CONTROVERSY GREETS EARLY VOTING

By Judy Normand
Pine Bluff Commercial
October 22, 2002

Early voters were met Monday at the Jefferson County Courthouse by poll watchers from the Republican Party of Arkansas who demanded identification and challenged voter ballots.

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In a press release, Michael Cook, executive director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, criticized Sen. Tim Hutchinson and the Republican Party for intimidating and harassing African-American voters in Jefferson County and for giving the poll watchers notarized credentials he said were apparently forged.

"Their papers did not seem to be in order," Ashcraft said.

"Tim Hutchinson and the Republican Party have claimed that they want to reach out to African-American voters, but when election time comes they have nothing to offer but intimidation and harassment," Cook said. "We ask Tim Hutchinson and his party to stop disenfranchising African-American voters and obstructing the democratic process."

During Monday's voting, poll watchers were seen asking voters to either produce identification or risk having their ballots challenged.

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