Black, poor, female and isolated. Soon to be released data from Zogby International has shed some light on the New Orleans evacuees who are concentrated in Houston.

Ninety-three per cent are black; 82% are women. More than half are families with children, earn less than $15,000 a year and have no car. Sixty-nine per cent had jobs before the hurricane; now 85% don't. Almost half have no medical insurance and 61% have no access to email.

With the New Orleans mayoral elections scheduled for Saturday, those who are dispersed outside Louisiana have been denied the right to satellite voting stations and have had to vote via absentee ballot. The lack of internet access, transportation and resources made evident in the poll, parts of which have been made available to the Guardian, gives a clear indication of why and how many African Americans will be excluded during this election.