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A Times Editorial
Florida doesn't need Justice Department intervention - or more partisan sniping from either side - as it works to ensure a well-run general election on Nov. 5.
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 20, 2002
The party officials and politicians have had more than a week to vent about the voting problems in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. But if the Nov. 5 election is to be an improvement, the sniping simply has to stop.
That goes for state Democratic chairman Bob Poe, who took a cheap shot at the governor: "When it comes to election reform, photo-ops are more important to Jeb Bush than protecting the people's right to vote."
That goes for Republican chairman Al Cardenas, who accused Bill McBride of fraud: "I believe a full investigation should be launched immediately to determine the level of involvement by the Florida Democratic Party and the McBride campaign in these problems."
That goes for Al Gore, who still sounds bitter: "Once again, out of all 50 states, only one is being held up on national television by Jay Leno and David Letterman."
That goes for Broward Elections Supervisor Miriam Oliphant, who on Tuesday actually took aim at the voters: "The buck stops with the voters of Broward County."
Secretary of State Jim Smith also needs to stop overreacting. Smith, who took early steps to restore public confidence after replacing Katherine Harris, didn't help matters with his own clumsy request this week to bring in the Department of Justice. Though he may be sincere in wanting more oversight, his letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft read more like a Letter to the Editor.
The Justice Department might have a role in investigating fraud or racial discrimination, but Smith makes no such allegations. The state Constitution does limit Smith's role to prescribe and enforce remedies in each county, but his bully pulpit is already having some effect. Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor David Leahy has been working with his county government, which is pledging the services of 1,700 employees on Nov. 5. Oliphant finally showed some contrition on Thursday and announced she would work with the Broward Commission to take advantage of 800 county employees on Election Day. "It's time to make things right," she said.
The problems are not insurmountable. Smith has studied the results of the primary, and says, correctly, that most of the state handled the job well and that the technology does not appear to be at fault. A Times analysis, for example, found that the new technology all but eliminated "overvotes," which invalidated 113,000 ballots in 2000. Of the 41 counties with new touch screen or optical scan systems, only six did not improve their overall voter error rate.
It's not surprising that Broward and Miami-Dade suffered the worst problems. Leaving Oliphant's performance aside, these counties are the state's two most populous, and they have diverse voting populations. Miami-Dade required a ballot in three languages. When the Legislature last year established the ambitious goal of installing new technology statewide by the 2002 elections, the counties with the biggest and most diverse populations of voters were bound to face the toughest challenge.
Though the fingers are pointing back and forth now, the state knew this responsibility was a shared one. Lawmakers provided some of the money to make the changes, but not all, because counties also use their elections machinery for city and county elections. They also discovered that one technology might not fit everywhere, that what works in Madison County may not work in Miami-Dade. That's why the politicians and the administrators need to accept this problem as a shared one.
What the state needs at this point are competent, well-trained and punctual poll workers. What we don't need is Al Gore's eye-rolling or the Justice Department's shadow.