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'I feel like we are owed an apology'
By SUSAN THURSTON © St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001 TAMPA -- Black voters concerned about irregularities in the November election vented their frustrations Saturday and urged government leaders to take steps to avoid more problems. About 30 people attended a hearing put on by the NAACP to talk about their voting experiences and to offer suggestions on how to improve the system for the next election. Some said they were wrongly turned away at the polls, while others said precinct workers were ill-prepared. Many feared the problems would discourage people from voting. "I know of too many folks saying to me that 'I'm never going to vote again because my vote didn't count,' " said Mark Perry of Tampa. The top concern had to do with the voting rights of convicted felons. Many were told they couldn't vote even though they had gone through the process to restore their voting rights. Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Pam Iorio blamed the situation on the state's list of convicted felons, which included many Hillsborough residents who actually were eligible to vote. Her office tried to contact each person to determine who had become eligible, but many didn't respond and some contacted her office too late. "We are in the business of getting people to vote," Iorio said. "We should not be in the position of telling people they are a felon when we're not responsible for the accuracy of the information." To avoid last-minute confusion on Election Day, Iorio suggested the state establish "provisional" ballots. They would allow people to vote subject to verification after the polls close. During the 2 1/2-hour hearing at the County Center in Tampa, some people said increased voter education was the key to thwarting problems. Many voters simply were too embarrassed to ask questions of precinct workers, who often were too busy or ill-informed. "A lot of first-time voters were disenfranchised because they didn't know how to do it," said the Rev. Paul Matthews, first vice president of the Hillsborough branch of the NAACP. Alene Atkins said many people were turned away from the polls because the precincts couldn't accommodate the crowds. "People walked away not knowing why they weren't able to vote," said Atkins, who helped drive voters to polls in Sulphur Springs. "I feel like we are owed an apology." The complaints and observations will form the basis of the NAACP's recommendations to the state and county elections offices and the governor's election review task force. In all, the Hillsborough branch has received more than 170 complaints about the Nov. 7 election. The state lawmakers, voting officials and community leaders on Saturday's panel said they hoped the lessons learned will improve the credibility of the state's voting system. "Everyone should feel like they have a voting system that works," said state Rep. Bob Henriquez, D-Tampa. "We can fix the problems that we had. We want our voting system to be colorblind." They also hoped the past problems would encourage people to make their vote count. "Good can come out of this," said County Commissioner Thomas Scott. "I don't believe an election in Florida or across the country will ever be the same again because of what's happened."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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