Perhaps readers still following this story will want to have an early report regarding the election. I just returned from voting at a local school which was hosting a large number of precincts. Various workers from many units of government (inside and outside of New Orleans) were on hand to help. There was little confusion, but much enthusiasm. Turnout (by 8:30 AM) seemed high in light of the number of displaced residents due to damage in my neighborhood. There were no complaints about process, travel time, personal disruptions, etc. In other words, the election was proceeding well.

Immediately after my own voting experience, I visited another polling place which hosted multiple precincts -- mostly from African-American sections of the city. Turnout is high, spirits are good and I heard NO complaints re the process.

Just for the record, the photo showing the polling place that is supposedly wheelchair-inaccessible is my polling place. What's not mentioned in the article (perhaps no one bothered to tell Salon this) is that the actual polling location within this residence in NOT up the "zigzagging set of 15 stairs"--it's in the basement apartment. (Look behind the guy holding the sign in the photo, and you'll see an alleyway to the right of the stairs--the alley leads to the polling place.) I've waited in line to vote at this spot before with wheelchair-bound voters, and they all seemed to be able to navigate the space without any problems.

New Orleans has many problems, but I agree with other posters here that this article seems to be trying to create yet another negative story about New Orleans. This city is in no way lily-white now, and those of us who live here are getting a bit tired of being portrayed as racists who want to turn New Orleans into Disneyworld. As a white person who lost her home, I hope that ALL residents of New Orleans, regardless of their race, are able to return if they so choose. (But as a person paying more for an apartment now than my previous monthly mortgage, I also know that's still impossible for many.) Regardless, we are making progress toward regaining our pre-Katrina culture--a recent study performed regarding the racial makeup of New Orleans post-Katrina puts the African-American population at 53%:

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20060320b

How about some positive articles showing how New Orleanians are helping themselves, rather than sitting around waiting for the local, state and federal governments to save us?

What I've seen happen in the Washington,D.C. area will undoubtedly happen in New Orleans.Working class whites and blacks were fired and replaced by El Salvadorans like crazy in D.C. It started in the '80's, right when the crack epidemic starting destroying many neighborhoods. That was the only way many blacks could get money. That and prostitution. But clueless affluent whites loooove illegal aliens. I think they all have an orgasm every time another brown person crosses the border illegally. They have their heads stuck so far up their butts that they can't see the devastation caused when entire neighborhoods are displaced by cheap labor.

Strange post, though one with a few unanswered questions.

1 - what do you mean by "racist"? The post you were responding to appeared to be written by a conservatve white attacking a libneral white person.

2 - What "revolution"? the one that will cause the collapse of our society and deprive some blacks and all white liberals of the generous welfare state that makes theoir current respective lifestyles of choice possible?

3 - um... the penis projection thing.... you brought it up first, pal...

....obsession with blacks?

This isn't about blacks at all, is it? It's about penis envy and projecting other insecurities onto others, right?

If you want to know, when the revolution comes your asses will be the first against the wall. ;-)

.... obsession with blacks? This isn't about blacks at all, is it? It's all about sticking it to those evil conservative whites, right?

Aren't blacks just a prop in some intra-racial melodrama you're playing, wherein you're scoring "moral superiority" points against other whites?

If you want to know, blacks don't distinguish between nice liberal white people and evil conservative ones. As a matter of fact, they generally laugh their asses off at the idiot white liberals.

Searchers are still pulling dead bodies out of storm-damaged buildings, so the fact that the polling places are not in the best of shape should come as a surprise to no one.

Democracy is a participatory sport. If you don't participate, you should not complain about the government you get. Many people died for our right to vote and here, this article is quibbling. Very petty. When are we going to stop this nonsense and take our electoral responsibilities very serious. Like an earlier post mentioned, South African blacks lined up patiently for miles to cast their ballots. No, not here. We want the election officials to tend us in our living rooms. Shame. Martin Luther King is rolling over in his grave.

Some excellent posts here about what I think is a deceptive and potentially damaging article. Here's a link to a great Clancy DuBos piece in the Gambit Weekly, the local independent newspaper, on the same topic:

http://gambitweekly.com/dispatch/2006-04-11/politics.php

-- mathdork

I've lived overseas and still voted.

I've been out-of-state and still voted.

When I lived away at college I still voted. Even in school referendums.

It really isn't that hard at all. It just takes some time and effort, neither of which are hardships for people who take their responsibilities as a citizen seriously.

I make it a point to read up on all the candidates and I know my choices before I go into the booth--or go out-of-state, as the case may be.

When I turned 18 my first visit was to register to vote.

This is serious stuff, folks. Anyone unwilling to make the effort necessary needs to search the net for those pictures of South African blacks lined up for miles in the heat awaiting their first chance to vote after apartheid was lifted.

Shame on anyone trying to play the race card, the pity card, the too-damn-lazy-to-do-what-it-takes card to live up to one of your basic responsibilities as a citizen.

Please. A lot went wrong on the Gulf Coast after the storms. It was a horrific situation that was compounded by each level of government's inept response. And it is true our national government has an abysmal record with respect to the poor and minorities. But this is each individual's own damn responsibility. No one's fault but yours if you don't make the effort.

Place the blame where it belongs.