Opinion ID: 770321
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: William Gollin

Text: 43 William Gollin has lived in Crawfordsville since 1965, and he became a registered voter that same year. Tr. 113, 115. He completed school up to the third grade. Tr. 113. Mr. Gollin asked Loretta Page to assist him in voting because he could not read; however, Mr. Gollin was not permitted to vote because it was alleged that his name was not listed on the precinct register of voters. Tr. 314. In fact, Mr. Gollin's name was on the register; however, it was incorrectly spelled - Gallin instead of Gollin. Tr. 115. The register correctly provided Mr. Gollin's age, but the address listed was slightly incorrect - 412 South Main instead of 415 South Main. Tr. 116. The name Gallin, William Tell was listed in the city precinct register only four entries above the entry where his name should have been located (where there was an entry for someone named Gollins) and on the same page in the register. App. 2 at 22. 44 Mr. Gollin testified that he was in the city polling place for fifteen or twenty minutes, the time he testified that it took for the poll workers to determine that he could not vote. Tr. 125. Mr. Gollin testified that Carla James and Loretta Page informed the other poll workers that the listing under Gallin was really Mr. Gollin's name. Tr. 118-19, 126-27. Mr. Gollin also testified that Mr. Howe informed the other election workers that Mr. Gollin did not have running water and that the name Gallin was not Mr. Gollin's name. Tr. 118, 121, 126-27. Ms. Freeman informed Mr. Gollin that he could not vote because he didn't have water. Tr. 120. Mr. Gollin was a weekly shopper in Mr. Howe's store, when Mr. Howe owned one, and Mr. Howe had been to Mr. Gollin's home. Tr. 114, 128. However, Mr. Howe testified that he was not asked about whether to challenge Mr. Gollin or not, and testified that throughout the day he never volunteered anything, but only observed the clerks' handling of voter sign-ins. Tr. 787-88. Mr. Gollin did not see anyone make a phone call, and he was not handed a paper ballot so he could cast a vote. Tr. 121. Ms. Carlson testified that she could not recall why Mr. Gollin did not vote a challenged ballot. Tr. 728. Ms. Freeman testified that she seemed to remember Mr. Gollin's coming into the polling place, and to the best of her knowledge she believed that he had already left the polling place when the spelling error was discovered. Tr. 772-73. 45 Before assessing the particulars of Mr. Gollin's situation, we make a few general observations about the context in which the voting difficulties shown in this record occurred. The political history of Crittenden County, to which the District Court gave little or no weight, is important. There has been a long history of racial discrimination in the electoral process in Arkansas. Harvell v. Blytheville School District, 71 F.3d 1382, 1390 (8th Cir. 1995); Perkins v. City of West Helena, 675 F.2d 201, 211 (8th Cir.), aff'd mem., 459 U.S. 801 (1982). The history of polarized voting and racial discrimination in Crittenden County has been particularly noted. See Smith v. Clinton, 687 F. Supp. 1310, remedial order entered, 687 F. Supp. 1361 (E.D. Ark.) (three-judge Court), aff'd mem., 488 U.S. 988 (1988). The hangover from this history of racial discrimination necessarily inhibits full participation in the political process. 687 F. Supp. at 1317. The race for City offices on November 5, 1996, is a good example. There was one white candidate and one black candidate for almost every contested position. We think it fair to infer that most (though not all) black voters favored black candidates, and that most (but not all) white voters favored white candidates. All but one of the election officials at the City polling place were white. The voters who experienced problems that day were overwhelmingly black. Between 67 and 81 black voters cast ballots, and between 27 and 33 per cent. of them experienced some form of a problem. All 11 of the voters who were required to vote a challenged paper ballot were black. Between 170 and 184 white voters cast ballots, but very few of them experienced voting problems. Most of the problems experienced by black voters could have been handled if the poll workers had scrupulously adhered to the procedures laid out during their training. It is true that the challenged votes would have made no difference in the outcome of any election, but this is beside the point. Each individual voter has a right to cast his ballot in accordance with State law, and this right is not to be denied, abridged, or encroached upon for reasons of race. Subtle means of discrimination, as well as blatant ones, are outlawed. Manipulative devices and practices [may not be] . . . employed to deny the vote to blacks. Rice v. Cayetano, 120 S. Ct. 1044, 1054 (2000). 46 Instances in which favorable treatment was given to white voters are significant. We note in particular the fact that William and Deborah Sue Dixon, who lived a half mile outside the City, were permitted to vote a City ballot on the voting machine at the City polling place, without challenge. Their names were listed in the City register, but the address given was 528 Joyner Road. Tr. 192, 219. The tape that was made of occurrences at the polling place on election day reveals that Mr. Dixon told Ms. Freeman that he lived on Joyner Road over by the high school. Tr. 344-46. Mr. Howe stated, in describing Mr. Dixon's explanation of where he lived, across the railroad tracks. Tr. 347. On the tape, a male voice, which the District Court did not doubt was that of Mr. Howe, responded across the railroad tracks during this conversation. Tr. 800-01. Ms. Freeman admitted that on election day she knew there was no street within the town of Crawfordsville named Joyner Road, and also knew that the high school was a half mile outside the City limits. Mr. Howe, who had been Mayor of the City for 16 years and had lived there for 60, testified that he did not know at the time whether a street in Crawfordsville was named Joyner Road. We are driven to the conclusion that Mr. Howe's testimony about the Dixons is simply incredible, and that they were given favorable treatment because they were white, and, probably, because Mr. Howe and Ms. Freeman believed that they would vote for white candidates. No similar indulgence was granted to any black person. 47 We return to the specifics of Mr. Gollin's case. He testified that he had known Mr. Howe for 31 years at the time of the election. Mr. Howe had cashed checks for him at his store. Tr. 114. Mr. Howe has been to his house. Tr. 128. This testimony is clear and consistent. The contrary evidence, such as it is, of the defendants Howe and Freeman is unworthy of belief. Whether someone has water is not relevant to his eligibility to vote, which turns solely on whether he was registered and where he lived. The argument that Mr. Gollin's name was misspelled in the voter register, with a single incorrect letter, is, in our view, a flimsy pretext. We hold that the finding that Mr. Howe and Ms. Freeman did not racially discriminate in denying the vote to Mr. Gollin is clearly erroneous. There is not sufficient evidence in this record to make a similar conclusion with respect to the defendants Carlson and Rogers.