Higher absentee voting possible in state

Miami Herald. Aug. 2, 2004. BY GARY FINEOUT
gfineout@herald.com

A week ago Adrian Siegel became part of what may become a fast-growing trend this election year in Florida.

Bothered by ongoing reports of problems with touch-screen machines, the southwestern Miami-Dade County resident mailed in an application to request an absentee ballot. Even though she works with computers for a living, Siegel says she wants a paper ballot this year.

''How can we get a paper trail?'' said Siegel, a Democrat. ``We can't get it any other way. If there's a problem with the machines, we want our vote to be counted. That is the most important thing.''

The touch-screen machines now used in 15 counties, including Miami-Dade and Broward, were advertised as a way to avoid the embarrassing paper-ballot trouble of the 2000 election. The idea was to eliminate hanging chads and agonizing recounts.

Yet it appears that this year thousands of voters will stick to paper.

So far, more than 35,000 voters in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have asked for absentee ballots for the primary with a month left before the election.

The requests for absentee ballots in Miami-Dade could outpace the number requested in the September 2002 primary election. But if more bad news about touch-screen machines surfaces, it won't be surprising if the number surges.

The 2002 primary election that was marred by closed polls and technical problems spurred a record number of voters 124,000 in Miami-Dade either to request absentee ballots or to vote early at Miami-Dade elections offices. More than 48,000 people turned in paper ballots in November 2002 which was more than had voted absentee two years earlier in the presidential election.

`VOTER CONCERNS'

''I think it's obvious that in 2002 that voter concerns over the primary prompted a lot of them to vote absentee,'' said Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Constance Kaplan. In Broward, the elections office has ordered 50,000 absentee ballots in hopes of getting people to vote early. So far, 16,000 have been requested.

Whether it's a result of fear about the machines amid reports of computer glitches and lost data, or just voters taking advantage of how easy it is to vote absentee because of recent changes in the law, there are growing signs that a record number of voters across the state may also forgo the new technology.

And that means any close election in Florida could once again hinge on the magic words of ''voter intent,'' which was at the heart of the chaotic recount battle that gripped the nation for 36 days in 2000.

If there is an election nightmare this year, it could involve the sight of officials mulling over absentee ballots and trying to decide how to interpret a stray pen mark, or arguments over whether the voter signature on the ballot matches the signature in the county's voter registry.

A HISTORY OF FRAUD

Then there's Florida's long-running history of absentee ballot fraud. Despite warnings about how easy it already was under the old law to commit fraud, Florida legislators have peeled back most of the restrictions on absentee voting. Any voter in Florida can now vote absentee, without giving a reason.

This year, lawmakers dropped the requirement that an absentee ballot be witnessed by another person, saying the old measure had led to discarding otherwise valid votes.

But despite these possible pitfalls, one touch-screen-machine critic says there will be no repeat of the 2000 presidential election if voters choose to vote absentee.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho says that state election officials have crafted ''clear and uniform'' standards for looking at absentee ballots, or mail-in ballots, as he prefers to call them.

''I think Florida has the best voter intent laws,'' said Sancho, who months ago began urging people to forgo touch-screen machines in favor of voting absentee. ``Every potential kind of voter error has been described and explained to election officials to ensure there is no repeat to the kinds of challenges we saw to punch-card ballots.''

GROWING CONCERN

Sancho, along with several voting rights groups and Democratic Party elected officials, has been part of an ever-growing chorus urging voters in Florida to turn their backs on touch-screen machines and use absentee ballots, in which voters make their choices with a pen or pencil. Election workers then feed the ballot into an optical-scan machine that reads the markings.

Even the Republican Party of Florida has voiced doubts about the machines. The party apologized last week for sending out a flier to some Miami-Dade Republicans that said: ``New electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote in case of a recount. Make sure your vote counts, order your absentee ballot today.''

There are signs that many voters may be heeding the advice of Sancho and others. For example, Palm Beach County quickly ran out of 75,000 request forms for absentee ballots. Four years ago, it didn't come close to running out of the 50,000 forms it had on hand.

And while some might dismiss the absentee-voting phenomenon as the result of conspiracy-minded Democrats, there is evidence that Republican voters may have qualms about touch-screen machines as well.

REPUBLICANS' REQUEST

In tiny Indian River County, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by nearly two-to-one, requests for absentee ballots are outpacing the 2000 and 2002 elections, said that county's elections supervisor, Kay Clem. Indian River uses touch-screen voting machines.

Clem said she's had more than 3,500 absentee ballots requests so far, more than double the requests in 2002.

''I thought it was probably Democrats who don't trust the machines, but 2,781 of those who requested the ballots are Republicans,'' Clem said.

The trend is not universal in every county that uses touch-screen machines. Kathy Dent, supervisor of elections in Sarasota County, says the number of requests for absentee ballots she has gotten this year is actually lower so far than it was in 2000.

''We have not seen a major onslaught on absentee ballot requests,'' she said.

But that may change.

Florida's status as a battleground state for the presidential election means that both sides plan to rely heavily on absentee voting.

''We are very keen on the important part that absentee ballots play in the electoral process,'' said Joseph Agostini, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Florida. ``We are also very aware that it's a component of a larger successful strategy to win.''

The Republican Party has long relied on absentee ballots as a crucial part of its get-out-the-vote strategy.

The party identifies likely Republican voters, tracks those who have requested absentee ballots and places follow-up phone calls to ensure that voters have mailed in their ballots.

Sarasota County Republican Party Chairman Tramm Hudson said the goal is to get votes in the GOP column.

''We want to make sure we bank their votes early so they are not susceptible to distortions that the other side tries in the closing days of the campaign,'' Hudson said.

A NEW PUSH

In the past the Florida Democratic Party has not been able to match the Republican Party in absentee voting, but this year it has help.

An array of left-leaning independent groups that want to defeat President Bush plans to make a push to get voters ``in the bank.''

Groups such as Americans Coming Together and the MoveOn political action committee plan will be looking for absentee voters.

''Once you identify them as being friendly, you try to get them to vote absentee,'' said David Edeli, who works in Central Florida for MoveOn.