State: Florida appeals to D.C. for help with elections

Florida appeals to D.C. for help with elections

By JULIE HAUSERMAN, Times Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE -- Amid relentless criticism from Democrats who blame Gov. Jeb Bush for last week's South Florida voting problems, Bush and the state's top elections official issued a cry for help from the federal government Wednesday.

Secretary of State Jim Smith and Bush sent letters to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, asking Justice Department investigators to review what went wrong during the Sept. 10 primary election in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Smith asked the Justice Department to "take whatever steps you deem necessary" to review voting problems in the two counties and said that "the fate of election reform in Florida -- and perhaps our nation -- rests upon an immediate and effective response."

It was unclear Wednesday what the Justice Department would do.

But in Washington, President Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, told reporters: "What happened in these two counties, the president hopes will not be repeated."

With the president's brother up for re-election on Nov. 5, and the nation's eyes once again trained on the state's election woes, Democrats are trying to use the voting problems to galvanize support for Democratic gubernatorial challenger Bill McBride.

Gov. Bush and Smith, who are Republicans, blame Broward County elections supervisor Miriam Oliphant, a Democrat, and Miami-Dade elections supervisor David Leahy, who was appointed by a Democratic administration.

Polls didn't open on time, vote-counting was delayed and Democratic gubernatorial challenger Janet Reno -- who ultimately lost -- blamed Gov. Bush for another problem election.

"I think Janet Reno was visibly angry, and I can relate to that," Smith said Wednesday. "I think her anger should be directed at some of her own people in strongly Democratic counties."

"The fact is," Smith said, "we may never know for certain who is the real winner, but there is finality in this process."

Smith plans to hold two news conferences in South Florida today, one at the Broward County Courthouse and one at the Airport Hilton in Miami.

News that the Bush administration in Tallahassee asked the Bush administration in Washington to review voting in two of Florida's Democratic strongholds was greeted with skepticism by some Democrats Wednesday.

"The Republicans were in the driver's seat on this election, and they dropped the ball," said Joe Geller, an attorney for Reno. "Now, to imply that Justice Department intervention is needed is just another attempt to try and politicize this process."

But McBride, who toured the state as the state Elections Canvassing Commission certified him as the Democratic nominee for governor, appeared to welcome an outside look at the voting problems in Broward and Miami-Dade.

"If that's going to get to the bottom of this, that's great," said McBride spokesman Tony Welch.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe said all counties that had elections problems deserve review, not just Miami-Dade and Broward.

Earlier in the day, Smith said Miami-Dade is responding to problems by pledging to put county workers at each precinct for the Nov. 5 general election and stepping up poll worker training. "Dade County has pulled it together," Smith said.

But Smith piled on more criticism of Oliphant, saying that the Broward County Commission should take over the Nov. 5 election to prevent the sort of problems that occurred there in the primary. Broward Commission Chairwoman Lori Parrish suggested that county workers open polls, staff them and close them and that sheriff's deputies deliver ballots to counting centers.

Oliphant, who is almost $1-million over budget, resisted that.

"I will not, I say, I will not relinquish my duty as supervisor of elections of Broward County to the Broward County Commission, but I will share my responsibilities with the Broward County Commission," she said.

Smith said the election problems were caused by human ineptitude in Miami-Dade and Broward. The state's first election since the 2000 presidential debacle would have run just fine, Smith said, if those two counties had trained their poll workers better and tested their machines properly. The machines, he said, were not the problem.

In his letter to Ashcroft, Smith complained that he needed outside help because Florida law gives him little authority over local elections supervisors. The supervisors have their own budget and buy their own equipment with the approval of local county commissions.

"As county supervisors of elections are not subject to the supervisory or disciplinary authority of my office, any review of the Sept. 10 primary will necessarily require the expertise of multiple governmental entities," Smith wrote.

The governor could suspend Oliphant, but Smith said that would be "terribly disruptive" before the general election. Broward has nearly 1-million registered voters, the most of any Florida county.

Earlier in the day, the plain-talking Smith said it another way: "I can crack the whip all day long, but there ain't any bodies out there for me to hit."

-- Times staff writers Steve Bousquet and Wes Allison contributed to this report, which also includes information from the Associated Press.