Minneapolis spokesman., 1961-05-19
Civil Rights
Commission Holds
Vofe He0FinQ

Vote He0Finq
(OOntinued from Page ~
to skip the constitutional test with
people she knew, and that she knew
mostly white people in the parish,
and only a few Negroes.
Commission staff members IN
troduced charts showing that Web
ster had 1913 nonwhites over n,
with 125 registered to voee. There
were 15.025 whites over n. with
1881 registered to vote
81 Registered 4ti
It was pointed out that up to
1858, not a single Negro was reg
istered to vote in Bossier Parish.
Currently, of $3.50 nonwhites over
n, there are 5s4 registered to vote.
Miss Mary Ethel Fox. Plaque
mines Parish registrar. said that
she rejected persons who failed
to fin out correctly a question on
a card which required that the
person calculate his age In terms
of years, months, and days
When the commission asked her
to calculate her own age, she
flunked the test!
Commission attorney Edgar
Brown said that since 1855 only
seven Negroes have been regis
tered to vote In the parish. bring
ing the grand total to AZ. II was
brought out that Piaquemines has
Abs nonwhites over n. There
are s,1S3 whites over n, with
7,010 registered.
Plaquemines Parish In the
stronghold Of Leander H Perez,
Sr., arch-foe Of integration and
a power behind the states ada
mant stand on the subject.
Testimony disclosed that the
registrar in Plaquemines uses 25
cards bearing questions about the
Constitution. The card system, pre-
pared by Mr. Perez, went into ef-
feet in 1855. In the interval, two
cards numbered two and eight
were selected by SO per cent Of
the white persons taking the test,
Mr.. Brown said. None Of the seven
Negroes registered since 1855 used
those two cards in their test
Mr.. Perez said 1t was probable
that the reason 80 many white
persons asked for the same cards
in the test was that they passed
along the questions and answers
to the cards when they finished
the test.
Charges Recited
At the start OF the hearings q
statement was read setting forth
functions of the commission -
namely that its members were
probing allegations that some cit
liens have been deprived Of the
right to register because Of race,
color, creed, or national origin.
A spokesman noted reports that
five parishes have stopped discrim-
ination against Negroes, but said
the practice may stin be going on
elsewhere.
Reports Of our staff Indicated
that at the present time qualified
Negroes have little difficulty in
becoming registered voters in
Caldwell, DeSoto, Morehouse. Sab
Inc, and Union Parishes" he de-
clared.
Our staff also reported that
similar conditions exist in predom-
inantly all Of the southern parishes
Of the state except Washington,
Plaquemines, and st. Helena.
In other parishes Boszier,
Caddo, Claiborne, East Carroll,
jackson, Madison, ouachita, Pla-
quemines, Red River, and Webster,
witnesses who testified last Sep
tember gave evidence that Ne
groes were and are being denied
the right to vote by reason Of their
race or color"
These latter parishes were In
volved in the testimony before the
commission last week.
Issue HypOtheticaP
The Madison Parish registrar,
Mrs. Katherine Ward, said she
does not believe in discrimination
when it comes to vote registration.