Ferguson election tests mobilization efforts
Residents in Ferguson, Mo., head to the polls Tuesday for elections that will change the city council's racial composition and test whether months of protests over racial profiling and police brutality spur higher voter turnout.
Since the shooting death last summer of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer, activists in the St. Louis suburb have implored people to channel concerns about discrimination into civic activism. The majority African-American town is represented by a majority white city council. A Justice Department report last month confirmed a broad pattern of biased policing that singled out African Americans for excessive arrests and harsh punishment.
Now about 14,700 registered voters have a chance to change the face of their leadership on the council.
Yet, if Tuesday's election mirrors past municipal contests, turnout will be low. About 12% of eligible voters cast a ballot in last April's mayoral election, Eric Fey, St. Louis County director of elections, said. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time. Fey expects a tally by 11 p.m.
"The vast majority of Ferguson residents are already registered to vote," Fey said. "It's more of a mobilization and turnout issue."
Candidates are offering residents free rides to the polls and volunteers are going door to door to get out the vote.
Regardless of the turnout, the number of African Americans on the council will at least double because Wesley Bell and Lee Smith, both black, are the only candidates for the seat in Ward 3, the neighborhood where the teenager, Michael Brown, 18, died. If a black candidate in Ward 1 wins her race, it will be the first time that African Americans control half of the six council seats in a city where two-thirds of its 21,000 residents are black.
Bob Hudgins, a frequent protester, faces former Ferguson mayor Brian Fletcher for a seat representing Ward 2 on the council. Both men are white. One sitting council member not up for re-election is black and Mayor James Knowles, who is white, holds the seventh seat on the council. He is not up for re-election.