Democrats worry about black voters in Orlando

Mark Schlueb - Sentinel - September 25, 2004

With a presidential election just weeks away, Democrats everywhere -- from Internet chat rooms to the floor of the U.S. Senate -- worry that Florida's electoral votes might hinge on events that have already unfolded in the living rooms of a few dozen west Orlando homes.

As the U.S. Justice Department investigates claims that Florida law-enforcement agents intimidated black voters in Orlando in an orchestrated attempt to reduce minority turnout, debate about the accusation's legitimacy percolates across the country.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement administrators vehemently deny that Gov. Jeb Bush ordered them to stifle the black vote to help his brother -- President Bush -- in November, and some prominent leaders from Orlando's black community agree.

But the accusation has taken hold among others who remember when black voters faced poll taxes and outright hostility when they tried to cast ballots.

"This is a classic example of whoever is in charge attempting to intimidate African-American voters," said Eugene Poole of Ocala, president of the nonpartisan Florida Voters League.

"It's not a problem that started yesterday. It started many moons ago, but it has generally been concealed," Poole said.

It is an allegation that has taken on particular importance in Orlando, which finds itself smack in the middle of the Interstate 4 corridor coveted by both parties as they battle for a key battleground state.

The core facts aren't in dispute:

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