Rights Panel Criticizes Florida's Bush, Harris
Justice Dept. Probe of 2000 Vote Is Sought
By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 9, 2001; Page A03
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights yesterday approved a report that harshly criticized Florida leaders for allowing problems
during last November's presidential election, disenfranchising countless Floridians, the majority of them African Americans.
Commission Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry said she plans to meet with Attorney General John D. Ashcroft to ask the Justice Department to investigate whether the commission's findings constitute a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.
The report found that 54 percent of the ballots rejected as improperly marked were cast by black voters, who accounted for just 11 percent of voters statewide. The inquiry concluded that the 2000 presidential race in Florida was characterized by "injustice, ineptitude and inefficiency," charging that Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris -- both Republicans-- and county election supervisors -- many of whom are Democrats -- allowed it.
Bush and Harris have denied the accusations. Both have argued that many of the problems -- including faulty voting machines, confusing ballots, inexperienced poll workers and a lack of voter education -- have been addressed by election reforms approved by the Florida legislature in recent months.
The commission approved the report in a 6 to 2 vote, with the two members appointed by Republicans dissenting. They characterized the report as a purely partisan document meant to cast a shadow over the Florida election, which George W. Bush won by 537 votes, capturing the presidency.
Abigail Thernstrom (R) and Russell G. Redenbaugh (I) issued a joint statement yesterday saying that "not a shred of the statistical evidence" proves discrimination against minority or disabled voters.
The other six members -- all appointed by Democrats -- found the results of the six-month study compelling and disturbing. They assigned plenty of blame. "We were equal opportunity criticizers," said Berry, a registered independent who was selected to head the panel by then-President Bill Clinton.
Both sides did agree, however, that the election was rife with problems, and that African Americans were more likely to be affected. Thernstrom said the obstacles encountered by blacks were more likely the result of lower literacy levels, higher poverty rates and a higher proportion of first-time voters among African Americans.
"It wasn't disenfranchisement," she said. "That implies there was a state effort. It matters because you don't want to ratchet up[black fears of] being outsiders in the American democracy. We have a real racial divide in this country. You had some errors and they are serious and getting fixed."
The commission's vice chairman, Cruz Reynoso, a retired associate justice of the California Supreme Court, said a statistical analysis that showed a connection between a voter's race and the likelihood that his ballot would be rejected appeared to indicate a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. That legislation outlaws actions that disproportionately affect minority voters,
even if they are unintentional.
"It's quite condemnatory of the entire system, irrespective of intent," Reynoso said.
Dan Nelson, a Justice Department spokesman, said the department would take "steps deemed appropriate" to address the commission's findings and recommendations.
Still lingering yesterday was the controversy over leaks of the final draft report to several newspapers earlier this week. Thernstrom and Redenbaugh said yesterday that the leak was done intentionally to advance Democratic Party political interests.
In a statement yesterday, Harris said other states had similar problems but were not investigated.
"In light of the leaked report's focus on uncounted votes, Chairperson Berry must answer why the commission has not investigated Illinois, which led the nation with 190,000 uncounted presidential votes," Harris said. "Of course, an investigation of voting problems in a state Albert Gore carried by a wide margin does not rank highly on Chairperson Berry's political agenda."
Berry said the commission will monitor Florida election reform and is preparing a report on similar violations in other states.
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