Almost one-third of Perry County’s black adults worked in another county. What’s more, 15 percent of its black residents were over sixty-five years old. In short, 48 percent of the black vote was already in jeopardy because of employment obligations and a lack of mobility. And there was this: the polls were open for only four hours in the afternoon on Election Day. The absentee ballot would be a godsend for black people who could not vote because of their work schedule, distance to the polls, or limited mobility during that narrow four-hour window.
