Katrina Coverage

Perhaps it's both. Secretary of State Al Ater says that Feb. 4's New Orleans election cannot be held because of destroyed voting machines, scattered commisioners, and the like. However, delaying the elections to Sep. 2006 will also give LA time to get back all those constituents, most of whom are - quite coincidentally I'm sure - Democrats.
...FEMA has also changed its mind about helping the state contact displaced voters. Instead, Attorney General Charles Foti got ahold of FEMA's list of names and addresses, and now the state will send out a letter to evacuees. The draft of the letter lets evacuees know exactly what their voting rights are, but it also directs them to have their mail forwarded through the postal service, which will make their whereabouts known and fair game for political parties and candidates.
Ater admits it will only take a few months to solve election problems in New Orleans, but he's given up to nine months for the Orleans election to be set. This gives more time for evacuees to move home and for the state to track those who don't. Shortly after Katrina, political consultant Roy Fletcher predicted democrats would do this.
"The Ninth Ward elected Kathleen Blanco, the Ninth Ward elected Mary Landrieu, the Ninth Ward has elected a lot of statewide elected officials who are democrats," said Fletcher.
But Ater has distanced himself from the democratic party, announcing on Wednesday that he won't run for Secretary of State. As for republicans, the state party director, Ellen Davis, says the sooner we have elections, the better.
Comments on the rigged aspects here.