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Felons who voted might face charges
By CHASE SQUIRES © St. Petersburg Times, published January 17, 2001 SAINT LEO -- Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning said Tuesday he plans to press charges against felons who voted illegally in November's election. Speaking at a Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at Saint Leo University, Browning said he would send the voters' names and other information to Pasco Sheriff Bob White by early next week and ask that they be investigated. If the Sheriff's Office finds criminal wrongdoing and the State Attorney's Office agrees to prosecute, Browning said he will press charges. "I'm very serious," he said after the meeting. "We went through the ringer on this." Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll said his office would not comment on the matter until it receives Browning's list of names. And there is no guarantee of a comment even then, he said. By state law, people who vote knowing they are not legally allowed to are guilty of a third-degree felony. The maximum penalty is five years in prison. State law prohibits felons from voting unless they have had their civil rights restored by a court. A final tally of votes cast by people who were not legally allowed to came to 65. Of those, nine voters were felons, according to Browning's office. The office had no record of 31 of the voters being registered, and another 19 had been deleted from county rolls for a variety of reasons. Six missed the registration deadline. Once those votes were cast, despite being illegal, they count, Browning said. There is no way to go back and isolate which ballot was punched by which voter. Browning said he was especially irked by comments to a Times reporter by voter Terry Traugott, 39, of Port Richey. Traugott, who was convicted of felony drug possession, told the Times he was never told his voting rights would be taken away and said he had no trouble at his polling place when he showed up to vote for Democratic candidate Al Gore. Asked if he was concerned what politicians would think about his improperly cast ballot, Traugott said, "Bring 'em on, baby." Said Browning: "I'm the wrong person to tell "Bring 'em on' to." Browning said he accepted responsibility for all of the improper votes and that he will work to correct the errors. One problem, he said, was that all 20 hot lines set up for poll workers to call voting headquarters for advice were jammed all day with calls. Instead of turning people away when the hot line calls didn't go through, poll workers allowed them to vote, Browning said. Browning, one of 21 appointed to a state panel studying the voting system and problems caused by punch card ballots, predicted Pasco County has seen its last punch card election.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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