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1970 DEMOCRATIC GAINS MAY BE
BLACK LOSSES, BOND WARNS

"The 1970 elections may spell a long-term loss for black voters nationally, despite impressive gains, primarily in the South."

That is the conclusion reached by Political Associates, an Atlanta, Georgia based research group headed by Georgia State Representative Julian Bond.

Bond noted that the November 3rd elections, generally considered a victory for the Democratic Party, and the results of the 1970 Census "indicate population shifts and political trends and changes that may not favor black voters."

"While black voters have been almost slavishly devoted to the Democratic Party since the Roosevelt era, and while the Democrats will in most instances control state legislative and Congressional redistricting due in 1971, the nine states where losses occur far outweigh the five states where gains result in terms of black ability to influence the mood of politics and elections." Bond said.

North Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin will lose one House seat each, but black voters are a negligible factor in these states.

In New York and Pennsylvania (2 less seats each) Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama (one less seat each) black voters stand to lose influence.