Katrina Evacuees Return Home to Vote

Dozens of hurricane evacuees boarded buses Thursday for a trip home to New Orleans to hear their two remaining mayoral candidates debate and to cast early ballots in next week’s runoff election.

“We want a candidate to be for the people. We need somebody to speak up for us and speak out for us,” said Christine Walker, who boarded a bus in Houston.

Nearly 150 evacuees still living in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston because they can’t return to their damaged homes were expected to make the trip, said Ginny Goldman, whose Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now organized the caravan.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, the top two vote-getters in the April mayoral election, are competing in a May 20 runoff. During the April vote, hundreds of evacuees either drove or took buses to Louisiana to cast their votes at satellite centers around the state.

For the runoff, registered New Orleans voters can cast early ballots through Saturday in New Orleans and 10 other Louisiana cities. Displaced voters also can mail or fax in their ballots.

Walker, however, worries that many evacuees won’t be able to vote because of financial hardship or a lack of access to information.

Before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, the city’s population was roughly two-thirds black. Less than half its residents have returned, and civil rights activists have said many of those still displaced are black.