Posted on 09/08/2006 10:05:06 PM PDT by TWohlford
Outgoing Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney hinted Thursday that she or her supporters might try again to challenge the legality of state voting laws that allowed Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary where she lost her House seat last month.
McKinney, the first black woman elected to Congress from Georgia, said "malicious crossover" voting by Republicans disenfranchised black voters in her district from picking their candidate of choice, despite the fact that the winner of the primary is also black.
She said the state's primary system violates the Voting Rights Act, which was first passed in 1965 to protect minority voters.
"In the state of Georgia, we have some unfinished business with respect to the Voting Rights Act," McKinney said after a panel session on U.S. intelligence programs she hosted at the annual conference of the Congressional Black Caucus. "We have got to do subsequent lawsuits to deal with these statutes."
McKinney's supporters made similar arguments in a 2002 lawsuit after McKinney lost her seat to Denise Majette. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the suit, and the decision was upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
McKinney, who won the seat back in 2004 after Majette gave it up to run for Senate, would not say Thursday whether she is planning another lawsuit. She said the question might be better posed to her constituents and that she is not ready to announce a next step.
Unlike some other states, Georgia allows voters to pick which primary they want to vote in, regardless of their party status.
"What happened to me ... is that an incredible number of Republicans decided they would pick up Democratic ballots," she said. "I guess you could say I'm the poster child for Republican crossover."
McKinney, a firebrand known for her confrontational style and a scuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer earlier this year, was forced into a runoff in the July Democratic primary by challenger Hank Johnson, an attorney and former DeKalb County commissioner. Johnson, who also is black, went on to defeat McKinney 59 percent to 41 percent in the Democratic runoff.
Voting results show that Johnson fared well in heavily Democratic areas of the district that had been McKinney's base of support, such as south DeKalb County, where Johnson won 57 percent of the vote in the primary runoff.
McKinney, who declined to discuss her political future, also charged that the state's system for runoff elections, in which winners must take more than half the vote to avoid a runoff, violates the law.
Shortly after the election, McKinney blamed her loss on the media and on electronic voting machines, which she says are a threat to the nation's democracy.
She hosted a forum on alleged civil rights abuses by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, comparing them to well-documented efforts to silence black activists in the 1960s. Panelists blasted the Bush administration for creating what they said was a police state in which fundamental constitutional rights are consistently violated.
"We know where the wickedness is in Washington, D.C. It's at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," McKinney said.
The balls on that woman.
What a certifiable wacko.
"Unlike some other states, Georgia allows voters to pick which primary they want to vote in, regardless of their party status."
I am against allowing crossover voting though.
Last time she lost, it was because of the Joooooooos.
Tay! Idn't dat Buckwheat's tister?
I thought this HAD to be a spoof....I kept looking to see if Chris Davis had written it....
"said "malicious crossover" voting by Republicans disenfranchised black voters in her district from picking their candidate of choice, despite the fact that the winner of the primary is also black."
You were saying? :-)
Did she ever get the money from that Saudi prince after Guliani rejected it?
We should all be honest...if there were better ways then we'd easily agree to them. But the entire system is build on democracy and rules. Let us assume that in 2008...with Hillary running in the primary season against one or two fair challengers...90 percent of Republicans might just decide to cross over and give her challenger a vote...and toss her entire campaign into a high-spend situation. Do we care who runs from the Republicans or is the idea simply to take down Hillary at all cost? Thats the situation in front of us. I don't readily see how you limit a guy to one primary group...unless you said he had to be registered a year ahead of time to one party. But then you'd go back to the national ID card and terminate people voting in different states (which they do now anyway).
"the perfect "face of the Democrat party"."
Yeah, ever since Barbara-Rose Collins was dumped in her Michigan primary in 1988, I've been looking for someone to fill those shoes. McKinney was the ideal person.
Sheila Jackson Lee was a good candidate for a while, but it appears as though she has a good hair stylist, doesn't abuse her staff, stays away from the Ethics Committee, and even works with the GOP from time to time.
That picture needs an hedgehog sticking its head out of her hair and saying, "Dinsdale!"
Yeah, they fit the holes in her head.
LOL
She wont discuss her political future,BUTT I WILL! She wont have one.LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Yup, I love it
Not everybody has dragons in their hair!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.