Letters: The Indians fought back

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2002

Ed.Note: The following letters are in response to a November 14 Wall Street Journal editorial that questioned the vote count in South Dakota due to alleged, but unproven, voter fraud on reservations.

Senator Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota): "Your attack on the Oglala Sioux voters in South Dakota offers a sterling example of what minorities in this country can expect from hard-right editorial politics. What your readers are offered . . . is an outright slur on our Indian voting community, complete with snide stereotypical references to 'smoke signals.' Missing only was some mention of 'firewater.'"
Get the Story: Letter: The South Dakota Sioux Reservation Vote (The Wall Street Journal 11/20)

Clifford Scott, Former South Dakota Democrat Party Chair: "It has been a common practice several weeks before an election to cry 'voter irregularities on the reservations.' While this has never amounted to anything other than to whip up the racist sentiments of West River whites, it nonetheless has been very disconcerting to the Indians. This time they fought back, ignored the threats and intimidation, and voted in record numbers."
Get the Story: Letter: Voting Absentee Is Only Practical (The Wall Street Journal 11/20)

Upset White Person: "Problems and alleged illegalities were reported on the reservation in advance of the election involving fraudulent absentee ballot applications. The question is, on election day and night, where were the poll-watchers? The U.S. Justice Department? The media? The state attorney general?"
Get the Story: Letter: Where Were the Poll-Watchers? (The Wall Street Journal 11/20)