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Judge says parental notice measure can stay on ballot

TALLAHASSEE - A judge on Tuesday refused to remove from the Nov. 2 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment dealing with the privacy rights of girls seeking abortions.

Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom dismissed complaints by the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood of Florida that the ballot summary was inaccurate and misleading.

The proposed change to the Florida Constitution would carve out an exception to the document's privacy provision and let lawmakers write a law requiring that parents be told when a minor daughter seeks an abortion.

The Florida Supreme Court has twice ruled, most recently a year ago, that laws mandating parental involvement in teen abortions violate privacy rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

State lawmakers put the proposed amendment on the ballot to trump the 2003 decision.

The ballot summary voters will see provides that state lawmakers "shall not limit or deny the privacy rights guaranteed to minors" under the U.S. Constitution.

The summary doesn't explain that the state Constitution now gives Floridians greater privacy than the federal Constitution.

But, wrote Sjostrom, "I conclude that the proposed ballot title and summary adequately inform that the amendment expands legislative power and adequately describes the nature and extent of that expansion."

The plaintiffs will appeal, said Diana Kasdan, a New York attorney representing the groups. In arguments heard earlier Tuesday, the plaintiffs contended that the ballot summary was misleading because those voting for the amendment will think they're preserving rights when, in fact, the constitutional change limits them.

George Waas, a state lawyer representing Secretary of State Glenda Hood, countered that the ballot summary doesn't have to mention every ramification.

They don't have electricity, and some of the precincts have been destroyed, but Charlotte County Elections Supervisor Judy Anderson intends to have an election on Aug. 31, according to state election officials.

Secretary of State Glenda Hood visited with Anderson and her staff Tuesday as she tried to determine what the state should do with counties still disrupted by Hurricane Charley and an election just two weeks away.

"The first words out of her mouth were, "We'll have an election on Aug. 31,' " Hood said.

The county also plans to offer early voting, as soon as the state can get generators to the elections office so it has emergency power.

Some Charlotte County precincts will have to double up to replace polling places that were destroyed by the storm.

Hood also planned to visit officials in Hardee and De Soto counties, where widespread power failures and destroyed buildings are endangering the ability to conduct an election.

"These people know they've lost a lot, but they absolutely don't want to lose their right to vote on Election Day," Hood said.

If any of the counties damaged by the hurricane have continuing problems, Gov. Jeb Bush could use an emergency order to delay the election by as long as 10 days. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Miami-Dade County delayed September primaries by a week.

TALLAHASSEE - State employee unions are challenging an election law that requires officials to throw out provisional ballots cast by registered voters at the wrong precinct.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union filed the suit with the Florida Supreme Court against Secretary of State Glenda Hood, Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho and the Leon County canvassing board.

"Florida citizens have every right to have every vote counted," said Alma Gonzalez, attorney for AFSCME, the union that represents most state employees.

The lawsuit asks the state's highest court to hear the challenge expeditiously so rules can be rewritten in time for the Nov. 2 general election. Hood was traveling Tuesday in areas damaged by Hurricane Charley and said she had not yet seen the lawsuit.

The provisional ballots were established by lawmakers in 2001 after thousands of voters were unable to cast a ballot in the 2000 elections due to registration problems. In some situations the voter appeared at the wrong precinct and in others, clerical errors with registration lists or questions about a voter's felony background caused voters to be turned away.

U.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor outpaced her Democratic rivals in raising money during the last six weeks, according to new figures from the candidates.

Castor raised about $625,000 between July 1 and Aug. 11. U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch of Hollywood raised about $225,000 and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas raised about $100,000.

With two weeks left before the Aug. 31 primary, Deutsch reports $1.1-million on hand. Deutsch has raised about $5-million total for the primary. Castor has raised $4.4-million and has $760,000 on hand. Penelas has raised almost $3.5-million and has $882,000.

It's the third straight reporting period that Castor, former state education commissioner and University of South Florida president, has raised more than the other Democrats.