by John Burl Smith

Turnout 75% the hounds are baying at Vice President Al Gore to surrender America's most sacred claim to legitimacy, the right of the ballot. Americans talk of patriotic stands when great principles are at stake and the nation hangs in the balance. Cherishing intrepid warriors, America salute those whose commitment to ideals larger than self drive them to fight for those without a voice. Speaking for citizens drowned out by those whose voices are always heard, real leaders step into the breech to shield the powerless from being trampled under foot by a tyrannical majority. Those baying voices that cried loudest for President Bill Clinton's hide over personal indiscretions during impeachment, now demand we move on "for the good of the country." To satisfy their purposes, there was no hole too dark or deep down which they dragged the Constitution determined to kill a Presidency. The results of this election does not pass the feel, smell or taste test and voters deserve as much of a hearing as did, "whether or not the President had sex in the oval office?" There are fundamental questions that must be answered. "Does the Constitution mean one man one vote? If so, does everyone's vote count the same?"

Media giants are trying to bum-rush the Vice President of the United States of America into ignoring thousands of disenfranchised voters victimized by a shady ballot scheme that benefitted the well-educated and well-informed. Naturalized citizens, the elderly, illiterate, ill-sighted, black, poor and powerless voters had their ballots thrown out. Yielding to media pressure under such circumstances, the Vice President would abandon us in "The Valley of Calamity" Joshua Chapter 7.

Once you have seen a rotten orange, all mushy, green and moldy, you always recognize the odious inedible variety instantaneously. Watching the Presidential election unfold flipping channels, I experienced a familiar sinking feeling when Florida was withdrawn from Al Gore's column. Knowing now that the count provided only a razor-thin margin, what made the networks take that unprecedented action? Reminiscent of the 1972 8^th Congressional District race in Memphis, TN between Rep. Dan Kuykendall and J. O. Patterson, Jr., election fraud was the means whites used to maintain power. An election-day field coordinator, I mobilized workers to canvas and record voter totals at every poll. According to our tally, Patterson won with four thousand votes. However, the official count had Kuykendall winning by about five thousand votes. The results were devastating. No one could figure out where Kuykendall got his winning margin.

Unchallenged by Patterson, the results were certified and Republican Kuykendall returned to Congress. The black community had turned out three straight elections in sufficient numbers to defeat the white carpetbagger, only to be baffled by the count. Having organized the polling operation, I was convinced votes came from some place other than the 8^th Congressional District. College dropouts then, Dot and I teamed up to find the answer. Beginning in East Tennessee, we tallied registered voters by precinct for each Congressional District. Our investigation revealed that without legal authority, the all white Republican Shelby County Election Commission changed district lines by moving five precincts from the 7^th into the 8^th District. This change was neither announced nor reflected on the official reapportioned map of the district. The extra votes came from Parkway Village, a white low-income area of Memphis.

We spent the next year presenting our findings to anyone who would listen. We challenged Kuykendall's right to the 8^th District seat, but the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Carl Albert, refused to hear evidence. Former Congressman Harold E. Ford filed a civil lawsuit using our research in federal court, and the Shelby County Election Commission was found guilty of violating voting rights and federal election laws. The Court ordered the precincts removed.

Similarly, West Palm Beach, Florida reminds me of rotten oranges. Confronted with the evidence, no one believed the Shelby County Election Commission would do such an underhanded thing to win elections. Once proven beyond the shadow of a doubt whites would not accept that what was done was a calculated plot to deprive blacks of their Constitutional rights. Whites dismissed it as just politics. Even after the Court ruled that violating the civil rights of black voters in Shelby County had denied them representation for eight years, no one offered reparations to make up for the injustice. No one went to jail. Moreover, there was never an accounting of what happened nor was there an inquiry to establish who participated in the decision to violate the law. It was simply "Oops, this whole thing makes Memphis look so bad. For the good of the City, let us all move on."

Many held this attitude following the Civil War. There were those who told Abraham Lincoln freeing slaves was a dangerous thing to do; it would destroy the Constitution. After the war, many fought discussing slavery and its aftermath. Few cared that former slaves were being victimized, terrorized and disenfranchised. Under segregation, slave descendants lived in semi-bondage as sharecroppers tied to the land until the late 1950s. When one looks at Florida, one finds the same people getting robbed again. These Americans placed their hopes for democracy in the candidacy of Al Gore. If he does not feel a responsibility toward these Americans, to whom does he owe fealty? Previously, this same county disenfranchised 15,000 voters under similar conditions. Officials did nothing and this time the number is over 20,000. With the Vice President involved this time, these voters have someone the world will listen to regarding fairness of America's elections. If Americans do not have confidence that their votes count and are precluded from pursuing Constitutional remedies, for fear that might damage the nation, then they have already lost their freedom and democracy. Americans ask, how did the German people let Adolf Hitler get into power, are witnessing it. And, they are doing the same thing the Germans did. However for some, Americans have never just rolled over in a fight about freedom. Oranges like apples, one bad one can spoil a bushel!

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