Voting While Black
The smell of voter suppression coming out of Florida is getting stronger. It turns out that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, in which state troopers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando in a bizarre hunt for evidence of election fraud, is being conducted despite a finding by the department last May "that there was no basis to support the allegations of election fraud." State officials have said that the investigation, which has already frightened many voters and intimidated elderly volunteers, is in response to allegations of voter fraud involving absentee ballots that came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March. But the department considered that matter closed last spring, according to a letter from the office of Guy Tunnell, the department's commissioner, to Lawson Lamar, the state attorney in Orlando, who would be responsible for any criminal prosecutions. [more 
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The letter, dated May 13, said:
"These guys are using these intimidating methods to try and get these folks to stay away from the polls in the future," said Eugene Poole, president of the Florida Voters League, which tries to increase black voter participation throughout the state. "And you know what? It's working. One woman said, `My God, they're going to put us in jail for nothing.' I said, `That's not true.' " [ more
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The letter, dated May 13, said:
"These guys are using these intimidating methods to try and get these folks to stay away from the polls in the future," said Eugene Poole, president of the Florida Voters League, which tries to increase black voter participation throughout the state. "And you know what? It's working. One woman said, `My God, they're going to put us in jail for nothing.' I said, `That's not true.' " [ more