Hundreds of protesters led by civil rights leaders the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton rallied on Saturday, saying the city's election plans would disenfranchise voters displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The system of mail-in voting set up for the April 22 election for mayor and other positions in the city would make it difficult for voters living elsewhere to cast a ballot, Jackson and other activists said. Black people, who made up 70 percent of New Orleans before Katrina hit, form a large majority of those still displaced.
"We want the Voting Rights Act," Jackson said at a news conference before Saturday's rally. Black leaders have argued city elections could violate the landmark 1965 law designed to ensure voter equality.
The city election could have a broad effect nationwide, Sharpton said: "What happens in New Orleans will affect voting rights all over the United States."
Jackson and other activists are demanding satellite polling places for displaced voters in cities outside New Orleans, and even outside Louisiana. Fewer than half of the city's 460,000 residents have returned since the Aug. 29 storm.
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