2000 recount still on the minds of Kerry supporters

KEN THOMAS

Associated Press

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - The 2000 recount may be history for some voters, but for Nancy Geneivive the 36-day struggle still brings to mind two words: stolen election.

So when the Coral Springs artist tossed presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry a question Monday about his plans to challenge President Bush, she summed it up this way, "What can we do to prevent him from stealing the election again?"

Kerry encountered Floridians still sore about the disputed election at a town hall meeting with about 500 supporters in Broward County, a Democratic bastion with serious voting irregularities in 2000. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore by 537 votes in Florida after the U.S. Supreme Court stopped a state recount.

Kerry said he would assemble a legal team to guard against any irregularities in Florida this fall, focusing on problematic precincts and seeking injunctions where necessary to guarantee voting rights.

"I guarantee, not only do we want a record level of turnout to vote, we want to guarantee that every vote is counted," he said to cheers. "I don't think we ought to have any vote cast in America that cannot be traced and properly recounted."

Kerry spent the day in Florida, meeting with fund-raisers over breakfast in Hollywood, stopping at a Delray Beach deli for lunch and greeting voters at rallies in West Palm Beach and Tampa. Outside the library in downtown West Palm Beach, Kerry noted that it would serve as a polling place.

"This is the place that reminds us that not only does every vote in America count but that every vote in America is going to be counted," Kerry said.

In Tallahassee, a Catholic based peace organization called Monday for international observers in November. Dave Robinson, Washington-based national coordinator of Pax Christi USA, said the group will help monitor the general election by assigning volunteers to poll sites, especially in Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties - the main trouble spots in 2000.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, meanwhile, said he was filing a federal lawsuit over the lack of a paper ballot connected to electronic voting machines.

Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, called it "an organized effort to try to create doubt about our election system." He called that the state's elections laws, implemented following the 2000 race, "models for the rest of the nation."

"This is all part of some politically motivated thing that tries to scare people that somehow their vote's not going to count and that is just hogwash, hawg - wash," Bush said.

In Tampa, a crowd of about 1,000 was drawn to the Ybor City night club district for an evening rally for Kerry.

Among those with nearly an hour's wait to get inside were University of Central Florida students Luke Garner, 18, Desiree Estabrook, 19, and Jake Gissendanner, 19, who interrupted a spring break at the beach for the rally.

The trio said they wanted to come to the rally because they are excited about voting in their first election. Garner said he plans to vote for Bush, but wanted to see Kerry nonetheless. "I just wanted to get the full speech, not just the 20 seconds you hear on television," he said.

Along with a spattering of anti-Bush protest signs, some Vietnam veterans held anti-Kerry signs.

Ray Calafell, an attorney who served in Vietnam in 1970, said he won't forgive Kerry for aligning himself with Jane Fonda as an anti-war protester or for comments the then-young leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War made about others still serving.

"He stuck a knife in our backs in 1971 is still there," Calafell said. "He's never pulled it out. That knife is still there."

But, largely, the Ybor City rally took on a party atmosphere, with music blaring into the chilly, crowded evening streets. "This is a rally for everybody," said U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, one of the dignitaries on hand to introduce Kerry. "This is a president for everybody."

Kerry was using the trip to appeal to Florida's sizable elderly population, criticizing the prescription drug package approved by Congress and vowing to safeguard Social Security. His visit came on the eve of the Florida presidential primary, a contest that no longer carries any weight but allows the Massachusetts senator to campaign in a battleground state.

Both parties expect a spirited battle for Florida's 27 electoral votes after Bush's narrowly decided election.

Broward County holds the state's largest concentration of Democratic voters, and party activists regularly point to the region as crucial for voter turnout. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, with Kerry in Broward, noted he had a 200,000 vote advantage in Broward County in 2000.

"I want you to top that and make it 300,000 for him," Nelson said.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, said plans are under way to have a team of election monitors to quickly respond to voter complaints.

"As we see signs of votes not being counted or faulty machines, we're going to attack them. We're going to be very aggressive on behalf of democracy," Meek said.