Walkin' to New Orleans
Not exactly, but I am in New Orleans this weekend. And not to do research on the election system, but rather for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a great annual event that any serious music fan should check out.

New Orleans elections have, for good reason, been the subject of considerable attention among the media and commentators, so it seems appropriate to comment on it while I'm here. One of the things that's become apparent to me during the day or so that I've been so is how focused public attention appear to be on local politics and the difficulty of conducting an election in a place when about two-third of the city's residents are elsewhere. Of particular note is the mayoral race, in which Mayor Ray Nagin and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu will face each other in a May 20 runoff. It's quite possible that a disproportionate number of New Orleans residents still absent are African American could affect the outcome of this election, in which Nagin will almost certainly be the preferred candidate of most blacks and Landrieu of most whites.

The Nagin-Landrieu race highlights the profound racial differences that exist in our society, not only with respect to individual votes' choices but also with the background inequalities that can affect democratic participation. Electionline.org has provided especially thorough and thoughtful coverage of election problems in New Orleans, including weekly newsletter reports last week (New Orleanians prepare to head to the polls) and this week ('So easy' in the Big Easy). According to this week's electionline.org report, turnout for the April 22 election was 36%, compared to 45% in 2002. That report notes that predominantly black precincts tended to have much lower turnout than predominantly white ones.

The author of this week's electionline.org report, Mindy Moretti, has a very interesting comment at the conclusion of her story:

I've told many of my friends that New Orleans is the saddest place right now. Words can't really begin to describe what I've seen and taking photos of the devastation seemed oddly inappropriate. But it doesn't have to be sad -- it can and will rise again with your help. Merchants and residents alike echoed the same refrain, "Please come back, we're open for business and we need you." So, as the saying goes, laissez les bontemps roulez ... again -- please consider visiting New Orleans perhaps to volunteer your time but definitely to show your support (and spend your money!).

What I find particularly intriguing about this is that I've had a much different impression during the past day. I don't mean to suggest that Moretti is wrong that there's a great deal devastation and sadness here -- to the contrary, I think her observations are much more accurate than my own, relatively superficial impressions. What's interesting is that, to the casual visitor like myself, spending time the French Quarter where there seem to be as many tourists as ever, and having as good a time as ever, it's quite easy to overlook that devastation and sadness.

Ironically, this is one of the things that may bring people back to New Orleans to visit, as Moretti encourages. At the same time, the challenges that New Orleans is facing in conducting its elections should serve as a reminder of the profound divide in our society -- especially when it comes to race -- that continues to have an impact on democratic participation. New Orleans may be a particularly vivid example of that divide, but I don't think it's unique. - posted by Dan Tokaji @ 1:06 PM