Err on the side of the voter

Opinion in East Manatee/Bradenton Herald   14 October 2004

Kudos to Manatee County Election Supervisor Bob Sweat for giving citizens a second chance to complete registration forms in order to vote in the Nov. 2 election.

When at least 41 registration forms filed by the Oct. 4 deadline turned out to have incomplete information, Sweat notified the applicants of the errors and gave them a chance to make corrections. Most were minor mistakes - a post office box number instead of a street address, a missed birth date or the like - that could easily be corrected.

Lacking a clear directive from the Florida Division of Elections, Sweat said he decided to "err on the side of the voter" and give applicants a chance to vote as long as the form was signed by the deadline.

Unfortunately, not all county elections supervisors are as understanding of voters' problems filling out forms perfectly - and who doesn't have such problems from time to time? Other counties, including Pasco and Pinellas, dumped applications that weren't filled in correctly. Tens of thousands are being rejected because applicants failed to check a box certifying they are citizens, even though they signed an oath farther down the form declaring that they are citizens.

Doubtless these voters rejected on technicalities are a harbinger of a coming wave of complaints about disenfranchisement in the 2004 election, a disturbing echo of Florida's voting scandal in 2000. Then countless thousands of voters were disenfranchised by confusing ballots, flawed voter lists, precinct mix-ups, inoperative equipment and those infamous "hanging chads" in punchcards. It's generally assumed that, had all of those who wanted to vote been allowed to and all of their votes accurately counted, the presidential election outcome would have been different.

The lack of uniformity in voting procedures across the state was the main factor in the 2000 debacle. It was left to county election supervisors, often partisan politicians, to set standards for registering, voting, counting and documenting election results. The standards varied widely, and the outcome was the extended dispute over the presidential winner that ultimately was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, Florida appears to be inviting a repeat of the 2000 fiasco. Former President Jimmy Carter, who has monitored more than 50 elections in contentious or dangerous conditions around the world, wrote recently that "a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely. . ." He referred to "disturbing signs that, once again, . . . some of the state's leading officials hold strong political biases that prevent necessary reforms."

One of the problems is the inability to obtain paper printouts from electronic voting machines, which will make it impossible to verify a recount should one become necessary. Secretary of State Glenda Hood has fought legal efforts to require such technology to be added to electronic voting systems in time for the election. The case is in the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, but with only 2 1/2 weeks until the election it may be impossible to the systems in time.

Hood has also figured prominently in court cases purging alleged felons from voting lists using faulty records, a repeat of Katherine Harris' disenfranchisement efforts in 2000. Hood has been over backward to certify Ralph Nader for the Florida ballot, which will divert votes that Democrat John Kerry might otherwise have gotten.

At a time when this country is touting the emergence of democracy in traditionally undemocratic nations like Afghanistan and Iraq, it is hypocritical to fail to ensure fair, unbiased elections right here at home. Florida is setting itself up for another black eye if the voting is close. But at least in Manatee County, we feel comfortable that Bob Sweat won't have been part of the democracy-undermining process.