Michael Peltier: 2004 elections already a legal frenzy

By MICHAEL PELTIER, Naples Daily News  Tallahassee Correspondent
October 11, 2004

TALLAHASSEE — Hopes of a seamless 2004 election to erase bitter memories of the 2000 presidential debacle in Florida are quickly becoming pipe dreams as the state again finds itself tangled in pre-election issues.

A surge in absentee ballot requests, lawsuits over new voting technology and provisional voting and a last-minute standoff between state election officials and local supervisors over how to handle incomplete registration forms will likely provide ample tinder for post-election fires in a state where the presidential election is now too close to call.

Following a 2000 race in which thousands of absentee ballots were declared invalid, state lawmakers eased restrictions on absentee voting. A witness signature is no longer required and voters have until the fourth day before the election to request absentee ballots.

Individuals can request absentee ballots for family members and up to two unrelated voters, as long as they have written authorization.

Local supervisors say they've seen a surge in absentee voting requests. In Collier County, absentee requests are already up 25 percent from 2000. Much of that surge is being prompted by voter apprehension over new touch-screen voting machines in place in Florida's most populous counties.

Though repeatedly touted as accurate and reliable, the machines have been at the center of debate after showing a higher rate of undervoting — voters cast ballots for some but not all races on the ballot — than other voting technologies.

Last month, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sent back for trial a lawsuit challenging the paperless technology. But few believe the state could implement the requirement in the less than four weeks remaining before the Nov. 2 election.

Absentee voting has already fueled controversies. Last month, the mailing of more than 30,000 overseas ballots was held in limbo as Democrats tried to get Ralph Nader off the ballot in Florida until the evening before they were required to be sent out.

The Democrats' interest was far from academic. In 2000, Nader garnered 97,426 Florida votes in a race in which U.S. President George Bush beat Democrat Al Gore by 537 votes.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Sept. 17 that Ralph Nader must be included on absentee ballots sent to military personnel and Floridians living overseas.

In arguing for Nader's inclusion, attorneys for Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood said the department overseeing elections in Florida had to err on the side of inclusion.

Last week, however, Hood's office appeared to do an about-face on the access by advising local supervisors to invalidate voter registration forms in which the applicant had not checked a box indicating U.S. citizenship.

Some counties including Miami-Dade, Orange and Leon have said they will accept the incomplete ballots, which also contain a signed oath by the applicant that he or she is an American citizen and Florida resident. Collier County Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards said her office did not accept about 180 applications and have tried to contact registrants to complete the form.

Finally, attorneys for the secretary of state are urging in separate cases that voters not be allowed to cast provisional ballots in precincts other than their own. A federal judge on Friday ruled in Hood's favor. The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Wednesday on a similar challenge lodged by a coalition of labor unions and the ACLU.