To the editor:
According to the Columbus Dispatch (July 1, 2005), the
Civil Rights Division of the United States Department
of Justice has concluded that the Franklin County
Board of Elections "did not discriminate when it
allocated voting machines" last November. "Too few
voting machines, bad data on how many voters were
eligible, a sharp increase in voters from the 2000
election and a lengthy ballot in Columbus caused long
lines at some polls."
While conceding that the Board of Elections "allocated
fewer voting machines overall to 54 predominantly
black precincts than it had in 2000," John Tanner
concludes in his cover letter that "blacks did not
suffer," and that "predominantly white districts
averaged 172 voters per machine versus 159 voters per
machine in the predominantly black districts." The
reason for this is betrayed in his next sentence:
"Turnout was nearly 9 percentage points lower in
predominantly black districts." Indeed, voter turnout
averaged 60% in Bush precincts and 50% in Kerry
precincts.
My own studies (Stealing Votes in Columbus, Favoritism
in the Suburbs), posted long ago on
www.freepress.org,
have demonstrated that too few voting machines
depresses voter turnout no matter which political
party is predominant in the precinct. The shortage of
voting machines was not due to "bad data on how many
voters were eligible." The number of registered
voters in each precinct was well known in advance.
The Board of Elections allocated voting machines based
upon its calculation of "active voters," a
self-fulfilling prophecy which assumes that voters who
were not interested in the recent past, or who were
the victims of voter suppression, would not be voting
in 2004 either. This discriminatory allocation by the
Board of Elections was the direct cause of the lower
voter turnout in Democratic precincts, which, in turn,
is the reason why the number of ballots cast per
machine is relatively equal throughout the City of
Columbus. The average was 300 registered voters per
machine. The polls were open for 13 hours (780
minutes). Assuming a steady flow of voters, and a 60%
turnout, each voter would have only 4 minutes and 20
seconds to wade through the lengthy ballot and cast
their votes. Half the precincts had more than 300
registered voters per machine, and some had more than
400. Such precincts suffered accordingly and would be
unable to achieve 60% voter turnout due to long lines
at the polls.
What the Department of Justice data actually show is
that most precincts throughout Columbus experienced
voter turnout as high as possible given the overall
shortage of machines. The number of ballots cast per
machine, being relatively equal, does not tell the
story. It is the number of registered voters per
machine that conclusively reveals the discriminatory
allocation of voting machines, for which Matthew
Damschroder and his co-conspirators must be held
accountable.
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
