Number of absentee ballots request up across the state

By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press Writer  26 August 2004
MIAMI
The demand for absentee ballots for Tuesday's primary is up as voters responding to get-out-the vote campaigns and the controversy over touch-screen voting machines are choosing to stick with a paper ballot.

Even in counties that use optical scan machines, which incorporates a paper ballot, numbers of absentee ballot requests have increased compared to the state's 2002 primary.

"I think this is going to be record year for absentee ballots," said Matt Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida.

Under election reform laws passed in 2001, anyone can request, without explanation, an absentee ballot or vote early in the two weeks before Election Day.

And that's exactly what tens of thousands of voters have been doing. While the state Division of Elections does not collect the total amount of requested ballots or early voting, individual counties have reported record numbers.

In Miami-Dade County, more than 14,000 people had voted early on machines, compared to the more than 46,000 people who chose absentee balloting instead. In the 2002 primary, about 33,000 requested an absentee ballot. The early voting option on machines was not available in Miami until the 2002 general election in November.

"The method people choose is not significant, just the fact that they vote," said Miami-Dade elections spokesman Seth Kaplan. "It's not a question of whether a vote's going to count. Your vote is going to count whether it's on the machine or on the optical scan absentee ballot."

Corrigan said three things are leading the absentee swell: reports of problems with voting equipment; the push by the state Republican and Democratic parties to get members to vote absentee; and the memory of the 2000 election when President Bush won Florida by 537 votes after a contentious recount.

"People want to make sure their vote counts and they think probably the easiest way to do that is absentee balloting," Corrigan said.

He noted that another reason - convenience - can't be overlooked.

"Early voting requires you to go somewhere," he said. "That's a significant amount of time. Whereas with the absentee ballot, you can just do it at home."

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho said that he's received more than 11,000 absentee ballots before the primary, a 25 percent increase from 2002's primary. Leon County is using optical scanner machines on Election Day.

"I think a lot of people are voting by absentee ballot to just make everything is correct," he said. "Voting by mail is really the most convenient way to vote."

Palm Beach County has received more than 30,000 absentee requests, nearly three times the 11,472 requested before the 2000 primary.

In Hillsborough County, nearly 29,000 people have requested absentee ballots, up from 14,369 in the 2002 primary.

Hillsborough elections Chief of Staff Dan Nolan said part of the increase may be attributed to concerns about the machines.

"There's an unfounded belief that you have more accuracy with a paper ballot, which we know is not true," he said. "When there's problems, it's not because of machine problems but because of management problems."

More than 5,500 people have done early voting on the touch screen machines in Hillsborough, up from 1,742 in 2002.

"We don't refer to it as Election Day anymore, we refer to it as the last day to vote," Nolan said.