Republican Member of
Broward Elections Board
Resigns
The 70-year-old lone Republican on the
Broward County canvassing board quit suddenly
Monday, saying she no longer could handle the
long days of overseeing the recount of hundreds
of thousands of ballots.
Jane Carroll, who also serves as county
elections supervisor, was quickly replaced on
the three-member board by Circuit Judge
Robert Rosenberg. His political affiliation could
not immediately be determined, though he was
appointed by Republican Gov. Jeb Bush,
brother of GOP presidential candidate George
W. Bush.
There was no phone listing for Rosenberg,
who could not immediately be reached for
comment.
Carroll announced her resignation to
colleagues at lunch.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” she said.
“Physically I cannot continue 15-hour days. I
have to think of my health. I don’t feel well. I can
handle a few 24-hour days, some 15-hour days,
but not in a row.”
The other two members of the canvassing
board, Circuit Judge Robert W. Lee and
Suzanne Gunzburger, both Democrats, chose
Rosenberg to replace Carroll.
Gunzburger, who also chairs the
seven-member, all-Democratic County
Commission, was required to ask each of the
commissioners whether they wanted to fill in for
Carroll. They all refused.
“Unfortunately, none of them were able to
give the time it takes,” she said.
Ballots from 528 of the county’s 609
precincts had been recounted by Monday
evening. Al Gore had gained 117 votes over last
week’s official tallies, though it remained
unknown whether the hand-counted results will
be added to those numbers because of legal
wrangling. Republican George W. Bush holds a
930-vote lead over Gore in the official state tally.
Since the manual recounting began, workers
have set aside questionable ballots with partially
removed or dimpled chads—the tiny pieces of
paper in the perforated punch-card ballots. To
be considered valid ballots, they all must be
reviewed by the canvassing board.
It was not immediately known how many
ballots would be subject to such a review, but
the initial results from machine tabulations last
week showed more than 6,000 “undervotes,” or
ballots with unclear selections.
Carroll long advocated replacing the county’s
punch-card ballot system. The County
Commission rejected her call seven years ago
to replace the punch-cards with another system
that requires voters to use a pen to mark a
space beside their candidate’s name. Machines
at the polls then tally the ballots. The
commissioners said only a few manufacturers
made the system, so it would be difficult to get
competitive pricing.
Carroll, who planned to lave for a California
vacation on Tuesday, plans to remain elections
supervisor until the end of the year. She was
elected to the post in 1968.
—The Associated Press |
