Federal hearing on voting is today
Panel may expand Florida inquiry to other states
BY ANDREA ROBINSON
arobinson@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- The federal government opens hearings today into complaints
that thousands of voters were disenfranchised in the presidential election on Nov.
7.
The hearings by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights mark the federal
government's first official inquiry into Florida's voting irregularities.
Testimony is expected from people who say they were prevented from voting as
well as from voting rights experts and state officials -- including Gov. Jeb Bush,
Secretary of State Katherine Harris and Attorney General Bob Butterworth.
Bush will appear before the panel this morning, and Harris and Butterworth will
testify on Friday.
All of those called to testify were subpoenaed by the commission.
The Tallahassee hearings are the first in a series. Commissioners are considering
a second hearing in Miami, possibly next month, and also broadening their probe
into other states.
It's not clear what impact the hearings will have. The commission is a fact-finding
agency that can make recommendations, but has no enforcement power.
Nevertheless, civil rights groups -- stung by what they perceive as silence from
the Justice Department to several calls for an investigation -- think testimony
could prove useful in possible future litigation.
Analysts from Florida and around the country say election reform will be a hot
topic in state legislatures and with voters across the nation.
``This is a hugely important issue,'' said Susan MacManus, political science
professor with the University of South Florida in Tampa.
``Everyone will look to us and the hearings and recommendations that follow as to
[what] other states need to do as well.''
Among the allegations to be examined: voters whose names were improperly
dropped from registration lists or were forced to show additional ID in order to
vote; college students who registered but were not on rolls; high police presence
in black precincts.
The bulk of the allegations have come from black voters, although Jewish, white
and Hispanics also have complained about the process.
Last week, Bush said he doubted the panel would find there were deliberate
attempts to disenfranchise voters.
Former Florida Secretary of State Jesse McCrary of Miami said commissioners
could map out an official record of what happened Nov. 7, and whether any
misdeeds did occur.
``I don't know what the governor means when he says there was no deliberate
attempt to stop people from voting. If he means someone stood at the door with a
gun and told people you can't come to vote, nobody did that,'' McCrary said.
``But there are thousands of other ways. You don't have to be robbed with a gun
to be robbed. Basically, only the people it happened to know the story.''
MacManus said if nothing else, the hearings should give a clearer picture to the
Florida Legislature of what needs to be done to prevent another election disaster.
``This time around there's no turning back for Florida legislators on election
reform,'' she said.
``The problems have been so publicized and national media attention so intense
there's no way to escape action this time.''
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