G.O.P. Suppresses the Vote in Houston: Sues to end “Vote and Vax” program
November 3, 2006
The Republican Party just doesn’t want some people voting. And in this story from Houston, Republicans are willing to trade the health of elderly citizens in exchange for political power.
Written by Associate Press, New York Times
HOUSTON, Nov. 2 (AP) — The city has stopped offering free flu shots at early voting sites after Republicans alleged it was a ploy by the mayor to lure more Democrats to the polls.
The vaccinations, for people 50 and older, had been offered at early voting sites in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Health officials said they had singled out medically underserved areas, not Democratic neighborhoods.
“There was no political motive whatsoever to do it,” said Mayor Bill White, the former head of the Texas Democratic Party.
Mr. White said he had ended the program Wednesday, after it had provided 1,300 flu shots over three days, because he did not want “to spend more money in defending a baseless lawsuit than we’re giving away in vaccine or allow anybody to question the integrity of the political process.”
Republicans accused Mr. White of using the program to increase Democrats’ election prospects. The Harris County Republican chairman, Jared Woodfill, said the offer violated a state law barring people from accepting anything in exchange for a vote.
“I think the program was completely motivated by a plan to turn out Democratic voters,” Mr. Woodfill said.
A $320,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation financed the “Vote and Vax” flu shot drives in Houston and 24 other American cities, according to the foundation, a health advocacy organization. The 10-year-old program singles out areas where relatively few people get flu shots.
Foundation officials say the program is a convenient way for older people, who are especially vulnerable to the flu, to get vaccinated for a disease that kills 32,000 people over 65 every year. Polls provide access to many people who need the vaccine.
Dr. Douglas Shenson, the director of the program for the foundation, said he did not know of problems in any other city.
“It’s an entirely nonpartisan and nonpolitical activity,” Dr. Shenson said. “It’s not a get-out-the-vote campaign. It’s a get-out-the-vaccine campaign. I’m disappointed this has happened.”
Stephen Williams, Houston’s health director, said that residents had not had to vote to get the shots, and that he had consulted with the county clerk to ensure that the program was legal.
Harold Dickey, 81, arrived at one of the four polling sites where flu shots had been offered after the mayor ended the program.
“That’s a hell of a thing to do,” Mr. Dickey, who had voted days earlier, told The Houston Chronicle. “The shot wasn’t tied to my vote in any way.”
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