With this I just read... it may be almost pointless to even attempt to make an effort there:
http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl122807khvotingturnout.5fce8cc7.html
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News Reporter
In what could be a crucial year in the world of politics, 2008 may also end up as a crucial year for state voters. "Displacement and the non-participation of voters in southeast Louisiana is going to be a major, major factor," said Clancy DuBos, Eyewitness News Political Analyst.
A factor because new numbers from demographer Greg Rigamer, GCR and Associates, show more than one million registered Louisiana voters have not voted at all since Hurricane Katrina. The numbers also showed two groups of voters in particular were not voting: people under the age of 30 and those over the age of 75. "With the loss of voters that we have, we have a little bit more competitive environment in the political arena than we had previously," Rigamer said.
Nowhere was that more true than in the New Orleans metro area, still reeling from a population loss brought on by the storm.
"Overall, the more displacement, the greater the fall off in voter participation,” DuBos said.
That fall off is noticeable in Orleans Parish. As of December, the parish has 278,029 registered voters, but 130,985 of them have not voted since Katrina. That means 47 percent of the voters in the city have not cast a ballot; and 70 percent of those voters are African-Americans.
"Of the voters who actually turn out and vote, the scales went from being about 2-to-1 in favor of African-Americans, to pretty much 50-50, which makes it a turnout contest every time," DuBos said. And political analysts said that effect already manifested itself in the November election for the New Orleans City Council’s At-Large seat. “Clearly, that's what happened with Jackie Clarkson,” DuBos said. “The turnout was about 50-50, Clarkson got more crossover votes, and that's why she won."
But this hasn’t just happened in Orleans Parish. More than half of the registered voters in St. Bernard Parish have not voted since Katrina, either; understandable, according to analysts, given the storm damage there. The real surprise, they said, was in Jefferson Parish.
“Generally, voters in Jefferson Parish, within the metropolitan area context, tend to be some of the better educated, more affluent voters," DuBos said. But that has not made them vote in greater numbers. A whopping 43 percent of registered Jefferson Parish voters have not voted since the storm. "When you consider that not that many people in Jefferson Parish were displaced by Katrina, that is a very, very shocking statistic to me," DuBos said.
Statistics whose effect will be seen much clearer, beginning next year.
http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl122807khvotingturnout.5fce8cc7.html
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News Reporter
In what could be a crucial year in the world of politics, 2008 may also end up as a crucial year for state voters. "Displacement and the non-participation of voters in southeast Louisiana is going to be a major, major factor," said Clancy DuBos, Eyewitness News Political Analyst.
A factor because new numbers from demographer Greg Rigamer, GCR and Associates, show more than one million registered Louisiana voters have not voted at all since Hurricane Katrina. The numbers also showed two groups of voters in particular were not voting: people under the age of 30 and those over the age of 75. "With the loss of voters that we have, we have a little bit more competitive environment in the political arena than we had previously," Rigamer said.
Nowhere was that more true than in the New Orleans metro area, still reeling from a population loss brought on by the storm.
"Overall, the more displacement, the greater the fall off in voter participation,” DuBos said.
That fall off is noticeable in Orleans Parish. As of December, the parish has 278,029 registered voters, but 130,985 of them have not voted since Katrina. That means 47 percent of the voters in the city have not cast a ballot; and 70 percent of those voters are African-Americans.
"Of the voters who actually turn out and vote, the scales went from being about 2-to-1 in favor of African-Americans, to pretty much 50-50, which makes it a turnout contest every time," DuBos said. And political analysts said that effect already manifested itself in the November election for the New Orleans City Council’s At-Large seat. “Clearly, that's what happened with Jackie Clarkson,” DuBos said. “The turnout was about 50-50, Clarkson got more crossover votes, and that's why she won."
But this hasn’t just happened in Orleans Parish. More than half of the registered voters in St. Bernard Parish have not voted since Katrina, either; understandable, according to analysts, given the storm damage there. The real surprise, they said, was in Jefferson Parish.
“Generally, voters in Jefferson Parish, within the metropolitan area context, tend to be some of the better educated, more affluent voters," DuBos said. But that has not made them vote in greater numbers. A whopping 43 percent of registered Jefferson Parish voters have not voted since the storm. "When you consider that not that many people in Jefferson Parish were displaced by Katrina, that is a very, very shocking statistic to me," DuBos said.
Statistics whose effect will be seen much clearer, beginning next year.
