[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1027]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IT IS TIME TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED IN 1964

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this morning the United States 
Commission on Civil Rights released its report on Florida's election 
system. To say the least, I am appalled by the Commission's findings. 
To think that in this day and age we find ourselves trying to justify 
the racist and prejudicial tendencies that exist in the American 
election system is both pitiful and disturbing.
  From purging the names of eligible voters to increasing numbers of 
spoiled ballots, the Commission's report clearly indicates that the 
problems which occurred in Florida last November disproportionately 
affected the votes cast by African-Americans and other minority groups. 
While only making up eleven percent of all eligible voters in Florida, 
African-Americans cast nearly 55 percent of the ballots that were 
rejected in Florida. In fact, African-Americans cast nearly 55 percent 
of the ballots that were rejected in Florida. In fact, African-American 
voters were nearly ten times more likely than white voters to have 
their ballots rejected in Florida. Nine of the ten counties with the 
highest percentage of African-American voters had disqualified ballot 
percentages above the state average. Of the 100 precincts with the 
highest numbers of disqualified ballots, 83 of them are majority-black 
precincts.
  African-Americans were also disproportionately purged from voter 
lists. Under the Motor Voter Law, voters are protected from having 
their names removed from voting lists unless they move, die, or are 
convicted of a felony. In Florida, however, it appears as if the Motor 
Voter Law has been replaced by a system in which the names of eligible 
voters are unlawfully purged. In Miami-Dade County, the number of 
African-American names purged from eligible voter lists outnumbered the 
number of white and Hispanic voters whose names were removed from 
eligible voting lists three to one.
  Moreover, the report's findings that an official of the Florida 
Division of Elections supported updating voting lists in a manner that 
removed a disproportionate number of African-Americans from eligible 
voting lists leaves little question that the State of Florida could 
have avoided the problems voters faced on election day. The 
Commission's report makes it clear that both Governor Jeb Bush and 
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris were well aware of the 
potential problems that some of Florida's counties were going to face 
on election day. However,
  Mr. Speaker, the report issued by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 
highlights the problems that we face in Florida, and indeed, the rest 
of the nation. It is disgraceful that America has yet to create an 
election system that encourages rather than discourages. It is 
disgraceful that the conversations we are having today on voter 
accessibility, voter education, purging of eligible voters, and 
improving voting technology resemble the same conversations we had 
during the 1960s. Those of us involved in the Civil Rights Movement had 
hoped that Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
would have ensured that no African-American, or any American for that 
matter, would be unlawfully turned away from the polls. Unfortunately, 
the reality is, it will take an Election Reform Act during the 107th 
Congress to finish what we started in 1964.

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