Word: turnout
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Over breakfast with reporters on Nov. 9, Rollins had asserted that black ministers and Democratic workers were paid to keep black turnout low. Democrats, who have filed a lawsuit asking to invalidate the election, acknowledged that the Rollins deposition failed to provide a smoking gun but vowed to keep fighting. Said Democratic state committee chairman Raymond Lesniak: "I am not going to drop our investigation based on his bizarre explanation." Federal and state criminal probes are under way as well...
...days after telling reporters about spending $500,000 to suppress black- voter turnout during the New Jersey gubernatorial race, Republican strategist Edward Rollins gave a deposition to the New Jersey State Democratic Committee, which has filed a civil suit against the campaign of Governor-elect Christine Todd Whitman. Rollins said Friday his original story was a lie, concocted as a "head game" with rival political consultant James Carville...
Rollins' tale gained credibility from two facts: Whitman squeaked by with a margin of about 30,000 votes out of 2.4 million ballots, and turnout in black areas where Florio had overwhelming support fell off sharply. Though Florio garnered about 80% of the Newark vote, for example, his total was about 10,000 votes fewer than in 1989. Before Rollins piped up, Democrats had ascribed the lack of enthusiasm for Florio to the Governor's lackluster campaigning in black areas. "They took blacks for granted and paid a price in the turnout," said an aide to Newark Democratic Congressman Donald...
...controversy cast a powerful light on the unseemly tactics both parties have used to influence black voters in many elections. Payments of walking- around money -- small amounts given to ministers and community leaders to encourage maximum turnout of black voters -- are a staple for Democratic candidates and are legal under New Jersey law. But black party activists say privately that the money is often used to purchase endorsements. "You can buy black preachers by the dozen very cheaply," says a black New Jersey Democrat, who admits participating in such schemes in earlier elections...
Poppy M. Stewart, a clerk at Roosevelt Towers, which was a polling place for the first time this year, said, "turnout has been great." She said there was no confusion, because, "everyone was sent a card...