https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/25/us/gop-memo-tells-of-black-vote-cut.html
G.O.P. MEMO TELLS OF BLACK VOTE CUT
Give this article
Read in app
By Martin Tolchin, Special To the New York Times
Oct. 25, 1986
Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context from
October 25, 1986, Section 1, Page 7Buy Reprints
New York Times subscribers* enjoy full access to TimesMachine—view over 150 years of New York Times journalism, as it originally appeared.
SUBSCRIBE
*Does not include Crossword-only or Cooking-only subscribers.
About the Archive
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
A Federal judge today released a memorandum in which a Republican official said the party's program to pare the voting rolls in the name of ''ballot integrity'' ''could keep the black vote down considerably'' in a Louisiana Senate primary.
The memorandum, prepared by Kris Wolfe, a Middle Western regional director for the Republican National Committee, was sent to Lanny Griffith, the committee's regional director for the South. It was obtained by the Democratic National Committee in a $10 million lawsuit against the Republican committee over the ''ballot integrity'' program.
Republicans contended that the purpose of the program was to prevent voter fraud, and not to lower the number of black voters. They say the reference to a reduction in the black vote referred only to a possible effect of the program in the Louisiana election and not to its goal. Democrats, however, have charged that the purpose was to ''harass, intimidate and improperly challenge'' black voters.
The program involved sending letters this year to registered voters in areas that voted 75 percent or more for Walter F. Mondale for President in 1984. If a letter was returned as undeliverable, the Republicans said, they might challenge the addressee's right to cast a ballot. The program was conducted in Louisiana, Indiana and Missouri. Effect on Black Vote
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
Ms. Wolfe's memorandum concerned the ''ballot integrity'' project in Louisiana, in a Senate primary race pitting Representative W. Henson Moore, a Republican, against Representative John B. Breaux, a Democrat. The memo was unsealed by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise in Newark Federal District Court.
''I would guess that this program will eliminate at least 60-80,000 folks from the rolls,'' Ms. Wolfe wrote. ''If it's a close race, which I'm assuming it is, this could keep the black vote down considerably.''
Mr. Moore has denied that his campaign was involved in the program. But in the memo, Ms. Wolfe mentioned a conversation with a campaign worker for Mr. Moore.
EDITORS’ PICKS
Rex Chapman Isn’t Sure He Deserves Good Things
April 4, 2022
Thomas Piketty Thinks America Is Primed for Wealth Redistribution
April 3, 2022
How Film Forum Became the Best Little Movie House in New York
March 30, 2022
24 Low-Fuss, High-Reward Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less
Sept. 20, 2021
Can You Be Too Old for a Jean Jacket?
April 1, 2022
Desperately Seeking Surrogates
April 2, 2022
A Canoeist Vanished. In ‘Riverman,’ Ben McGrath Sets Out to Find Him.
April 3, 2022
‘S.N.L.’ Spends a Night at the Oscars With Will Smith
April 3, 2022
On Daylight Saving, There Are More Options Than You Might Think
April 3, 2022
Bobcats With a Taste for Python Eggs Might Be the Guardians of Florida’s Swamp
March 28, 2022
''I have talked to Mary Anne at the Moore headquarters and she Fed Expressed the tapes of the parish on floppy disks'' and on paper to campaign officials, the memo said. In Louisiana a parish corresponds to a county.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
Judge Debevoise had sealed all documents in the case, but David Boies, a lawyer for the Democrats, told the judge today that he wanted the document unsealed so that he could refer to it in questioning Ms Wolfe on the witness stand.
Ms. Wolfe testified that the sentences about black voters were a reminder that the program created ''a political situation that somebody in Louisiana might bring up.'' Parties Offer 2 Viewpoints
Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in a statement today that Ms. Wolfe's testimony ''shows there has never been, nor is there now, any program at the Republican National Committee designed to intimidate or discourage any voter from exercising his or her right to vote.''
''We have said all along that the purpose of the program was to help election officials make certain that no dead or fictitious persons vote,'' he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
But Paul G. Kirk Jr., the Democratic national chairman, said: ''The Republican voter intimidation program has been exposed in all its ugly hypocrisy. The internal memorandum the R.N.C. has been attempting to hide reveals that their so-called 'ballot integrity' project was nothing more than a cynical attempt to disenfranchise blacks and other minority voters.''
Bill Greener, deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, referring to the hearing today, said: ''It was made abundantly clear under oath that not a single thing done had the intent or the effect of intimidating a single voter. It was clearly explained that what was meant in that memo was that the black vote tally could be reduced when dead and nonexistent were removed.''
''The Democrats are seeking short-term political gain through misrepresentation of the facts,'' he added.
Mark Braden, counsel to the Republican National Committee, said on the witness stand today that the purpose of the Republican plan in Louisiana was ''to keep 'vacant lots' from voting.'' Program Began in 1960's
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
He testified that the overall voter integrity program was started in the 1960's. In discussions with regional Republican officials, Mr. Braden said, ''I wanted to be explicitly clear'' that black voters were not the target of the program.
The Republican National Committee agreed Monday to abandon further efforts to carry out the ''ballot integrity'' program, and persuaded the judge to seal the documents in the case.
The Democrats later learned, however, that the Republicans intended to continue the program in Michigan's Sixth Congressional District, which pits Representative Bob Carr, a Democrat, against Jim Dunn, a Republican from whom Mr. Carr won the seat in 1982.
Democrats turned down a Republican offer to stipulate that the party would not use the program in the Carr-Dunn race. Instead, the Democrats sought a court order. But Judge Debevoise accepted the stipulation.
