Posted on 09/30/2004 6:06:14 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Black Voters 'Afraid' of Electronic Voting Machines, Activist Says
Miami (CNSNews.com) - An African-American civil rights spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the new computerized voting machines "terrify" her, and that blacks are "afraid of machines like that."
Joanne Bland, the director and co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Ala., told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that the new computerized voting machines are going to intimidate black voters in Florida and elsewhere and surpress their vote in the November presidential election because many blacks are not "technologically savvy."
"The computers really terrify me. The electronic voting -- the new machines -- I think it will turn off a segment in my community, particularly the elderly. We are not as technically savvy, and we are afraid of machines like that, and they (African-Americans) probably won't go [to the polls] and they probably won't ask for assistance, said Bland, who spent the last week in Florida.
"It is going to turn them off totally and I want that to stop," said Bland, who also serves as a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Public Accuracy, which predicts that "several million voters" may be "deprived of voting rights again" in 2004.
When asked if she preferred low-tech punch-card ballots that produced the controversial hanging chads in Florida in 2000, Bland responded, "Now that was low technology to who? People that have been privileged to learn technology? There have been lots of changes in the United States, but if you look at the statistics, our biggest block of voters would be between 40 and 80, so when did those people have access to any kind of technology?"
As an 11-year-old in 1965, Bland took part in the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She has just concluded a speaking tour on the history of the civil rights movement in the Miami area.
"I got the hell out of there Saturday, and I would suggest you do, too. Until we get rid of those Bushes (President George W. Bush and his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush), we're going to have a problem in Florida," Bland said.
GOP political operatives were quick to denounce Bland's comments.
African-American GOP consultant Tara Setmayer, who has worked on Florida congressional campaigns, called Bland's remarks "insulting" to black Americans.
"I think it's insulting to imply that African-Americans are unable to comprehend or assimilate modern-day technology," Setmayer said.
"As a registered voter in Florida, I am familiar with these touch screen voting machines,and they're very easy to understand, very voter-friendly," Setmayer told CNSNews.com. "Her claim is absurd," she added.
Syd Dinerstein, the chairman of Republican Party of Palm Beach County, also denounced Bland's comments.
"If there was ever proof positive that the black community needs a different set of leaders, statements like [Bland's] are exactly it," Dinerstein told CNSNews.com .
"I wish the Democrats thought as highly of the black community as Republicans do. We trust black parents to pick the right schools for their children, the Democrats don't. We trust black people to make informed electoral choices, the Democrats don't," Dinerstein said.
"It is sad that the soft bigotry of low expectations is at the core of the fundamental principles of the Democratic Party," he added.
Republican consultant and former political and government affairs director of the African American Republican Leadership Council also rejected the idea that blacks can't grasp computerized voting.
"What Bland is trying to say is voters down there [in Florida] are dumb, they are not educating themselves. She is saying that African-Americans-- when it comes to voting -- are intellectually inferior," Martin told CNSNews.com.
"You have touch screens in grocery stores, at [state run motor vehicle offices] and African-Americans seem to have no problem using those," he added.
'Voter intimidation' by Republicans
On Wednesday, the eve of the first presidential debate between Sen. John F. Kerry and President George W. Bush at the University of Miami, the NAACP and People for the American Way announced the results of a new study entitled "The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America."
The report alleges that the Republican Party is attempting to systematically suppress the voting rights of African-Americans.
Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, said, "Although voter intimidation has not historically been confined to a single political party, we are increasingly concerned about recent incidents indicating that Republican officials may be planning to challenge voters this year based on race."
Neas said, "There is more than one way to deprive people of their right to vote, from systematic and technical problems to inadequate voter education to illegal actions by public officials."
Martin, however, challenged the new report.
"I am sick and tired of hearing rhetoric about corruption. Show me some evidence. Name a government official involved in suppressing the black vote," Martin said.
"They can't [name officials] because it's nothing more than red herrings to feed to the black community to try to scare them so the Democrats can get 90 percent of the vote and people like Julian Bond, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and these groups can feel they have the right to sit at the table with Democrats like Kerry," Martin added.
Dinerstein completely dismissed any allegations of GOP vote suppression.
"In the [2000 presidential] election, not a single black person was deprived of their right to vote, but a significant number of the men and women in our service overseas were deprived of their right to vote by the Democratic Party," Dinerstein said, referring to the controversy over disqualified absentee ballots cast by members of the military.
Setmayer also rejected the new study from People for the American Way and the NAACP.
"I think it's a desperate attempt at trying to mobilize the black vote, because if you look historically at the areas in Florida where we have had the most voter fraud -- or suppression, as they call it -- [it has] been in the Democratic districts.
"It's an absurd claim," Setmayer said, considering that the election supervisors all have been Democrats.
"And they are taking that approach because they have a weak candidate. Kerry is a weak candidate because he has no rapport with the black community," she added.
Setmayer said Kerry's announcement on Wednesday that Jesse Jackson had officially joined his campaign was spurred by recent polls showing that Kerry's support is "slipping" in the African-American community."
A new Pew Research Center poll shows African American voters support for Bush has doubled to 12 percent from 6 percent, while Kerry's support has dropped 10 points since August.
Bland said it's too bad that black voters give such overwhelming support to the Democratic Party.
"One of our problems is we are classified as Democrats -- that whole block of African-American voters. The largest portion of us will more than likely vote Democrat, and that makes us not a party in the game, period," Bland said.
Many of the elderly(not just blacks)are intimidated by new technologies. My mother is one of the smartest, most common-sense people I know, but she thinks that having an e-mail address is far beyond her.
An African-American civil rights spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the new computerized voting machines "terrify" her, and that blacks are "afraid of machines like that."
I'm an hispanic women and a member of the NRA. If any machines tries to "terrify" me or won't let me vote for President Bush, I'll just bring my 22 and shoot it. Have courage Ms civil rights spokeswoman. What if MLK had been terrified? Where would you be today?
Tell them it is no different that playing touch screen poker or bingo. THEN let's see if they STILL want to act "afraid", and that goes for the "other" confused voters mentioned in the article.
Being white and conservative....i expect this garbage from the left. But getting this kinda pablum from the people who are supposed to be advancing my intersts would be particularly offensive
I suspect King would only shake his head sadly as he looked at what his dream de-evolved into.
Amen.
And they still vote for the democrats!
I don't see any race as less capable than I. I've had black doctors, supervisors, financial advisors. I live with black neighbors. My kids went to integrated schools. They are just people for cripes sake just like myself.
I think that the democrats see blacks as people who are less capable and need to be taken care of like children or pets.
One of the more telling things about this situation is when my sons were in high school. A black friend of theirs was bemoaning his plight until my son pointed out that the friend drove a BMW to school and his father was a lawyer and mother a corporate officer.
At some point, these activists will have to realize that while everyone hits the wall, and blacks have had and do have some that will impede them, the time has come to acknowledge that treating an entire race like incompetents has to stop.
Prejudice will always exist. It exists simply because people have to set themselves apart from the pack. Class, wealth, income, color, weight, religion, background and other facets come into play with everyone. That is human nature. But, treating blacks like some exotic species that needs to be kept in a hothouse zoo is just plain WRONG.
That's how democrats can get the elderly to vote for Kerry.
Tell them its Kerry Bingo & if they push the right names they win money. They'll get there the money monthly in there social security checks.
Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothin' about no votin' machines.
Lawdy! What's next?
Tis kinda crapolla could be taking it's toll....the latest poll i have seen on the subject (ap i think) had Bush garnering 30% of the non-white vote!
Anything that keeps ignorant people away from the polls is a good thing.
"I'm an hispanic women and a member of the NRA. If any machines tries to "terrify" me or won't let me vote for President Bush, I'll just bring my 22 and shoot it."
Good choice, Linda. While many would consider the .22 underpowered for most applications, I believe it offers plenty of stopping power for electronics, without the concern of over-penetration... :^)
HW (also NRA)
How insulting to suggest that people whose parents and grandparents faced down fire hoses and dogs for the right to vote are "intimidated" by a simple electronic device.
Wanna know what they're REALLY afraid of? They're afraid of four more years of a man who stresses personal responsibility and self-improvement as a means of advancement -- rather than perpetuation of the entitlement mindset of handouts and complacency.
Anyone care to dispute that? You'll fail, I promise.
This reminds me of some black-on-black humor I heard one summer while working my way through college as the only 'white boy' on an otherwise all-black construction labor crew:
Black #1 to Black #2:"HEY, there, Boy! Get 'way from that wheelbarrow! You know you don't know nuthin' 'bout muh-SHEEN-uh-ree!"
Blacks can be rougher on each other than any person of another race can even dare to think of being -- but their "inside humor" kept me laughing all summer. Those were some of the most enjoyable jobs (and co-workers) I ever had!
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OTOH, I hope my black friends rise up and "skin" Ms Bland and her fellow race whores for trying to turn a stereotype into aDimoCR@P crutch...
Good post OpusatFR
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