AUGUST 16 - 22, 1987
GO
sett es vote
ASH GTO - The De
mocratic ational Committee
cted today to ttle its
1986 voter intimidation law
suit again the Republican
ational Committee with an
out-of-court agreement that
requires the RNC to obtain
federal court pre-clearance of
. any programs it propo s
for challenging voter regis
tration and participation.
"The agreement we have
obtained from the Republi-
cans will effectively put an
end to their efforts to target
and disenfranchi minority
voter with so-called ballot
curity program like the
one they initiated in
Louisiana and in other states
last year," Jane Frank Har
man, chair of the DC's
ational Lawyers Council,
said in commenting on the
ttlement.
The suit charged the Re
publican with violating civil
a
ass
e
t s
5
Lanny Griffith, commenting
on Republican ball t inte
grity" effort in Louisian :
'I kno thi race the
U.S. Sen te rae in Loui '
ana) is really important to
you. I would gue s that
this program will eliminate
at lea t 60-80 000 folks from
the roll. . . If it's a clo
race ... which I'm ssum
ing it is, this could keep the
Black vote down consider
ably."
rights laws and 1982
federal court consent order t
which the D C obtained
after the Republican ational
Committee u d intimidating
tactics gain minority
voters in the ew J er y
general election of ovember,
1981.
The 1 suit flled la
October charged that the
C was violating civil rights
I ws and the 1982 con nt
order by targeting Black
precinct in Louisiana with
a program th t included mail
ing "Do ot Forward"
letters to individuals on the
voting rolls in those pre
cincts as a potential b sis
for wholsale challenges.
R C documents obtained
by the D C in legal "dis
covery" last October included
a memorandwn from the
C's midwest political
director, Kris Wolfe, to
southern political director -