Jim,
An interesting read, stolen from another thread. Think there's anything to it?
JohnD
<< <<http://www.worldnetdaily.com/readerservice/printer_friendly....>>
<<Wednesday, November 22, 2000
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ELECTION 2000, Day 15
'Condo commandos' caused ballot snafu
'Gore operatives,' others mistakenly instructed thousands of Palm Beach seniors to
'punch #2'
by Diana Lynne
As the Palm Beach County canvassing board muddles through an arduous countywide
hand count of ballots, WorldNetDaily has learned that the county's "condo commandos"
-- leaders at condominium complexes for those 55 and older -- and other Gore
operatives created the perceived need for a recount by giving the wrong instructions to
loyal voters about how to cast their ballots in the Nov. 7 election.
The bad information, in turn, created confusion that ultimately contributed to more than
19,000 ballots being thrown out.
The "condo commandos" traditionally play starring roles in elections in Palm Beach
County, where a quarter of the million-plus population is 65 years and older, but their
star appears to be fading fast on the Gold Coast.
"Condo commandos take credit for delivering votes after elections. I don't think you'll
find them doing that now," stated Democrat Jody Gleason, a Palm Beach County school
board member.
Retirees, particularly in the southern part of the county, historically represent a massive
voting bloc for Democratic candidates. One retirement community in West Palm Beach,
Century Village, has 7,000 residents year-round and as many as 14,000 during the
winter months. The heavily Jewish community was a magnet for Gore cheerleaders on
the stump, including Jesse Jackson and vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman.
Century Village's clout makes the president of the Century Village Democratic Club,
Sam Oser, a powerful man in the eyes of Democratic candidates running for office.
"I don't even know if I voted correctly," said the 75-year-old condo commando, "You're
dealing with older folks who come in on crutches and in wheelchairs. They're used to
voting a certain way all these years and it was switched."
Century Village residents are used to relying on "palm cards" to help them vote. As the
name suggests, a "palm card" is a printout that's small enough to fit into the palm of one's
hand, and they are distributed en masse by condo commandos prior to the election.
"This is a card that has the numbers of candidates we recommend residents vote for,"
said Oser, who describes it as an aid for elderly voters who have poor eyesight or are
vulnerable to confusion in the voting booth. Unless there's a polling station set up within
the retirement community, as is the case at Oser's Century Village, condo commandos
arrange to bus residents to the polls. It is common for residents who take the journey to
the polling place sponsored by the retirement community to arm themselves with the palm
card issued by that community.
"The retirement communities are critical. Any candidate goes into their midst with fear
and trembling. We know what a powerful voting bloc they represent," reflected former
school board member Gail Bjork, who successfully ran three countywide campaigns. "If
your name isn't on that [palm] card, you're in trouble."
But WorldNetDaily has learned that Oser and many other Gore supporters issued
marching orders to voters in error. As reported by the Palm Beach Post, the Democratic
Club of Greater Boynton Beach got the candidates' numbers mixed up in their voting
recommendation published in its November newsletter to members. A few days prior to
the election, according to the Post, the club issued postcards headlined "Oops!" which
explained that members had been incorrectly instructed to "punch #3 for Al Gore" but
that number 3 would actually be a vote for Republican George Bush. The postcard
further instructed members they should "punch #5 for Al Gore."
Asked whether he got the candidates' numbers right on Century Village palm cards, Oser
replied, "I don't recall whether there were numbers."
However, a worker at Century Village told WorldNetDaily the "palm cards" that were
distributed prior to the election were wrong. When the error was discovered, new palm
cards were printed and handed out outside of the polls on Election Day.
According to this worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, "Whoever took the palm
card from us outside the polls got the right information. Those that didn't wouldn't have."
This is not the first election in Palm Beach County to have been affected by palm-card
errors. In 1986, Bill Graham surprised political analysts by winning the District 4 school
board seat over the favored Democratic candidate, Lou Martinez. According to the Palm
Beach Post, the upset was partly attributed to a printing error on 5,000 palm cards put
out by the South County Political Cooperative. While the cooperative endorsed
Martinez, they encouraged voters to punch the number associated with Graham.
The error with the palm cards is linked to the so-called "butterfly ballot" adopted this
year by Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore, a Democrat, which listed the candidates'
names on both the right and left-hand pages with arrows pointing to punch holes in the
center of the ballot. The sample ballot mailed out prior to the election listed Al Gore
second on the left-hand page but did not contain holes that could have been counted.
Thus, it only would have been possible to assume that the second punch hole would
correspond to Al Gore.
Because of the "butterfly" design, however, the second hole on the ballot actually
corresponded to Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan. Staff at the Gore campaign
argue the ballot caused thousands of confused voters to be "disenfranchised," since they
may have either selected the wrong candidate or, realizing they made a mistake, chosen
two different candidates, thereby invalidating their ballots. More than 19,000 voters
punched more than one hole on their ballots, spoiling 4.4 percent of the total cast in the
county. Thousands of Gore supporters have signed sworn statements saying they may
have mistakenly punched the ballot for Buchanan. Even independent analysts think
Buchanan received about 2,400 more votes than he should have.
Several voters filed suit seeking a revote on the basis that the "confusing" ballot caused
them to vote incorrectly. Monday, Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga ruled he did not have the
authority to order a revote and that such a revote would be unconstitutional because it
gives one candidate an unfair advantage over another.
"Historically, they [senior citizens] go by the numbers and don't look at the ballot,"
explained Gleason, suggesting that if retirees are instructed to "punch number 2," they
troop into the voting booth and punch number 2 without even reading the ballot.
According to a Republican businesswoman in the Democratic stronghold of Boca Raton,
this is precisely what took place on Nov. 7. The businesswoman, who asked to remain
anonymous, told WorldNetDaily that Gore operatives made the rounds of all the
retirement communities instructing residents to "punch the second hole."
"A 75-year-old Jewish friend of ours said he was mad his vote went to Buchanan and
complained they told him to punch the wrong hole," the source told WorldNetDaily.
"And another Jewish friend said she couldn't believe they had told all the seniors to punch
the wrong hole when they went to vote at Century Village."
Testimony from seniors also indicates that Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., of West Palm
Beach visited retirement communities and instructed residents to "punch number 2" which
amounted to a vote for Buchanan.
Wexler's press secretary, Josh Rogin, initially called this untrue, but added, "I don't
believe he was saying that. Even if he was, it doesn't address the issue that the ballot was
illegal." Rogin went on to explain that under Florida law, Gore's name should have
appeared second instead of Buchanan's. Technically, Gore's name did appear second on
the left-hand side of the ballot. His name, however, did not correspond to the second
punch hole.
As soon as calls started pouring into the office of Wexler and others about the "confusing
ballot," after the polls opened on Election Day, the Gore camp went into crisis
management mode. The Associated Press reports that the Democratic National
Committee hired a telemarketing firm to call voters on Election Day to notify them of the
"confusing ballot" and urged them to raise questions about it and complain to local
elections officials.
Wexler has been among the most vocal proponents of the recount in Palm Beach
County, declaring with confidence that his constituents did not intend to vote for
Buchanan. Also speaking out was Lieberman, who received a rousing reception from
Century Village residents during his October visit and was confident of earning the Jewish
vote. But the testimony of senior citizens that it was the Gore operatives who misled them
and not the "butterfly ballot" calls into question the validity of the ongoing recount in Palm
Beach County, after the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that hand-count results
should be included in Florida's final vote tally.
As for the mood at Century Village, residents feel they were gypped.
"These folks were in World War II. Their sons and fathers went to World War II,"
stressed Oser. "Their eyesight isn't the best, and they don't deserve to be made fun of by
the whole country about how they voted. And for many, this will be their last vote."
"Indeed, no right is more precious in a free country than that of having a choice in the
election of those who make the laws under which we live," stated Labarga in yesterday's
ruling.
Whatever the outcome of this presidential election, the lesson learned in Palm Beach
County is that if you aim to sway seniors to vote for a particular candidate, you better
give them accurate instructions or the effort just may backfire.
Asked whether she thought this election would sound a death knell for the 'palm card,'
Gleason replied, "No, it'll be around."
Diana Lynne is news editor of WorldNetDaily. |
