Word: votes
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...city admitted it was unable to pay. Cleveland Trust Co. was the first to demand its cash. "We should put Cleveland Trust to the test and see if it is willing to destroy the city," cried Kucinich. The council refused to accept Kucinich's plan for a citywide vote on raising the city income tax from 1% to 1%%, unless the mayor would agree to raise still more money by selling the debt-ridden Municipal Light Plant to the private Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. "I will not be blackmailed," insisted Kucinich. "When Jesus Christ went to the mountaintop...
Nobody was surprised in Vernon Parish (pop. 41,204), which has long been known for its heavy "commercial" vote, that is votes for sale. Admits William Charles Hilton, vice president of the Vernon Parish police jury, the equivalent of a county commissioner: "I wouldn't have won without it. You've got to have the commercial vote...
...participants describe it, the vote-buying operation followed standard procedure. The night before the election, top moneymen met in a private home in Leesville, the parish seat, to map out their strategy. Some $40,000 was divided among men called haulers who would round up voters and pay $5 to $15 per ballot. Each hauler received $50 to $75 for his services along with a free tank of gas and the promise of a bonus if the right...
...dawn on Election Day, the haulers began transporting voters?mostly poor blacks?to the polls. Before the people went in to vote, they were given a white card bearing the number five, Leach's line on the ballot. Once they voted, payoffs were usually made in private homes called money houses or in touring vehicles known as floating banks. At a money house next to a Baptist church, haulers pretended to be preparing for a funeral...
Some haulers marched voters right to the polls, watched while they voted and then paid them on the spot within a few yards of election officials. Outside the polls, the vote-buyers kept "bird dogs" on patrol to make sure that everything went smoothly. At one poll, it was reported, Leesville Mayor Ralph McRae Jr. ordered onlookers to back away. When the FBI arrived because of complaints from the Wilson forces, the payoff center was moved to a dead-end street. There, under a towering pine (called, yes, the money tree), some $10,000 in cash was disbursed...