But for a lot
of voters, the emotional response to the investigation has gone beyond
apprehension to outright fear.
"These guys are using these intimidating methods to try to get these
folks to stay away from the polls in the future," said Eugene Poole,
president of the Florida Voters League, which tries to increase black
voter participation throughout the state.
"And you know what? It's working. One woman said, 'My God, they're
going to put us in jail for nothing.' I said, 'That's not true.' "
State officials deny their intent was to intimidate black voters.
Tunnell, who was handpicked by Gov. Jeb Bush to head the Department of
Law Enforcement, said in a statement Thursday.
"Instead of having them come to the FDLE office, which may seem quite
imposing, our agents felt it would be a more relaxed atmosphere if
they visited the witnesses at their homes."
When I asked a spokesman for Tunnell, Tom Berlinger, about the letter
in May indicating the allegations were without merit, he replied that
the intent of the letter had not been made clear by Joyce Dawley, a
regional director who drafted and signed the letter for Tunnell.
"The letter was poorly worded," said Berlinger. He said he spoke to
Dawley about the letter a few weeks ago, and she told him, "God, I
wish I would have made that more clear."
What Dawley meant to say, Berlinger said, was it did not appear Dyer
himself was criminally involved.
● Bob Herbert is a columnist for The New York Times, 229 W. 43rd
St., New York, NY 10036; e-mail: ***@nytimes.com.