Broward mailing new ballots; Florida GOP warns of disenfranchment

TIM REYNOLDS

Associated Press   28 October 2004

MIAMI - Tensions preceding Election Day mounted Thursday, amid claims of voter fraud and intimidation at Florida's early polling locations, promises that lost absentee ballots will reach Broward County citizens in time, and concerns that Republicans will question the authenticity of thousands of votes.

Workers at Broward's elections office prepared 1,000 absentee ballots for overnight shipping to Floridians currently residing in other states, and expected to send up to 14,000 others by Friday to residents who requested them weeks ago. Those must be delivered by Saturday.

Meanwhile, state Republican leaders said they are protecting "the integrity of the process" by compiling a list of voters who they say are improperly registered and should not be allowed to cast ballots Tuesday.

"I presume they will use it as a basis for challenges," said Howard Simon, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida. "And when they're using a list that's very likely inaccurate for challenges, I think we're in for hand-to-hand combat at the precincts."

Indeed, emotions are already high. At a news conference called by Republicans in downtown Miami on Thursday, a man carrying signs supporting both President Bush and Republican Senate candidate Mel Martinez was bumped by members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie said he was "disconcerted" by claims that supporters of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry are clogging early voting locations and attempting to dissuade backers of President Bush from voting.

"I am a little disconcerted by some of the reports I have seen here in Florida of voter intimidation, of Republican and Bush voters standing in line to vote and being harassed by Sen. Kerry's supporters," Gillespie said. "Some folks have been intimidated to the point where they turned away from the lines."

Democrats, meanwhile, dismissed Gillespie's claims as rhetoric and accused Republicans themselves of trying to keep Tuesday's turnout low.

They pointed to a series of 18 announcements made in recent weeks by the Republican National Committee, calling them "empty fraud allegations" designed to steer voters away from the polls.

"It's a pattern. Yet again, we're hearing that the Republican Party is crying fraud," Kerry campaign spokeswoman Christine Anderson said. "This is a very clear strategy on their part to lay the groundwork for Election Day challenges. We have clearly stated that we do not plan to challenge voters on Election Day, and that's a promise they simply can't make."

Republicans are already lodging one challenge, alerting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Thursday that 925 convicted felons who've lost voting rights have either already voted or have requested absentee ballots for this election. Party officials said they're concerned that number will rise.

Also, GOP officials acknowledged a list with names of voters who may be improperly registered has been forwarded to officials at the county level. The list will not be used for challenges, said state Republican advisor Mindy Tucker Fletcher, who said the compilation is of addresses where the state GOP sent mail, only to have it returned as undeliverable.

"We have provided information to the various supervisors of elections that we have of folks who are registered to vote and should not vote," said Al Cardenas, the former state Republican chairman. "It's up to these departments of elections primarily to see to it that it takes place."

More than 2,000 names of Duval County residents appear on the list, and elections supervisor Bill Scheu vowed Thursday that if challenges occur, "we are going to have a procedure that is going to resolve them lawfully, accurately and fairly."

A series of embarrassing problems has already popped up, drawing inevitable comparisons to the 2000 election debacle in the Sunshine State. Republicans displayed voter registration materials filed by a "Howard The F. Duck" of Coconut Creek, whose name does appear on Broward's rolls, county officials said.

One cartoon character sneaking onto a list is a minor glitch compared to the absentee issue.

About 58,000 ballots were mailed on Oct. 7 and 8, and the majority of them apparently either did not arrive at residents' homes or didn't come in a timely fashion.

FDLE officials investigated, finding no criminal activity, and Postal Service spokesman Azeezaly S. Jaffer said workers are handling the absentee ballots properly. Jaffer said allegations saying Broward's mail workers acted any other way "are groundless at best and, in fact, insulting."

"Processing is current. Ballots that have been received have been delivered," Jaffer said.

Snipes said her office has sent 128,000 absentee ballots this year; 72,000 have already been returned, and she expects 40,000 more to be delivered to Broward's election department by Tuesday.

Residents who already requested ballots but haven't seen one are being urged to call the election office so a replacement can be sent by overnight mail. There are concerns, however, that the mailing glitch could create confusion with individuals having two ballots or being forced to file provisional ballots on Election Day.

"Some of these ballots we thought were lost have been received in our office," said Snipes, a Democrat who replaced embattled former supervisor Miriam Oliphant late last year. "I think it was more of a delay than ballots being lost. ... The extent of the problem is not going to be as great as it may appear."

Broward, which has the state's largest Democratic pocket, isn't alone in having absentee-ballot issues. In Palm Beach County, hundreds of members of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans say they haven't received their absentee paperwork, either.

Other large Florida counties, like Miami-Dade and Pinellas, report no absentee-ballot troubles.

Florida also got more last-minute campaign stops by celebrities Thursday, with Michael Moore ("Fahrenheit 9/11") scheduling an evening rally in Fort Lauderdale and hundreds of Miami-Dade College students being urged to vote by hip-hop mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

"Even if they're telling that your vote doesn't count, even if they're challenging your right to vote, don't give up," Combs said.