COBB/LaMARCHE 2004
PRESS RELEASE
COBB SAYS SAFEGUARDS ARE NEEDED TO PROTECT AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTERS
Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb kicked off "Vote for Racial Justice Week" today in New Jersey with a call
to protect the voting rights of African Americans.
"Many people don't realize that the 2000 presidential election was stolen at the expense of disenfranchised African
American voters in Florida. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, and Florida Secretary of State Katharine Harris illegally
took African Americans off the voting rolls in Florida and worked hand in glove with five members of the Supreme Court
to hand the election to George W. Bush. Even today in Florida, there are charges that prominent African American voting
activists are being harassed. We have to protect these individuals and make certain that African Americans and people of
color in Florida and throughout the United States have the opportunity to vote and be free from coercion. The reports
from Florida merit a full investigation and the appointment of an independent prosecutor," said Cobb.
Cobb received the highest rating of all presidential candidates for their stands on racial justice issues from 2004
Racism Watch, an organization formed to monitor and confront issues of racism in the presidential election. October
18-24 is Racial Justice Week.
"The two-party candidates are particularly silent about racial justice issues. We have a racist war on drugs, a racist
death penalty and a disproportionate number of people of color in prison and on the front lines of Iraq. The Green Party
is the only party focusing on these issues," said Media Director Blair Bobier.
For a detailed account of Florida's "disappeared" voters, see the February 5, 2001 article in the Nation by Greg Palast,
which can be found at http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=27=2.
For more information about the Cobb-LaMarche campaign, see http://www.votecobb.org. Information about the Green Party can be found at http://www.gp.org.
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Paid for by the Cobb/LaMarche Committee