State awaits thousands of overseas votes
Politics/Elections Breaking News News Keywords: BUSH MILITARY VOTE
Source: Miami Herald
Published: Published Saturday, November 11, 2000
More than 7,000 overseas ballots have yet to be returned to Florida, more than enough to turn the corner for George W. Bush or Al Gore -- although no one knows how many will actually be sent back or where in the world they will come from.
To be counted, they must arrive by 5 p.m. Friday.
According to state law, overseas ballots that arrive after election night are stored unopened in vaults in Florida's 67 counties. They will remain there, uncounted, until the Friday deadline passes. Each county decides when to count its votes.
In Miami-Dade County, 1,699 ballots were mailed to places like Barcelona, Spain, and Managua, and 1,138 came back in time to be counted on election night. That means 561 are still outstanding, but from which countries and how many military voters, no one can say.
Miami-Dade elections officials said 617 overseas ballots went to military addresses. One hundred of the 617 went to Virginia, and the remainder went to military or government addresses in 41 other states and territories.
A total of 1,082 ballots went to civilians living overseas. And the largest batch among those -- 44 -- was sent to Floridians living in Israel, where an estimated 10,000 Jews with Florida ties are living.
Election officials were not sure how many of the ballots from Israel were counted on election night and how many are still out there, or if their senders voted for Gore, as the Democratic Party believes.
``Our votes are in the mail,'' said Beverly Wolff, in an e-mail message from Haifa, Israel. ``Think of us as the cavalry riding to the rescue.'' She said she voted for Gore.
Bruce Yudewitz, director of community planning for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, said he was not aware of any effort from Florida to organize voting from Israel. He said his organization does not endorse political candidates.
Other Florida counties where Navy and Air Force bases are located also reported that large numbers of ballots were mailed to military personnel, who Republican Party officials claim are more inclined to vote for Bush. But it was still uncertain just how many ballots are yet to be counted.
A Herald survey of 33 counties on Friday showed that 3,975 overseas ballots had not yet arrived in Florida. A Palm Beach Post survey of 52 counties on Thursday showed officials were waiting for 7,429 ballots of 15,230 that were requested. An Associated Press survey of 28 counties found that less than half of the roughly 7,000 ballots mailed overseas had not come back.
Okaloosa County Elections Supervisor Pat Hollarn said, ``I expect a sizable number -- at least a couple of hundred -- military votes, and most of those will be Republican.''
Escambia County, where Pensacola naval base is located, still had not received 1,176 ballots sent mostly to military personnel. Hillsborough County was waiting for 518. In Clay County, 195 overseas ballots, mostly military, were locked in a vault.
``I voted for Bush,'' said Army Staff Sgt. Bill Wyman, who said he was in the Middle East and is from Jacksonville. ``My vote is probably somewhere between here and Florida. That's one vote that could make a big difference.''
In descending order after Israel, Miami-Dade sent out 20 ballots to England, 17 to Costa Rica, 16 to Spain, 13 to Canada and 10 to France. Forty-six percent of those requesting ballots in Miami-Dade were Republicans, and 42 percent were Democrats.
In Broward County, an elections clerk said one survey showed 1,289 overseas ballots were mailed and 257 had not come back. But a second list showed 1,623 ballots mailed.
That second list showed 575 ballots requested by Democrats, of whom 114 were military and 461 were civilian; 596 ballots requested by Republicans, of whom 209 were military and 387 were civilian; and 452 requested by independents, of whom 119 were military and 333 were civilians. |
