Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 17

EDITORIALS OBITUARIES COMICS July 8, 1981 WEDNESDAY Surge in black, rural turnout put Dowdy over top 1 pvv vujl Lie. i Avrvry iv By CUFF TREYENS CUrtaa-Ltdgcr staff Writer Rural strength and an apparent surge In the 4th Congressional District's black vote appears to have been behind McComb Mayor Wayne Dowdy's upset victory over GOP contender Liles Williams of Clinton. Final but unofficial voting results show that excluding Hinds County, which contains 53 percent of the 12-county district's registered voters, Dowdy garnered 31,657 votes to Williams' 25,593. That largely rural portion of the district appears to have more than countered Williams' strength in populous Hinds County. The Republican took Hinds County with 28,904 votes to Dowdy's 23,857.

Final but unofficial figures show Dowdy with 55,514 votes, or 50.5 percent, to Williams' 54,497 votes, or 49.5 percent To a large extent, conservative businessman Williams kept or widened his lead in precincts where he ran strong in the first election on June 23. But Dowdy made significant gains in the black community. Without the competition he had from three other Democrats on June 23, Dowdy also was able Tuesday to win five more counties four rural (Amite, Claiborne, Copiah and Franklin) and one urban (Adams) than he did two weeks ago. Williams won all those counties on June 23 with the exception of Claiborne. Dowdy clearly gained significant strength from the black community, where he posted some of the largest victory margins of the night In northwest Jackson's 27th Precinct at Grove Park Community Center, Dowdy obtained 814 votes to only 4 for Williams.

The Republican received only 8 votes In that precinct on June 23. Moreover, the turnout in tbo 27th Precinct increased significantly from a total of 530 voters on June 23 to 818 on Tuesday. The pattern was repeated in other black precincts such as the 51st Precinct near Jackson State University. Dowdy received 451 votes in that precinct to Williams' 19 for a total of 470 I feJHfrllTW mgr. I Jill II 7' 5 latl pfioio by Jun fcstrin Liles Williams and his daughters Amy, Bennette Ash, Angela and Julie Watson anxiously watch the election returns.

ballots cast That compares to a total 273 ballots cast on June 23, when Williams received only 15 votes. Predominantly white, middle- to upper-class Jackson again went overwhelmingly to Williams. Williams won Hinds County's largest precinct the 79th Precinct in northeast Jackson 1,097 votes to Dowdy's 212. But vote totals in that particular precinct did not increase in proportion to increases in the black community. Williams' vote total Tuesday of 1,309 increased only 46 votes from the 1,263 total posted on June 23.

Another indication that a large increase in black voter turnout may have turned the tide for Dowdy are results from predominantly black Claiborne County. The county, which is 75 percent black according to 1980 census data, showed an 8.6 percentage point increase in voter turnout with 29 percent on Tuesday compared to 20.4 percent on June 23. An even larger increase in voter turnout occurred in Jefferson County, which is 82 percent black. Its voter turnout in- There was speculation following the creased 10.4 percentage points with 35.3 first election that much of the Hinds percent on Tuesday to 24.9 percent June County vote that went to state Sen. Ed 23- Ellington of Jackson, a Democrat, would Both counties' increase in voter turn- shift to Williams a trend that would out well exceeded the average dis- have made it much more difficult for trictwide increase of 7 percentage Dowdy towin.

points from 29 percent on June 23 to 36 percent on Tuesday. See Blacks, page 3B Turnout high, procedures smooth at precincts By TED CILWICK and MARTIN ZIMMERMAN CUrioa-Udgcr Staff Writer Tuesday's special runoff election for Mississippi's 4th Congressional District seat went smoothly, election officials said, with only isolated confusion occurring in Hinds County when some poll workers asked voters for their So cial Security cards. Similar requests caused a flood of complaints in the election two weeks ago. And, officials said, sunny skies may have been responsible for a larger voter turnout than predicted, at least in comparison with the 29 percent turnout for the June 23 election. Tuesday, 36 percent of the district's voters cast ballots.

Jj Wayne Dowdy (D) "It's been a real quiet day," said Minta Uzodinma, an election specialist with the Jackson League of Women Voters, which regularly monitors local elections. "It's been very routine." Two weeks ago, while Republican Liles Williams and Democrat Wayne Dowdy were emerging from a field of eight candidates to set the stage for Tuesday's run-off, election officials were deluged by angry Hinds County voters who were asked to display their Social Security cards before voting. The complaints went all the way to Washington, where the offices of Sens. John C. Stennis and Thad Cochran reported receiving numerous inquiries about the Social Security flap.

This time, aides in both congressmen's office said they had not received a single complaint. No one was denied entry to the voting booth on June 23, and election officials said the request for Social Security cards was an attempt to update voting rolls. Sue Sauter-meister, chairman of the Hinds County Election Commission, conceded then that some poll workers may have been overzealous. Tuesday, Mrs. Sautermeister said workers in the 120 county polling stations including 96 in Jackson were under no instructions to check for the Social Security cards.

However, in some polling sites, such as the 1st Precinct in the Jackson Metropolitan Library System's downtown library at 301 N. State voters were asked to show the Liles Williams (R) HINDS FOURTH DISTRICT cards. Workers there said they were under orders to request the cards, but not to turn away voters. At other polling sites in the city, election workers seemed unsure of their instructions regarding the Social Security cards. One precinct worker at the 12th Precinct in the Institutional A.M.E.

Church at 3032 Bishop St said she was not inspecting Social Security cards because she had read in the newspaper that it was not supposed to be done. In most other polling sites visited Tuesday, voters were not asked to display the cards. Mrs. Sautermeister was surprised by what she said was a higher turnout than expected. At 4:30 p.m., 90 minutes before the polls closed, she remarked that voting "has been heavier than I thought it'd be," adding that she expected about 40,000 Hinds County voters to cast ballots Tuesday.

She said there was evidence that people who did not vote in the June 23 election voted Tuesday. In some precincts, including No. 79 at Jackson Fire Station 19 on Ridgewood Road, more votes had been cast by early afternoon than were tallied there the entire day two weeks ago. At the 30th Precinct in the Faith Presbyterian Church on Bailey Avenue, 282 persons had voted by 3 p.m., and an election worker said many more were expected between 5 and 6 p.m., when people got off work. Two weeks ago, only 254 ballots were cast at the precinct Jackson voters appeared to take another Election Day the fourth in 56 days in stride.

Many, like Charles Galloway, said they had voted on each of the preceding three days the May 12 city election primary, the June 2 city general election and the June 23 congressional contest to fulfill a civic obligation. "And it really doesn't bother me because I need the exercise," added Galloway, a retired resident of North Con-gress Street As predicted, Dowdy was reaping support in traditionally Democratic, black neighborhoods in the city. Greg Owens, a mortician who directs Peoples Funeral Home at 886 N. Farish which furnishes space for voting machines in Precinct 2, said, "This is all Democrat around here. This is not a Republican area." Owens, who worked in state Sen.

Henry J. Kirksey's unsuccessful bid for Jackson mayor last month, said blacks were suspicious of Williams' close affiliation with the Reagan administration. Dowdy, a Democrat is more likely to vote to retain social and jobs programs that Reagan wants to eliminate, Owens said. "I'm for that other man (Dowdy)," said Mrs. J.C.

Adam-son outside the voting station at Faith Presbyterian Church. "He'll be better for blacks." Williams, however, drew support from the Reagan connection he forged during the campaign. "I think we need to do to the House what we've already done to the Senate," said George Hyde, a civilian employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after voting at the Ridgewood Road fire station. Another voter at the same precinct was not swayed by Williams' ads, including one picturing the candidate in the shadow of the U.S.

Capitol in Washington, but he said he voted for Williams anyway. "All that (commercial) shows is that be can afford to flv Total precincts 328 Precincts reporting 328 TOTAL Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) I COPIAH 55,514 54,479 1,687 517 3,643 3,762 A ADAMS FRANKLIN LINCOLN 5,702 3,915 ADAMS Wayne Dowdy (D) 4,339 Liles Williams (R) 4,128 AMITE Wayne Dowdy (D) 2,184 Liles Williams (R) 1,700 CLAIBORNE Wayne Dowdy (D) 2,070 Liles Williams (R) 708 COPIAH Wayne Dowdy (D) 3,431 Liles Williams (R) 2,442 FRANKLIN Wayne Dowdy (D) 1,355 Liles Williams (R) 1,041 HINDS Wayne Dowdy (D) 23,857 Liles Williams (R) 28,904 JEFFERSON Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) LINCOLN Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) PIKE Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) WALTHALL Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) WARREN Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) WILKINSON Wayne Dowdy (D) Liles Williams (R) 'I 1,871 1,325 4,004 5,291 WILKINSON AMITE PIKE WALTHALL 1,371 764 I Staff map by ewPttt.