Judge Hears Challenge to New Orleans Vote [View All]

NEW ORLEANS Mar 27, 2006 (AP)— With less than a month before New Orleans' first elections since Hurricane Katrina, the voting plan and even the date are still in dispute.

Civil rights groups returned to federal court Monday morning to try to block the April 22 mayoral election, arguing that too many black residents scattered by Katrina won't be able to participate.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle agreed to reconsider their petition after initially turning aside pleas for a postponement.
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Monday's hearing was called after the NAACP and other civil rights groups argued that the election plan contained the equivalent of a poll tax a voting fee that was banned after it was abused in the South to disenfranchise blacks. They said displaced residents would have to pay for transportation to vote in New Orleans and the expenses would be the "modern equivalent of a poll tax."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1772306&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312