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'RATS???...You'd have to guess because the Article doesn't bother to tell you

Joyce said each of the three were employees of Operation Big Vote, an organization that seeks to get members of minority groups to register.

Ashland, Missouri

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as many as 40% of the black votes in Florida were cast by first-time voters, who tend to make more mistakes. Many black Americans were voting for the first time in part because of a project— “Operation Big Vote”—intended to register record numbers of minorities for the 2000 election. The project is managed nationally by the NAACP in cooperation with the Democratic Party. The local coordinator of Operation Big Vote in St. Louis is being investigated for submitting thousands of fraudulent registration cards. This is a serious matter. Bush carried Missouri by less than 100,000 votes. John Ashcroft lost his Senate election by less than 50,000. In the race for governor, the Democratic candidate won by 21,000 votes.

BLACKS IN GOVERNMENT (BIG), was conceived in 1975 by Black Federal employees of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Parklawn Building, Rockville, Maryland. The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit organization under the District of Columbia jurisdiction in 1976.

BIG promotes Voters’ Education and Registration. BIG is an active participant in "Operation Big Vote," a nationwide campaign to educate Blacks and other citizens of their rights and responsibilities in the national, state and local electoral process.