As you probably recall, the purge list was one of several methods allegedly used by baby Bush and the dragon lady (you know who I mean) to depress African-American turnout in 2000. The list turned out to be just chock full of voters who had either never been felons, or who had had their voting rights restored in other states. And just by coincidence, the vast majority of these improperly banned voters turned out to be black - evn higher, as I recall, than the already disproportionate number of African Americans in the real Florida felon population.
A simple bureaucratic screw up, baby brother Bush said, and one that wouldn't be repeated. As part of a package of election reforms passed by the state legislature in 2001, Jeb's crew was told not to use felon lists obtained from other states (which had proved so inaccurate the last time around.) The state also reached a settlement with the NAACP that required more diligent matching of names to make sure non-felons weren't being disenfranchised. The Department of Justice also signed off on the new procedures - although not the list itself.
Problem solved? Not hardly. When the CNN asked for a copy of the list (which had almost 50,000 names on it) earlier this year, Jeb's people told them they couldn't have one. Why? Because the GOP-dominated Florida legislature had quietly inserted another provision in the post-2000 election reform package that, in essence, allowed reporters to look at the list, but not to make copies of it. If I remember correctly, this was made the list unique among state records that are subject to public disclosure.
Sorry, Jeb's crew told CNN, but that's the way it goes - we don't make the laws. But they insisted that local election officials and the voters had nothing to worry about - after all, the process now had the NAACP's seal of approval. "The mantra has been 'trust us,' " the head of the Miami League of Women Voters told the Times.
Trust but verify, replied CNN, which along with the First Amendment Foundation and a bunch of Florida newspapers asked a state court to rule that the no-copy rule violated the sunshine state's government-in-the sunshine law, which happens to be written straight into the state constituion.
Two weeks ago the court agreed, and after some hemming and hawing Jeb's crew decided not to appeal to the Florida Supremes (who must have been salivating at the possibility of a little payback) and released the list.
But once they had a chance to examine the list, it didn't take too long for the media to realize there was something strange about it: It had virtually no Hispanic names on it. Apparently, in the entire state of Florida there were roughly 50 Hispanic ex-cons whose named needed to be lifted from the voting rolls - this in a state where 1 in 5 residents is Hispanic.
Of course, one of the noteworthy things about Florida's Hispanic community (or at least the Cuban part of it) is that it tends to vote heavily Republican. The Cubans went for big brother Bush by something like an 80% margin in the last election.
So once again, coincidence had conspired to create a fraudulent felon list heavily slanted in favor of Jeb Bush's big brother. How unlucky can you get?
This is the very same list, mind you, that the Bush administration (Florida branch) had been promoting as squeaky clean - right up until it was released and the mysterious law-abiding zeal of the state's Hispanic population was discovered.
Then, of course, the story changed. A simple clerical error, the Jebster said - the wrong button pushed, a computer glitch, resulting in a failure to merge two different felon lists (exactly why the names of Hispanic convicts were being kept in a separate file has never really been explained, as far as I know.) And just to show what a good sport he is, Jeb decided to just forget the whole thing:
"Not including Hispanic felons that may be voters on the list . . . was an oversight and a mistake. . . . And we accept responsibility and that's why we're pulling it back," said Gov. Jeb Bush...
And yet, just days before, various Florida election officials (including the Secretary of State, the Republican ex-mayor of Orlando and a Bush appointee) had been insisting that the felon purge had to go forward this year because it was mandated by the state legislature.
The good news, I guess, is that at least one of the screw ups (intentional or unintentional) that turned Florida into Floriduh four years ago won't be repeated this year. (The fact that the hanging chads will also go away is offset by the black box problem, which may be even worse).
But by now you really have to wonder: How long Jeb Bush would be able to stay off the Florida felon list himself if he wasn't the brother of the president and a member of one of the most powerful political dynasties the country has ever seen. I mean, when your kid tells you the dog ate his homework once, you might not believe it, but you might give him/her the benefit of the doubt. But twice?
How many times does the Bush family have to steal a Florida election before they finally get it right?
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