After 2000 Chaos, Voters in Florida Are Wary
By ABBY GOODNOUGH

Published: May 24, 2004

…"All my life I have never seen the TV stations declare a winner, then change their minds," said Greg Johnson, a fourth grade teacher in Quincy who still wonders if his ballot landed in the scrap heap. "The Supreme Court decided that election, not us. I like politics, but people in power can get away with stuff and I'm just not sure this time."

As Election Day 2004 draws near in a battleground state whose 27 electoral votes could prove crucial to the victor once again, a movement is rising in poor black communities to register and to educate, reassure and entreat. A top goal is to change the mindset of people like Mr. Johnson, who still harbor deep suspicions about everything from the accuracy of voting equipment to how polling places are chosen and what role Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, will play in Florida's outcome.

"It's no longer as simple as saying, `You're of age, you're a citizen, you're duly eligible to vote,' " said Andrew D. Gillum, an organizer with the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way in Tallahassee, where he is a city commissioner. "Instead we're having to convince a lot of people who are thinking, `Why bother, it won't matter anyway.' "

People for the American Way is training volunteers to fan across the state's northern swath, registering and reinvigorating black voters from Jacksonville to Pensacola. Its African American Ministers Leadership Council is recruiting church members for "Jericho walks," nonpartisan door-to-door efforts not only to register black voters, but also to quell their fears of disenfranchisement and to dispel myths that have circulated since 2000.

The Southern Florida A.F.L.-C.I.O. and other labor unions are also concentrating on black neighborhoods with mailings and registration drives, pushing the concept of early voting for people who work long hours and might otherwise skip it. And black politicians are working to build excitement about the election in their communities, with many tapping into many black Floridians' dislike of Governor Bush.