Ron Walters: Who Controls the Black Vote?
/The mechanism used to assert control of the Black
vote is the process of accountability, that is, an organization
that is able to claim precise numbers of those who register and voted
in using the financial resources provided. A ridiculous claim has been
that since Black organizations were not able to cite the precise
number of people they registered for the money given to them, they were
ineffective. Enter the "Blackberry Army" as the tool of
accountability in this election cycle. Armed with Palm Pilots and
Blackberrys, paid canvassers cover a precinct, and are able to count
the precise number of people registered. But what if the funders
gave money to various Black groups to cover the same states and cities?
And what if they did not give Black organizations enough money to be
effective? And what if they also fielded their own canvassers in some
of the same locations? Right away, you can see that Black groups will
not be able to claim that they registered as many as other groups if
they don't have the financial resources and if they have to work in the
chaos of competition with various other groups. [more 
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- Will Black Voter Protection In 2004 Be Déjà Vu All Over Again? [more ]
