Opinion ID: 65363
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Liability Proceedings

Text: Noxubee County’s voting population is 65.7% black and 32.5% white. Of the county’s registered Democrats, 80% are black and 20% are white.4 Additionally, the parties concede and the government’s expert showed that the county’s voting is racially polarized, meaning that “there is a consistent relationship between [the] race of the voter and the way in which the voter votes.” See Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30, 53 n.21 (1986). The alleged violations of white voters’ rights occurred during the 2003 primary and subsequent runoff elections. The district court concluded that during that time “defendants engaged in improper, and in some instances fraudulent conduct, and committed blatant violations of state election laws[] for the purpose of diluting white voting strength.” Brown, 494 F. Supp. 2d at 485. White votes were diluted by defendants’ involvement in (1) obtaining large 4 All of the county’s Republicans at the time were white. 5 numbers of defective absentee ballots from black voters; (2) facilitating the improper counting of absentee ballots in order to ensure that the defective ballots were counted; and (3) permitting the improper assistance of black voters. Evidence bearing on defendants’ intent included: a press release issued by Brown that listed 174 white Democrats whom he intended to challenge were they to vote in the 2003 Democratic primary; statements made by Brown before and during his chairmanship of NDEC; the departure from the normal practice of hiring poll workers in proportion to the party membership’s racial makeup; and the lack of any legitimate explanation for defendants’ conduct. The rate of absentee voting in Noxubee County is abnormally high relative to that of its sister counties: the government’s expert reported that, while roughly 20% of the ballots in Noxubee County are absentee ballots, other Mississippi counties experience an absentee voter rate anywhere from 3% to 6%. To maximize the number of absentee ballots, a common and legitimate practice in Mississippi is for a candidate or her supporters to hire notaries and dispatch them so that they may call on possible constituents who have applied to vote absentee—Brown did no less, as the evidence showed that he financed the notary fees of more than fifty notaries. But the district court found evidence demonstrating that defendants went beyond any legitimate bounds of this practice. First, the court heard testimony concerning the actions of Carrie Kate Windham, an NDEC member whose notary fee was paid by Brown. In one instance, Windham recruited Nikki Halbert, a black voter who did not qualify to vote absentee, to vote by absentee ballot. Although Halbert did not apply to vote absentee, she received an absentee ballot in the mail and completed it. Windham returned to collect the ballot, which she carried away in its unsealed and unsigned envelope. When shown the signatures on the application and 6 envelope at trial, Halbert maintained that neither was hers.5 Two additional black voters testified that Windham recruited them to vote by absentee ballot despite the fact that they did not meet the requirements and had not applied to do so. More troubling, these two voters—who did not request voting assistance—indicated that Windham selected candidates for the voters and marked their ballots for them. Second, Mable Jamison, an independent notary,6 testified that Brown phoned her in an effort to dissuade her from collecting absentee ballots from voters that “his people,” such as Windham, intended to collect: “[h]e pretty much said that his people had did the initial leg work and I shouldn’t be picking up his ballots.” Id. at 459. Finally, the court heard testimony from Gwendolyn Spann, whom Brown recruited to serve as a notary. After receiving her notary materials, paid for by Brown, Spann explained that she would receive a list of voters to contact, all of whom were black, and that Brown paid her based on the amount of work she did. These examples illustrated defendants’ attempts to obtain a disproportionate number of absentee ballots from black voters; nonetheless, “[a]n absentee ballot can only be effective if it is counted.” Id. at 461. To that end, the evidence illustrated defendants’ permitting the improper counting of absentee ballots and defendants’—specifically, Brown’s—direct influence over poll managers in counting the ballots. Defendants deviated from the state Democratic party’s practice of employing a racially representative corps of poll managers and clerks; instead, they raised a workforce of only 6% whites in a 5 Additionally, the court permitted Halbert to testify a second time at trial because, after her initial testimony, Windham confronted Halbert about her testimony outside of court. According to Halbert, Windham arrived at Halbert’s home, stated that “[w]e black people need to stick together,” and suggested that Halbert should “tell them that you probably didn’t understand what you was being asked, the reason you said what you said.” Id. at 460 n.34. Despite this, Halbert’s testimony remained unchanged. 6 Jamison was “independent” in that she did not seek out absentee ballots for any particular candidate. She aided absentee voters on her own as a form of community service. 7 county where 20% of registered Democrats are white. While counting the absentee ballots, the workers failed to count the absentee ballots in accordance with Mississippi law by neglecting to read each voter’s name aloud, preventing candidates and their representatives from clearly observing the ballots as they were counted, and ignoring challenges brought by candidates and their representatives. NDEC members were involved in this conduct: at the Shuqualak precinct, poll managers were directed by Gary Naylor, an NDEC member, to continue briskly counting absentee ballots despite complaints from a candidate’s representative that the speed at which the managers were counting prevented the reasonable viewing and inspection of the ballots. At the Title One precinct, NDEC members Dorothy McCoy, a poll manager, and Windham, not a poll manager, ignored a challenge to an absentee ballot and summarily counted the ballot. As for Brown, his involvement was particularly pervasive. At the West Macon precinct, Octavia Stowers, a poll manager, called Brown on a cell phone to tell him that challenges were being lodged against absentee ballots; Stowers then announced, “Ain’t no ballots being challenged. I was instructed by Ike not to—can’t no ballots be challenged,” and she thereafter refused to consider further challenges. Id. at 464. At the East Macon precinct, managers were unsure how to proceed when the absentee ballot of a voter who later voted in person was mixed in with the remaining, uncounted absentee ballots. Brown, according to witness testimony, entered the scene and ordered the poll managers to “[c]ount every vote, count them every one right now. Pick up those absentee ballots that are on that table and bring them over here and put them in that machine right now.” Id. at 465. The poll managers complied without any further examination of the absentee ballots. Finally, at the Brooksville precinct during the 2003 primary runoff, testimony showed that Brown inspected the absentee ballots the night before the runoff and placed yellow post-it notes on select ballots that he wished to be rejected. On the note, 8 he indicated the reason why he considered the ballot deficient. The next day, Brown told the poll managers “I’ve already went through these absentee ballots and I put y’all’s stick-on stickers on the ballots that I want rejected and the rest of them is all right to count.” Id. at 466. Brown’s directions were followed without deviation. All of the marked ballots were rejected, including white voters’ absentee ballots shown to possess the same deficiencies as black voters’ ballots that were counted. Although all of defendants’ witnesses who addressed these issues denied that any step was skipped in the ballot-counting process, that any candidate or representative was prevented from viewing the ballots, that any challenge was ignored, and that Brown influenced any decision made regarding whether to count or reject a ballot, the court found the detailed accounts of the government’s witnesses more credible. The district court also heard evidence concerning the illegal assistance of black voters at the polling places. Witnesses recounted that both black poll workers and unidentified black individuals repeatedly approached black voters, who made no request for assistance, in order to solicit the provision of assistance. This assistance involved marking the ballots for the voter without consultation, and no such assistance was proffered to white voters. Defendants’ witnesses denied that such assistance was made and contended that voting assistance was provided only when requested; again, the court considered the government’s witnesses credible. Finally, the district court considered evidence bearing on defendants’ intent. The government presented a press release issued by Brown prior to the 2003 primary election. In it, Brown named 174 Democratic voters, all white, whom he intended to challenge were they to vote in the 2003 Democratic primary. The press release purported to base this prospective challenge either on asserting that the voter moved outside the county or on claiming that the 9 voter was not loyal to the Democratic party.7 As only white voters were listed, the district court considered it “not credible in the least that Brown was only aware of whites who had moved and were consequently no longer eligible to vote.” Brown, 494 F. Supp. 2d at 477. Further, while all of the county’s Republicans are white, the court noted that not all Democrats are black and that Brown failed to identify any investigation done or reasons why he suspected the named voters were in fact Republicans other than on the basis of their race. Although no challenges were in fact brought, testimony revealed the effects of this list: one voter was so intimidated that she did not vote; another was intimidated to the point that she did not feel she could approach the polls alone. The court considered statements made by Brown both during and before his chairmanship of NDEC in which he referenced race as a means to garner support for black candidates. In 1995, he urged voters to “Keep Hope Alive [and] Vote Black in ’95” in an open letter to Noxubee County voters. As chair of the NDEC, Brown voiced the opinion that all of the county’s elected officials should be black; to that end, he baldly accused white elected officials of racism, without support, in an effort to arouse black voters to vote against a white official and to support a black challenger.8 He also recruited black individuals to run for office even though he knew the individuals failed to meet the position’s qualifications. For example, he recruited a black attorney to run for county prosecuting attorney against the white incumbent notwithstanding the fact that the 7 The latter challenge relied on § 23-15-575, which states that “[n]o person shall be eligible to participate in any primary election unless he intends to support the nominations made in the primary in which he participates.” Mississippi’s Attorney General issued an opinion addressing the enforceability of this provision and strongly cautioned against challenging voters in this regard. See Op. Miss. Att’y Gen. (July 21, 2003), 2003 WL 21962318. 8 We emphasize that Brown is not being punished for the content of his speech. The district court made clear that it considered Brown’s statements only insofar as they illuminated his motive and intent in connection with the conduct that did violate § 2. See id. at 452 (stating that Brown’s statements “give context and meaning to his actions as NDEC chairman”). 10 challenger did not meet the residency requirement for the position. When the incumbent, Ricky Walker, attempted to contest his challenger’s qualifications with the NDEC, Brown and NDEC refused to permit Walker to present his argument and barred Walker from the remainder of the proceedings, which were held at Brown’s home. Walker later successfully challenged the candidate’s qualifications in state court. Considering all of this evidence, the district court concluded that defendants engaged in a “pattern of episodic behavior intended to deny white voters equal participation in the political process.” Id. at 482. By soliciting large numbers of defective black absentee ballots, wielding their authority to ensure that these ballots were counted, and permitting the improper assistance of black voters—all with the intent to dilute the voting power of white Democrats—defendants were held to have violated § 2 of the Voting Rights Act.