Post by pelicanguy on Jan 20, 2007 14:57:20 GMT -5
White voters testify in Noxubee case
By Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
Two white Noxubee County voters testified Friday they felt intimidated after seeing their names among 174 listed in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper saying they could face a challenge if they showed up to vote in a 2003 Democratic primary election.
In the first lawsuit of its kind in the United States, the Department of Justice is accusing black political leaders in majority-black Noxubee County of discriminating against white voters.
A trial on the lawsuit began Tuesday U.S. District Court in Jackson and is expected to last up to two more weeks.
The January 2003 letter to the editor in the Macon Beacon was attributed to Ike Brown, head of the Noxubee County Democratic Executive Committee.
"I felt very angry to think that anyone could say I didn't have a right to vote," Sherrie Ann Eaves testified. "I felt insecure about going to the polls to vote. ... I took my husband with me. I looked around to see if anyone was there to tell me I couldn't vote."
But on cross-examination by Brown's attorney, Wil Colom, Eaves said no one said anything to her at the polls when she voted.
The other voter, Kari Hardy, said she saw her name on the list and decided not to go to the polls and vote.
"I felt intimidated; I didn't go," Hardy said about voting. "I thought I would be arrested."
Hardy said she was confused how someone in authority could say she couldn't vote.
Almost every name on the list was that of a white voter.
Brown said the issue was about Republicans voting in the Democratic primary. Brown said Republicans, not only in Noxubee County but in other areas of the state, are voting in Democratic primaries to try to influence the outcome.
But both Eaves and Hardy said they had not voted in Republican elections.
Colom said the Republican poll book showed Eaves and her mother, who was a longtime Justice Court judge, signed it in 2000. Eaves' mother, who was considered a political adversary of Brown's, is now deceased.
Although Hardy said she had voted in Democratic primary elections, Colom said precinct records don't support her statement.
State law, however, doesn't limit a person to voting in either a Democratic or Republican primary election.
The state Democratic Party has a federal lawsuit seeking to declare the state primary system unconstitutional because anyone, no matter party affiliations, can vote in any primary election.
However, a voter can't vote in both Democratic and Republican primaries at the same time.
Colom also pointed out in the Noxubee County case that no voter on the list who showed up to vote had any problem voting.
- Two women say they felt intimidated after letter listed names in newspaper
By Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
Two white Noxubee County voters testified Friday they felt intimidated after seeing their names among 174 listed in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper saying they could face a challenge if they showed up to vote in a 2003 Democratic primary election.
In the first lawsuit of its kind in the United States, the Department of Justice is accusing black political leaders in majority-black Noxubee County of discriminating against white voters.
A trial on the lawsuit began Tuesday U.S. District Court in Jackson and is expected to last up to two more weeks.
The January 2003 letter to the editor in the Macon Beacon was attributed to Ike Brown, head of the Noxubee County Democratic Executive Committee.
"I felt very angry to think that anyone could say I didn't have a right to vote," Sherrie Ann Eaves testified. "I felt insecure about going to the polls to vote. ... I took my husband with me. I looked around to see if anyone was there to tell me I couldn't vote."
But on cross-examination by Brown's attorney, Wil Colom, Eaves said no one said anything to her at the polls when she voted.
The other voter, Kari Hardy, said she saw her name on the list and decided not to go to the polls and vote.
"I felt intimidated; I didn't go," Hardy said about voting. "I thought I would be arrested."
Hardy said she was confused how someone in authority could say she couldn't vote.
Almost every name on the list was that of a white voter.
Brown said the issue was about Republicans voting in the Democratic primary. Brown said Republicans, not only in Noxubee County but in other areas of the state, are voting in Democratic primaries to try to influence the outcome.
But both Eaves and Hardy said they had not voted in Republican elections.
Colom said the Republican poll book showed Eaves and her mother, who was a longtime Justice Court judge, signed it in 2000. Eaves' mother, who was considered a political adversary of Brown's, is now deceased.
Although Hardy said she had voted in Democratic primary elections, Colom said precinct records don't support her statement.
State law, however, doesn't limit a person to voting in either a Democratic or Republican primary election.
The state Democratic Party has a federal lawsuit seeking to declare the state primary system unconstitutional because anyone, no matter party affiliations, can vote in any primary election.
However, a voter can't vote in both Democratic and Republican primaries at the same time.
Colom also pointed out in the Noxubee County case that no voter on the list who showed up to vote had any problem voting.