latimes.com
Bush Lawsuit Irks Those Rejecting
Absentee Votes
Election: Officials, some of them loyal Republicans, get harsh
criticism for obeying the law, they say. GOP lawyers are 'just blowing
smoke,' one says.
By ERIC BAILEY, Times Staff Writer
She's a military wife in a military community, a rock-ribbed Republican
in a Florida county dominated by Republicans. But Pat Hollarn draws
the line at bending the law to get more votes for George W. Bush.
The longtime election supervisor in Okaloosa County, home to
sprawling Eglin Air Force Base and five other military installations, says
she believes the GOP is angling to do just that.
Hollarn's county in the nook of the Florida Panhandle has--along with
half a dozen others scattered around the state--been sued by the Bush
campaign. The charge: The counties unfairly rejected many overseas
ballots, predominantly from military personnel, that arrived after election
day.
The lawsuit--and criticism in her own community--has Hollarn fuming.
Okaloosa County's canvassing board "bent over backward," Hollarn
said, to tally overseas ballots that trickled in during the 10-day grace
period after the election. But the board rejected 25 ballots--nearly all
votes for Bush--because the overseas voters failed to follow rules for
requesting an absentee ballot, she said.
"These Republican lawyers are just blowing smoke, just running up
my attorneys' fees," grumbled Hollarn, 66. "Really and truly, they have
no grounds."
Bush attorneys see the scenario far differently. They argue that
Hollarn--who on election day won a fourth term with 75% of the
vote--and other county officials unfairly rejected the votes of military
personnel, men and women serving their country overseas. And they
contend federal law clearly eclipses stricter state rules for witness
signatures and other ballot formalities.
"For her to whine about being unfairly criticized for doing her job
seems pretty unfortunate," said Ed Fleming, a Pensacola attorney
representing Bush. "I frankly don't think she did do her job."
This testy tug-of-war is replicated all over Florida, where election
officials in many of the state's 67 counties complain that they have been
chewed up and spit out by events in the postelection presidential
drama.
Normally an obscure bunch, these local officials have been
struggling with murky election statutes suddenly made meaningful by
the razor-thin presidential race, pushed to decipher the intent of voters
in a forest of hanging chad and balky absentee ballots.
In the case of the late-arriving overseas ballots, county canvassing
boards say they have been whipsawed by a potent Republican public
relations and legal push. They've received nasty e-mails, testy phone
calls and heavy lobbying by local GOP officials.
To top it off, the playing field tilted in mid-match with last week's
Florida Supreme Court decision on the presidential recount. As part of
the ruling, the state's high court urged Florida election officials to avoid
"hyper-technical" decisions in tossing aside ballots.
The result has been a flurry of renewed reviews of the much-debated
overseas ballots, with varying results.
In Orange County, for instance, election officials took a hard line,
rejecting 40 ballots because of problem postmarks--thus earning the ire
of the GOP and a place in Bush's lawsuit in federal District Court in
Pensacola. Election supervisor Bill Cowles griped in a Web page letter
to voters that he was "personally incensed" by what he considered
false accusations.
Election officials in several other counties, however, have been more
flexible, agreeing to count late-arriving military ballots they previously
rejected. Navy-dominated Duval County, for instance, reconvened its
canvassing board last Friday and reinstituted dozens of overseas
ballots that had arrived without a postmark, thus giving Bush a 20-vote
boost over Democratic candidate Al Gore.
In Okaloosa County, postmarks never were an impediment for
overseas voters. But the canvassing board, made up of Hollarn and two
other local Republicans, closed ranks on another front.
They declined to accept federal write-in ballots, meant as a last-gasp
opportunity to vote overseas, unless the proper request had been made
for an absentee ballot back at home 30 days before the election. That
meant the rejection of 25 ballots in Okaloosa County. Nearly all of them
were cast for Bush.
"It broke my heart to reject those ballots," Hollarn said. "My
husband was in the Air Force for 23 years, an F-4 pilot. I've flown in an
F-15. These people are my life. But the law is the law."
Attorneys for Bush roundly disagree, saying Hollarn and other
county officials have failed to consider all sides of state and federal law,
splitting hairs in ways that deny military personnel an opportunity to
cast a vote.
"To deprive these people serving our country on the front lines their
right to vote doesn't seem fair," Fleming said. "These are people who
can't predict if they're going to be shipped out suddenly before election
day. What do they do then? They can't request an absentee ballot five
days before the election."
Fleming said he plans today to seek a quick hearing in the case,
which he believes could boost Bush's edge over Gore by as many as 150
votes. A Times survey found that more than 660 overseas votes that
arrived after election day were never counted in Florida's final tally.
Hollarn, meanwhile, grapples with naysayers back home.
Since election day, she has survived on about three hours' sleep each
night. Her computer is filled with 150 or more e-mails every day, her desk
piled with phone messages.
The nasty mail, she said, is running about 3 out of 10. That's not bad,
but it still stings.
One message from a local voter got right to the point, telling Hollarn
she regretted voting for her and wouldn't next time.
"Honey, you're not going to have a chance," Hollarn said to no one
in particular. "I doubt I'll run again. I've had it."
* * *
Times researchers Anna M. Virtue, Lianne Hart and Edith Stanley
contributed to this story.
Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories
about: Republican Party, Florida - Suits, Voters, United States - Armed
Forces - Personnel, Presidential Elections - 2000, Albert Jr Gore, George
W Bush.
Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times |
