TALLAHASSEE - Internal city memos show the issue of Republican "vote caging" efforts in Jacksonville's African-American neighborhoods was discussed in the weeks before the 2004 election, contradicting recent claims by former Duval County Republican leader Mike Hightower - the Bush-Cheney campaign's local chairman at the time.

"Caging" is a longtime voter suppression practice by which political parties collect undeliverable or unreturned mail and use it to develop "challenge lists" on Election Day.

The contradiction comes to light as the U.S. Justice Department continues to consider a June 18 request from two U.S. senators for an investigation into potential illegal voter suppression tactics in Duval County three years ago. A department spokeswoman said last week that the request is still being reviewed.

Hightower, in a Times-Union interview last month, said the controversial voter suppression tactic of "caging" was never raised in daily meetings hosted by former Duval County Supervisor of Elections Bill Scheu, and he had never heard "of that expression or that practice." Hightower said last week he stands by those recollections.

City officials have disputed that, saying Scheu's daily pre-election meetings with local Republicans, Democrats and African-American community leaders repeatedly included the topic. The city also released attendance records showing Hightower was present.

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"Vote caging" has a long history in politics. In one such procedure, a campaign will send out postcards to a particular group of addresses with instructions to return the mail. The campaign then creates a database of addresses that did not return the postcards and challenges the right of anyone registered at those addresses who attempts to vote on Election Day. The effect often dissuades turnout. The tactic is legal, but not if voters are targeted by race.

The 3-year-old allegation of caging in Jacksonville gained new life last month, when the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee received testimony indicating the GOP may have used the tactic in 2004.

Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin recently stepped down as U.S. attorney in Arkansas, realizing that his nomination would almost certainly be rejected by the Senate.

Griffin’s tenure was especially controversial because as former Research Director for the Republican National Committee in 2004, he allegedly engaged in the voter suppression of African-American servicemembers through a tactic known as “caging,” which is both illegal under the federal Voting Rights Act and unconstitutional.

At a speech at the University of Arkansas this week, a teary-eyed Tim Griffin defended his record. Like former Justice official Monica Goodling — who called caging just “a direct-mail term" — Griffin attempted to dismiss the allegations.

GRIFFIN: Obviously, I’ve seen the Internet stuff about caging. First of all, the allegations that are on the Internet and have spread through the tabloids are completely and absolutely false, number one. And ridiculous. Caging, as you may know, I had it looked up, is a direct-mail term for basically organizing returned mail. Now I know that it has been defined (inaudible) on the Internet as some sort of purging voters, suppressing voters, caging voters, vote caging. All these different thing go back to one guy, who’s name I won’t mention, who wrote something about me when I came in control of the U.S. attorney (inaudible). It’s completely untrue. It’s not even, there’s not even a scintilla of proof. And I’ll just say that it’s so untrue, I don’t know exactly what you want me to say. I didn’t do any of the stuff he alleges, and of course if I didn’t do it, I don’t know of any Karl Rove impact (inaudible). This is all made up and faux pas. I didn’t cage votes, I didn’t cage mail, I didn’t cage animals, I’m not a zookeeper.