Naked City
New Prairie View Vote Flap
By Lee Nichols, Fri., Sept. 10, 2004
Since then, local black leaders including a Waller Co. justice of the peace have announced plans to file a broader civil-rights complaint against Kitzman and other white local and state officials, alleging a widespread pattern of abuse they describe as "a reign of terror." Kitzman last week announced his intention to step down Sept. 16, citing family issues and claiming the controversy had no impact on his decision. Gov. Rick Perry is expected to name a replacement soon, and leaders, including state Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, are calling on the governor to appoint an African-American to the post.
In the latest flap, according to the Associated Press, county commissioners approved a lone polling place on the south edge of campus to serve both the university and the town of Prairie View, a location that student voters reportedly consider to be both inconvenient and intimidating. (Students at PVAMU well outnumber voting-age residents of Prairie View itself.) The vote went along party lines, with Republicans in the majority. Edwards called the decision "pure racist."
Austin's Lorenzo Sadun, a Democratic write-in candidate for Congress from CD 10 which stretches from north Austin to Houston and includes all of Waller Co. stated, "To their shame, the Republican majority on the Waller Co. Commissioners' Court ... continues to try to suppress student voting in Prairie View. They seem to believe that elections should be decided in advance by the officials currently in power, rather than on election day by the voters." Sadun's GOP opponent Michael McCaul did not return a request for comment.
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