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Group calls for audit of touch screen voting

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush should increase voter confidence by calling Florida's Legislature into special session to order an independent audit of the state's touch screen voting system, a group of South Florida activists said Tuesday.

The organization, which calls itself the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, wants audits of all touch screen machines used in 15 Florida counties during the Aug. 31 primary. The other 52 counties use optical scan machines.

"He can either be the leader in election reform or he can stick his head in the sand and do nothing," said Sandy Wayland, spokeswoman for the coalition.

The group says the touch screen machines should record the vote, tabulate it accurately and produce a paper record.

Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre responded: "We're not going to engage in every accusation du jour from people whose goal it is to undermine voter confidence. We have every confidence in the Department of State, Division of Elections and 67 elections supervisors around the state and voters should too."

MIAMI - Retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Graham defended Senate candidate Betty Castor on Tuesday from criticism that she failed to move quickly to investigate allegations of terrorist fundraising while she was president of the University of South Florida.

Graham, former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was confident Castor "acted appropriately" in the case of Sami Al-Arian. The former university professor is under indictment on federal charges that he used an academic think tank affiliated with the university and a charity as fronts for terrorist fundraising in the 1990s.

Castor's handling of the case drew criticism Monday from a political committee, the American Democracy Project. Attorney Bernie Friedman, the group's leader and a friend of U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, one of Castor's rivals in the Senate Democratic primary, said Castor "lied" when she said at a forum last week that she was unable to get information on Al-Arian from investigators.

Castor was USF president when it became known that the FBI was investigating Al-Arian's and others' ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian was suspended and later fired by current USF president Judy Genshaft.

Graham said Castor "took the initial steps that ultimately led to his dismissal. She suspended the professor from his duties and consulted with the proper authorities.

"The campaign for the Senate should focus on important issues such as the need to reform our intelligence agencies to better protect against a repeat of the horror of 9/11," Graham said. "The campaigns should stick to the facts and focus on the future."

MELBOURNE - One man died and another was critically burned when fireworks they were shooting off from their car ignited inside their vehicle as it rolled down the highway, police said.

Artavis Walker, 23, and Antonio Robinson, 27, both suffered burns over 90 percent of their bodies late Monday. Walker died at Orlando Regional Medical Center; Robinson was in critical condition.

Police said the two men were lighting off fireworks from their Toyota Corolla about 9:42 p.m. when something set off other fireworks in the car.

Robinson, the passenger, escaped the flaming vehicle a few blocks before it crashed into a light pole. Walker, the driver, couldn't get out before the crash.

OCHOPEE - A Florida panther was captured and relocated Tuesday after roaming into a campground in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staffers trapped the 81/2-year-old male panther after three weeks of closely monitoring his movements.

The panther received a physical and a new collar before being released 20 miles north in the Bear Island section of Big Cypress.

There are only about 80 to 100 of the endangered Florida panthers remaining, an increase from about 20 to 30 in the 1970s.