Fine In Florida

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Fine In Florida
by James Hall, Senior Associate Editor

September 25, 2002

"Leaning Left"

James Hall Yes, there were a few election problems in Florida during the primary. A lot of Florida counties were trying out new equipment, having traded in their old paper-punching equipment for new touchscreen machines. In some cases the poll workers, who are hired to do a job one or two days a year every other year, didn't completely know how to operate the new machines. New problems came with the new machines---reports of smudged touchscreens that "voted" all by themselves.

Though 14 of Florida's 67 counties reported problems of some kind, most of them were fixed on Election Day. Two counties, Miami-Dade and Broward, had more severe problems. In those two counties there were reports of precincts opening late, and of the brand new machines not working properly. Precinct workers there weren't properly trained to handle the machines. The governor extended voting hours in the two counties involved but the same communication problems that led to their precincts opening late also led to some of those precincts not getting the word and closing earlier.

Deja Vu? No. There were no confusing ballots---uniform state ballots were one of the reforms that worked. No hanging chads. No lengthy recounts---the longest recount took two days in one of the two counties that recounted their votes. No overvotes (the touchscreen system won't permit them), and the few undervotes that appeared were likely because there were other issues than voting for governor on the ballot. In other words, all the problems that created the voting issues mess in 2000 were successfully dealt with.

The two counties with the worst problems also happen to be the two largest in the state, and two of the largest counties in the nation. One of them had a new, inexperienced Supervisor of Elections. There's little doubt that Miami-Dade and Broward counties weren't prepared for the kind of problems they experienced with their new machines, but there's also little doubt that these counties had little support and leadership from Florida's governor and legislature.

The Florida Legislature approved $30 million over the past two years, but most of that went to buy the new machines. State funding for training poll workers and educating voters was lacking, and Florida is still waiting---along with the rest of the nation---for funding from the US Congress that has been passed but is currently tied up in a House/Senate conference committee that could be used for pollworker training and voter education.

The governor's office did nothing before the election to guarantee a smoother election. Governor Jeb Bush's secretary of state, Katherine Harris, resigned her office in haste last month when her staff realized that she'd broken the very Florida election laws she oversees by failing to resign from her state office to run for Congress. Bush also ignored the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which had predicted more election problems after the 2000 election.

Though Governor Bush still ducks responsibility for the September primary troubles, he and his recently appointed secretary of state Jim Smith are belatedly addressing the problems, working with Miami-Dade and Broward counties to correct any future pollworker shortages and voting machine problems for the November elections. Smith has also requested that the Justice Department investigate the voting problems in Miami-Dade and Broward and oversee the November elections. These steps will likely assure a smooth election in November.

Ironically, Bush's hands-off approach during the primary may come back to haunt him. The voting problems in Miami-Dade and Broward may well have permitted political newcomer Bill McBride to overcome Janet Reno, which he did by a mere 4,800 votes. Reno was thought to have little chance to defeat Jeb Bush, but McBride is a different matter.

A native Floridian who put himself through school, led a platoon of US Marines in Vietnam, and became a self-made millionaire, McBride is everything Bush is not. McBride attracts both conservatives and liberals, his children (unlike Bush's) attend public schools, and he has a worthwhile plan for moving Florida's public education out of its lowly national position. The latest polls show McBride gaining on Bush, so in November expect a smoothly running election---and perhaps the beginning of the end of the political fortunes of the Bush dynasty. ***

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files