Reply #6: Democrats ask Justice Dept. to look out for displaced hurricane voters

[Judi Lynn]

October 27, 2005 12:20 PM

Democrats ask Justice Dept. to look out for displaced hurricane voters

WASHINGTON (AP) - Concerned that political operatives may try to manipulate the battered Gulf region's voting process in upcoming elections, House Democrats on Wednesday asked the Justice Department to vigilantly defend the rights of people displaced by recent hurricanes.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and several other high-ranking congressional Democrats sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales outlining their concerns about the possible purging of voter rolls, lost and damaged voting equipment and displaced residents' voting rights in their new locations.

The Democrats paid particular attention to the mass displacement of poor and minority New Orleans residents. New Orleans has been a Democratic bastion in a Republican-leaning state.

"We fear these New Orleans residents, as well as victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, may encounter politically engineered obstacles" when voting, the letter said. "It is our expectation that the Voting Section of the (Justice Department's) Civil Rights Division will be especially vigilant for the foreseeable future."
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http://www.fox23news.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=48542EFA-DF84-467A-A901-342536FCD296