Probe of Alleged Vote Suppression Asked : New Jersey: Campaign manager for Whitman retracts statement that ministers and party workers were paid to not rally behind Florio.

The chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to conduct a criminal investigation into a report that the winning gubernatorial campaign of Christine Todd Whitman spent $500,000 in “street money” to suppress black voter turnout.

“Street money is not payoffs,” state Democratic Chairman Ray Lesniak said. “Elections shouldn’t be stolen. They should be won.”

Lesniak said the committee plans to seek an order in federal court in Newark, N.J., next week to question Edward J. Rollins, Whitman’s campaign manager, who told reporters Tuesday that payments were made to black ministers and Democratic Party workers in exchange for promises not to rally votes for Gov. James J. Florio.

Florio lost by only 28,000 votes out of more than 2.4 million cast.

If laws were broken, “we’ll go to court to seek a new election,” Lesniak said.

Rollins sought Thursday to retract his statement. “I went too far,” Rollins said. “My remarks left the impression of something that was not true and did not occur. I know the Whitman campaign, which I managed, itself in no way sponsored, funded or sanctioned improper voter turnout activities. I have no knowledge that the party or any other entity connected to the campaign did so.

“I have never worked for a finer, more ethical candidate than Christine Whitman. I deeply regret any trouble that my actions may have caused her. I apologize to Gov.-elect Whitman, to the African-American clergy and community and to the voters of New Jersey for any embarrassment or mistaken impression my remarks created.”

At a news conference in Trenton, N.J., Whitman also denied any improprieties.

“It did not happen,” Whitman said. “I don’t campaign that way. I urge people to vote. I don’t suppress votes.” She said she had no idea why Rollins said what he did.

On Tuesday, Rollins told a breakfast meeting of reporters in Washington that Whitman’s campaign offered black ministers contributions to their favorite projects in return for not preaching support for Florio in sermons before Election Day. Rollins also told reporters that Whitman’s campaign workers had approached workers for black mayors disenchanted with the governor.

“How much have they paid you to do your normal duty?” Rollins said these workers were asked. “We’ll match it; go home; sit, and watch television.” Whitman’s campaign manager said he believed that these tactics “to a certain extent” suppressed the Democratic vote.

At his news conference Wednesday, President Clinton said that “ . . . this allegation, if it is true--and I say if it is true--then it was terribly wrong for anyone to give money to anybody else not to vote or to depress voter turnout. And it was terribly wrong for anyone to accept that money to render that non-service to this country.”

In New York, Elaine R. Jones, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said that, if accurate, the conduct of Whitman’s campaign “constitutes an outrageous, race-based manipulation of the electoral process.”

She said NAACP lawyers were looking into whether the Voting Rights Act or other federal or civil laws to protect the right to vote had been violated.

Among those calling for a Justice Department investigation was Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who charged that “buying votes is against the law. So too is obstructing persons from exercising their franchise.”

A Justice Department official confirmed that a request for an investigation had been received from the general counsel of the Democratic Party in New Jersey. But the official said a quick examination of the federal Voting Rights Act indicates that some form of intimidation, coercion or threat would have to be involved for the federal government to have jurisdiction.

The official said, however, that the department was reviewing the request.

“This is not the way it is done in New Jersey,” said Roger Stone, who served as chief strategist for former Republican Gov. Thomas H. Kean’s two election campaigns. “We had a major effort in Tom Kean’s campaign to win the black vote . . . . My question is, was he (Rollins) lying then or is he lying now?”

Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this story from Washington.