Letters to the Editors

Florida should have a unified election system

Again Florida is the laughing stock of the nation as the state that can't vote straight.

Part of the blame has to be placed on the voters for not caring enough to properly prepare themselves prior to voting.

But the greater blame must be placed on the election supervisors -- especially in Miami-Dade (where he is is appointed by the county board) and Broward (where she is elected). It's unforgivable that these two counties where there were so many problems in the 2000 election are again at the center of turmoil.

According to the secretary of state's office, these supervisors can both be removed by the governor and in Miami-Dade by the county board as well. It's time to do so. They are both incompetent and obviously incapable of controlling the election process in their counties.

It's also time for the state Legislature to correct the laws that give total control to each county supervisor. It's past time for our state to operate under one system with strict rules and regulations. After the debacle of the 2000 election when supervisors were making up their own rules, this change is long overdue. Voting rights are one of the basics of our country. It's time for Florida to enter the 21st century with fraud-free, consistent procedures throughout the entire state.

The media and some politicians are inaccurate and unfair in blaming Gov. Jeb Bush for the problems when each county supervisor is "king" of his individual "kingdom." It's time to stop the political games and clean up our state mess.
-- Jackie Grant, Orlando

Bush and Harris can't avoid blame

It was a Democrat, President Harry S. Truman, who had a sign on his desk that proclaimed, "The Buck Stops Here." Those four simple words define the ultimate responsibility for an executive in charge of a state, or the nation. Having observed Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris concerning two botched elections in the state, it's clear their motto is, "Never miss an opportunity to pass the buck.".

Let there be no doubt that the supervisors of elections in the 13 counties (No, not just Broward and Miami-Dade, as the GOP is trying to spin it) that had issues in Florida deserve scrutiny and blame. But the ultimate responsibility lies with Katherine Harris, who oversaw the changes after the 2000 presidential election fiasco and was, until six weeks ago, Florida's secretary of state, and her boss, Gov. Bush. Harris' job was to ensure that a proper election was conducted in the state. A long time ago, she should have sat down individually with the supervisors of elections of each county, in their offices, and asked them what they needed, if they had any reservations, and to conduct a limited test under her scrutiny. It is clear that she was extremely derelict in her duties, and that Gov. Bush didn't care enough to ask her the right questions well in advance. All of this wouldn't be so bad if there was not the backdrop of election 2000 that should have sharpened their focus on all subsequent elections.

No one should buy the argument from Gov. Bush that it was all the fault of two supervisors of elections. Can anyone imagine an upper-level manager in a company blaming a massive failure of a project for which he was ultimately responsible on two lower-level managers underneath him/her and expecting to take no responsibility as a result? The same and more goes for Katherine Harris.

The media should not allow them to carry on about how it wasn't their fault. It was their fault, they are responsible, and it is high time we make them pay the price for not doing their jobs.
-- Steven Leser, Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee, District 50 chairman, Clearwater

Runoff views are off base

Re: Support party unity.

Your Sept. 12 editorial claiming the election problems in Florida "wouldn't have mattered much" if the Legislature hadn't "cynically" done away with the runoff is off base. Even worse, your accusation that Republicans did it as a favor to Gov. Jeb Bush is a political cheap shot and way wide of the mark.

The runoff was eliminated solely for this election cycle at the request of the local supervisors of elections. They were rightly concerned about their ability to handle a complete rewrite of Florida's election laws and the installation of new technology in a year when they were also facing the mandatory redrawing of precinct lines due to redistricting. The decision had nothing at all to do with the governor's campaign.

From a purely political point of view, it's obvious that the Democrat candidates would be hurt if the runoff were still in place. A runoff would further deplete their financial resources, shorten the opportunity to directly engage in debates and other general election activities and therefore weaken the eventual nominee's chances to challenge an incumbent governor.

In truth, the myriad of problems in Broward and Miami-Dade could have been prevented. I met with Secretary of State Jim Smith and Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe a few weeks ago and the potential for problems in that area was discussed. We offered several times to help out, but were rebuffed. Poe made no offer of help, to our knowledge. Why not? Perhaps he and Florida's Democrat Party weren't interested in helping in an area favorable to Janet Reno.
-- Al Cardenas, chairman, Republican Party of Florida, Tallahassee

The buck stops in Tallahassee

Re: Supervising elections, editorial, Sept. 13.

If it's true Secretary of State Jim Smith and Gov. Jeb Bush are totally blameless in this latest election fiasco, as you suggested in this editorial, one must ask: Why do we have a state Division of Elections?

Faced with obvious warning signs, the governor and Secretary Smith took no action to ensure these the elections offices in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were prepared for the primary. Why? The state's official line is that help was offered to Broward Supervisor Miriam Oliphant, but she "refused it."

Does this mean if the managers of a particularly trouble-plagued local office of the Department of Children and Families were to "refuse" help from the state DCF office, we would expect Secretary Jerry Regier to say, "Okay, that's fine, I'll let you alone?" Not likely!

It is the job of the Florida Division of Elections, its secretary and ultimately the governor to ensure local supervisors of elections are competent and prepared to run elections. Under Gov. Jeb Bush's watch, two elections in a row have been fouled up. Certainly local elections officials deserve a large part of the blame, but the buck doesn't stop there. In the end, it is the governor's responsibility, and once again, he has failed to face up to it.
-- Bill Hirschi, Ocala

Governor's remarks were amazing

Almost two years after the debacle of 2000, the state of Florida again becomes the butt of jokes regarding incompetence in the election process. The responses of Gov. Jeb Bush:

1. "What is it with Democrats having a hard time voting -- I don't know."

While the right to have your vote counted may be a joke to the governor, did he not realize that Republicans also had primaries that were affected by this incompetence?

2. "I'll be blamed -- that's the amazing part of this."

No, Gov. Bush, what's amazing is a remark like that. Evidently the governor's motto is, "The buck stops elsewhere, unless it's something I can claim credit for." But what can we expect? The person directly in charge of elections in 2000 who had almost two years to fix the incompetence is in the process of being rewarded with a seat in Congress. Let the jokes continue. As new Secretary of State Jim Smith said, "I frankly wonder what in the hell have they been doing for two years."
-- Daniel Favero, St Petersburg

It's not a partisan problem

On Sept. 10, I served as a poll worker for the first and, most likely, the last time.

I arrived at 5:55 a.m. Other workers were already setting up the new touch-screen voting machines. The polls opened at 7 a.m. sharp. By 10:30 a.m. voters were reporting troubles in South Florida. Around 2 p.m., we heard rumors that the governor had ordered the polls to remain open for an extra two hours. At 4:30 p.m. a representative from our supervisor of elections came to tell us we were being asked to stay open until 9 p.m. After a 15-plus hour day, I arrived home just in time for the 10 o'clock news.

One of the first clips was of the governor joking about how the Democrats couldn't seem to get this voting thing straight. The governor got it wrong! The problem in South Florida is not a Democratic problem; it is a democracy problem! County and state officials are responsible for conducting our elections -- not "Democratic" or "Republican" party officials.

I am a Republican, and I am ashamed that our governor would demonstrate his "leadership," first, by keeping the polls open in counties where no trouble existed and, second, by trivializing the problem as the fault of the Democrats.

Thousands of conscientious poll workers were adversely affected. Most did their job right and were punished for their effort. The result? Supervisors of elections in every county will find it more difficult to recruit poll workers in the future. The governor and state Legislature need to provide adequate resources for county governments to get the job done. Poll workers need to be properly trained and adequately paid for the time they serve.

Florida needs to get it right! The next election is only a few weeks away!
-- Ann McDowell, Ozona

Pinellas operated in a professional way

My sincere congratulations go to Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark and her wonderful professional staff of "how-to-vote" pros who trained the poll workers (of which I was one).

I was drilled on the proper way to set up the machines, how to operate them, how to show the public how to use them and, most of all, how to get the polls open and closed at the proper time.

Pinellas County should be very proud of Deborah Clark and her staff.
-- Selma Edwards, St. Petersburg

A job for high school seniors

Re: Another Florida election in doubt and Two years later, system still broken, Sept. 11.

After reading these articles, I am thoroughly convinced that a change must be made.

My solution: Train 12th-grade students to be poll workers. Assign them to polling places in their districts. Open up the polling places to them, with all the voting machines in place, the day before election. They are smart, and with minimum proper training, they can run the polling places properly.

This will give them a feeling of belonging to the community as future voters. Best of all, we might avoid another election disaster.
-- Dorothy Allen, St. Petersburg

Education is the answer

Re: Voting problems.

The case has been made! There is no need for further discussion. The continuing voting difficulty in Florida is prima facie evidence that the top priority for funding is education, especially in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
-- E.J. Humphrey, Largo

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