Miami-Dade agrees to settle lawsuit on 2000 election

Hillsborough is one of the remaining defendants in the federal trial set for Aug. 26.

©Associated Press
August 9, 2002

MIAMI -- Miami-Dade County has agreed to change the way it conducts elections to settle a voting rights lawsuit stemming from the 2000 presidential election, when problems allegedly kept blacks from voting in Florida.

The deal reached Wednesday comes less than three weeks before the scheduled Aug. 26 start of a federal trial on the suit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups.

The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Alan Gold, who signed off on agreements with Broward and Leon counties earlier this year. Last week, Duval and Volusia counties also reached settlements.

The remaining defendants are the state and Hillsborough and Orange counties. Last week, Gold rejected the state's request to dismiss the lawsuit. He also granted class action status to the plaintiffs.

Under the agreement in Miami-Dade, election officials will modify voter registration, voter roll maintenance and polling practices, all of which plaintiffs claim disenfranchised minority voters on Nov. 7, 2000.

"The agreement is comprehensive enough to resolve issues we believe were found," said Anita Hodgkiss, plaintiffs' lead attorney.

Among the provisions:

County officials will try to identify people incorrectly removed from voting rolls as a result of "felon" lists provided by the state Division of Elections, and give them a written explanation that their voting privileges had been restored. Felons convicted in Florida are not allowed to vote unless their rights have been restored.

Officials will make sure all voters in line at poll closing time, 7 p.m., are allowed to vote.

Election staffers will mail a written explanation to people whose provisional ballots are disqualified. (Provisional ballots are given to voters whose eligibility to vote cannot be immediately verified at the polling place.)

Officials will keep the NAACP and other groups informed about how precincts will be staffed and equipped.

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