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Favorites lead in early New Orleans tallyNagin, Landrieu ahead; evacuees bused in to cast ballots
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSNEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- New Orleans voters cast ballots Saturday in what has shaped up to be one of the oddest mayoral elections in U.S. history. The process, though, might be only the first act. With 22 names on the ballot, it is unlikely that one candidate will get the more than 50 percent of the votes needed to win the race outright. A runoff would be held May 20 between the top two finishers. Unofficial results from 313 of the city's 442 precincts Saturday night showed incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin with 34 percent of the vote, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu with 29 percent and businessman Ron Forman with 19 percent. The rest of the field trailed well behind. In some ways, New Orleans' first election since Hurricane Katrina inundated large parts of the city has shaped up as an exercise in democracy under less-than-ideal conditions. Consider the circumstances: a huge absentee turnout; polling stations in other cities; busloads of voters from out of state -- all concessions to the continuing chaos eight months after the storm. Estimates are that more than six of 10 New Orleanians are still living elsewhere. The Louisiana secretary of state's office, which oversees election preparations, says New Orleans has roughly 298,000 registered voters. The office received 16,000 requests for absentee ballots, 100 times higher than four years ago. "It's a major undertaking, to say the least," said Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater, whose office oversees election preparations. "I tell people we're in uncharted waters." (Watch the problems facing New Orleans election workers -- 2:14) Displaced residents who did not vote absentee are not out of luck. As long as voters haven't registered in another city, they can still cast a ballot in the New Orleans election. As a result, some have hit the road, either singly or in groups. (Full story) In Atlanta, Georgia, Ebenezer Baptist Church offered voters free seats aboard an overnight "Freedom Caravan" bus. Yet the long trip was no guarantee of a place in the voting booth. One Freedom Caravan voter, Dana Young, was unable to cast her vote upon arriving in New Orleans because poll workers said they had no record of her registration, The Associated Press reported. The 18-year-old college freshman from Dillard University had transferred to Spelman College in Atlanta after the hurricane and said she lost her voter registration card and her birth certificate during the storm. "I'm really upset," she told the AP as tears welled in her eyes. "I came all the way down here, and now I can't do anything about it. They said they couldn't find me in the system, so I can't vote." Simply finding one of the polling stations, which are set to close at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET), might be a challenge. Because of hurricane damage, only 76 are operating, compared with 262 during the 2002 election. The state also has set up 10 satellite polling stations around Louisiana for displaced New Orleanians. Kenneth Gross, former associate general counsel of the Federal Election Commission, told CNN that this is thought to be the first time in U.S. history that voters have been allowed to cast ballots outside the district in which the race is being run. The expected cost for this most unusual election is about $4 million -- 10 times the normal cost. Slate of candidatesAlthough voters chose from 22 names on the ballot, Nagin, Landrieu and Forman were considered the favorites. Nagin, the 49-year-old former cable company executive, won in 2002 on a platform of fighting government corruption. With recovery efforts under way, his new platform is, "Now is not the time to change leadership." (Watch how a crowd is vying for Nagin's post -- 1:53) Landrieu, 45, is one of the best-known names in Louisiana politics. He has served in the state legislature, is the brother of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and the son of Moon Landrieu, the New Orleans mayor through most of the 1970s. Forman, 58, is president and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute and is credited with overseeing the construction of the city's acclaimed zoo and aquarium. He has raised more than $1.6 million since jumping into the race in mid-February and has the endorsements of the city's daily newspaper, The Times Picayune. The remaining 19 candidates run the gamut of occupations and political backgrounds, but not political affiliation -- of the 22 candidates, only two are Republicans. Two other candidates dropped out of the race on the eve of the election. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city by more than 5-to-1. And in Louisiana all candidates run together on the same ballot, regardless of party. Racial questionsAside from who will win, perhaps the biggest question hanging over the election is how the unusual circumstances will alter the racial balance of politics. About 63 percent of New Orleans' registered voters are African-American, according to the secretary of state's office. But few residents have been able to return to largely black areas of the city, such as New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward, while many have returned to mostly white areas, such as the French Quarter and Uptown. That disparity is leading to predictions of an artificially inflated white vote. Civil rights groups argued that most of those displaced outside the state are black, and advocates sought to have polling stations set up in cities such as Atlanta and Houston, Texas, where many Katrina evacuees sought refuge. Forcing residents to pay their way back to Louisiana to vote, they argued, amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax. State officials had called out-of-state polling places impractical and legally questionable, and a federal judge shot down the proposal. Eager votersBut all the confusion and contention did not stop some voters from showing up early. Rosalie Ramm, 52, arrived shortly after 6 a.m. and told the AP that the enormity of the reconstruction effort weighed heavily on her decision. "I don't take it lightly," she said. (Watch a hurricane victim demand action from City Hall - 1:53) Another voter, Gloria H. Brown, 60, got in line about 5:30 a.m. to cast her ballot, the AP reported. "This is my right," she said. "I have to do what's in my heart." Pam Dashiell, who lives in the hard-hit Ninth Ward, told CNN that voting carried additional meaning for her. "I felt as if I were setting the pace for a new beginning for all of us here in New Orleans," she said. "It's time to really focus and get to work, and that's what I felt like I was trying to get started by doing that." CNN's John King, Robert Yoon and Molly Levinson contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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