International observers set to descend on Florida

RACHEL LA CORTE

Associated Press    27 October 2004

MIAMI - International observers from across the globe will be in Florida and other parts of the nation in the days leading up to the election, but their input may be limited by their access.

Two groups - one invited by the United States, the other not - visited last month and plan to send additional teams of observers from places such as South Africa, India and Argentina before Nov. 2.

"It's certainly unusual because America has usually been the leader in spreading democracy and endorsing free and fair elections," said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. "After 2000, we probably deserve a little extra scrutiny."

The state is hoping to avoid another international embarrassment like the one suffered after the presidential election four years ago when President Bush was declared the winner by a 537-vote margin after 36 days of recounts and U.S. Supreme Court intervention.

In what appears to be another close race between Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry, the groups have said the presence of observers adds an extra level of confidence to voters.

"Their independence is without question," said Jason Mark, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange. Its project, Fair Election International, brought election officials and former lawmakers from 15 countries to Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Missouri and Ohio last month. Another team was to be on hand leading up to and through the election.

"They don't have a direct stake in the outcome of the election," Mark said. "It's a symbol of democratic solidarity."

The Bush administration invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to observe the election, and that group plans to spread about 100 observers among several states.

Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood has said she welcomes international observers and doesn't think their presence conveys a lack of confidence in the system.

"We welcome people to come to the state, to watch the process we have in place," said Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for Hood. "We're proud of the reforms and Florida's accomplishments."

State law says that only the political parties and candidates can request precinct poll watchers and anyone not authorized to be inside the polling places must stay more than 50 feet away from the entrance. Faraj said no one from OSCE had yet asked for poll access. OSCE, based in Vienna, Austria, had not yet worked out the details on where monitors would be stationed or exactly what they would be doing, spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said by e-mail.

The Justice Department is sending out more than 1,000 federal poll watchers nationally on Election Day.

Global Exchange's Mark said that only one county in Florida - Leon County - has told them they would have complete access to the polls and tabulation center. Missouri officials also have said they would grant access to the group's observers.

Ion Sancho, Leon's election chief, said he planned to deputize international monitors as members of his staff to allow them in.

"Florida in the 2000 election showed the world how to fail at conducting elections, and we have to overcome that perception," he said. "Here in Leon County, we believe in showing the world that the process does work properly."

OSCE and Fair Election International have released preliminary reports that criticize the lack of paper backup on the touch-screen machines used by half of the state's voters.

Fair Election released a report last week based on its pre-election visit by monitors who focused on Broward, Leon, Miami-Dade and Orange counties, which includes the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando and Tallahassee respectively.

"Overall election readiness in Florida is greater than it was in 2000," the report read. "Officials have worked hard to implement new systems, and the delegation was heartened by the broad efforts of civil society to promote electoral transparency."

However, the committee recommended touch-screen paper records, wider use of provisional ballots and voting rights to ex-felons. Lawsuits seeking all three have failed in recent days.

Faraj denounced Fair Election's report for offering "politically motivated accusations that are only intended to erode voter confidence."

"The laws of the state of Florida are very clear," she said. "In election reform we have led the nation. We uphold state and federal election laws."

Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, said, if done right, the presence of observers helps re-establish people's faith in the system, but she questions whether they can generate any change to the system.

"If they are not granted full and unfettered access and they don't bring in sufficient masses of people to make their observation credible, it really means nothing," she said.