Why did Republicans "fix" so many absentee ballots in Seminole County? Why were they allowed to do this?
latimes.com
Judge Upholds Democrat's Lawsuit Over Absentee Applications
Courts: Floridian can go forward with
challenge of Seminole County ballots. He contends only
GOP was allowed to add required ID numbers.
perkel.com
Why did the Republicans blame the Democrats for disqualifying absentee ballots without postmarks when that instruction came from Katherine Harris, Fla. Sec. of State, herself? Why did they lie?
salon.com
Florida sent duplicate ballots overseas
Defense Department employee alleges that some co-workers on an air
base in England voted twice.
usatoday.com
Election officials list reasons for rejected ballots
By Dave Moniz and Jessie Halladay
USA TODAY
Republicans have accused Florida Democrats of disenfranchising military personnel
by invalidating absentee ballots from overseas that lacked postmarks. But a
review of the state's presidential ballots from overseas suggests that the vast majority
were thrown out for other reasons.
Of 3,733 overseas ballots received in Florida since Election Day, 1,527 were
rejected, according to a count by the Associated Press.
Supporters of George W. Bush have made a big issue of the rejections, saying they
were mainly ballots from troops likely to vote Republican. Backers of Al Gore
have denied that there was any orchestrated effort to discount the votes of military
personnel.
USA TODAY canvassed election officials in 14 Florida counties accounting for
three-fifths of the rejected ballots. Only about 11% percent were rejected for
not having a postmark, the analysis showed.
By contrast, 24% were disqualified for being postmarked after Election Day, 11%
for improper registration, 5% for invalid signatures and 49% for other violations
that ranged from improper witnesses to failure to request a ballot within the required
30 days.
The counties surveyed included many with major military installations and large
populations.
Military and Florida officials acknowledge that the military postal system often
fails to mark and date overseas mail. Under state law, overseas ballots that were
postmarked by Election Day were to be counted so long as they arrived in county
offices by last Friday.
Monday, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, a Democrat, urged counties to
count overseas military ballots without postmarks.
But it was unclear how many ballots would be affected by his proposal. Most of
the election officials contacted by USA TODAY did not have a breakdown of how
many unmarked ballots came from the military as opposed to civilians living
overseas, including federal employees. The officials said they assumed a majority
came from military posts.
There was also the question of whether Butterworth had the authority to change
state rules regarding absentee ballots from overseas. Currently, those ballots
must have a postmark or a date from an express delivery service.
''I think too much is being made of this,'' said Marilyn Gerkin, election
supervisor in Sarasota County.
Gerkin said her county received 60 overseas ballots, of which 25 were rejected.
She could not provide an exact breakdown of the reasons but said only a small
percentage were discounted because of questions about the postmark. Sarasota
County was not among the 14 included in the analysis.
In military-heavy Okaloosa County, 48 overseas ballots were rejected, but only one
for lacking a postmark. County Election Supervisor Pat Hollarn said 21 were rejected
because the voters failed to request a ballot within 30 days.
In Bay County, near Tyndall Air Force Base, 59 overseas ballots were accepted and
29 rejected, 10 because they did not have postmarks, Election Supervisor Melanie
Williams-Boyd said. But in at least one county, a large number of ballots rejected
were from U.S. government workers assigned abroad. Of the 31 overseas ballots
rejected by Brevard County, 17 were military and 14 non-military, Election
Supervisor Fred Galey said.
Bush campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said of Butterworth's proposal, ''We're
glad he agrees with us.''
Although some ballots of military personnel were likely rejected, members of the
armed forces had a major say in Florida's extraordinarily tight presidential
vote.
The state is a haven for military voters: Nearly 180,000 of the nation's 1.4 million
active-duty troops -- almost 13% -- are registered in the state. Some 149,000
claim Florida residency but do not live there, Pentagon figures show.
A Defense survey following the 1996 election showed that 64% of military
personnel voted for president, compared to 49% of civilians.
Separately, a Democratic activist filed a lawsuit alleging that Seminole County
officials allowed Republican Party officials to improperly fill out absentee
ballot requests that should have been rejected.
Harry Jacobs argues that 4,700 voters had their ballots altered by Republican
officials prior to being mailed out. Jacobs has asked that their votes be thrown
out.
Will Cheney's state of residence be resolved?
gopbi.com
Cheney residency case now in Texas
dailynews.yahoo.com
Cheney's Residency Challenged
Why did so many motor voter registrations not show up as registered voters?
herald.com
Published Sunday, November 19, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Election reveals motor voter glitches
Many names didn't show up on rolls
Why were the Democratic counties equipped with these outdated punch ballot systems and Republican counties better equipped?
chicagotribune.com
FULL HAND RECOUNT COULD FAVOR
GORE, BALLOT ANALYSIS SUGGESTS
By Sean Holton and Jeff Kunerth
Orlando Sentinel
November 19, 2000
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Machines are neither Republican nor Democrat.
But on Election Day in Florida, the best vote-counting machines may have
turned out to be a secret weapon for Republicans. And those machines may
make the crucial difference that puts Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the White
House.
...
But Florida's experience this year indicates that at least 99 percent of the
people who went to the polls fully intended to vote for president. How many
of those voters had their ballots ultimately recorded may simply have hinged on
which of these three types of systems was used:
- Pen-marked, precinct-tabulated ballots. Producing by far the most complete
results, this vote-counting system recorded votes for more than 99 percent of
ballots cast. Because problematic ballots are kicked back from machines to
voters immediately, they can be corrected or redone on the spot. Most of the
17,537 ballots with no votes in these counties were uncorrectable absentee
ballots or those deliberately left blank, officials said. The 25 counties with
this system favored Bush by 52.9 percent to 44.6 percent for Gore.
- Punch cards. Counties using these systems recorded no votes for 3.9
percent of ballots cast, accounting for 144,985 of the unrecorded presidential
votes. Problem ballots are not discovered until they're run through tabulation
machines at a central location. The 15 counties with this system included
Gore's biggest strongholds, and favored him overall by 51.8 percent to 46
percent for Bush.
- Pen-marked, centrally tabulated ballots. Counties with this system recorded
no votes for 5.7 percent of ballots. But because these counties tended to be
smaller, that percentage accounted for just 15,958 unrecorded votes..
sunspot.net
National civics class reveals fallible election machinery
System error-riddled, rife with partisanship |
