Opinion: Review election reform for clarity

A Times Editorial

Review election reform for clarity

It would be a mistake to read too much into the U.S. Justice Department's intervention in Florida election reform. In reviewing a new election law passed this year, the Justice Department has asked for further explanation of four points: a statewide voter database, the posting of voter responsibilities at polling places, the casting of provisional ballots and minority involvement in the reform process.

The request for more information doesn't necessarily mean the federal government will find fault with major portions of Florida's election reform law. But the parts the Justice Department has focused on are a little fuzzy in the minds of many Floridians, as well. We should welcome any clarity federal officials can bring to the matter.

Hundreds of voters were wrongly purged from the rolls in the 2000 presidential election, possibly enough to have changed the outcome. Many errors were traced back to a misguided effort by the state Division of Elections, which hired a private firm to remove duplicate entries, dead people and felons from the voter rolls. They also removed eligible voters.

The new law allows state elections officials to contract with the county clerks of court to keep an up-to-date voter role, and the clerks are probably the most qualified for the job. But the Division of Elections was unable to reach an agreement with the clerks, and the division is now planning to develop the complex computer database of voters itself. There is some doubt that the division is up to the job. So voter roll accuracy is a legitimate concern for the Justice Department, especially if it can show that minority voters are disenfranchised at a greater rate by the mistakes.

As to minority involvement in rewriting election law, that could be difficult to assess. Minority legislators took an active role in the reform process, but it is not clear that minority views were sought out by the Legislature.

The requirement that a list of voter rights and responsibilities must be posted in polling places attracted little attention at first. But some critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed a federal suit over that and other points, say the posters will intimidate minority voters. If federal officials can determining lawmakers' intentions, it could be helpful in deciding whether the posters are meant to discourage minority voters.

Provisional ballots can provide a fix for voters who were wrongly removed from the registration rolls. They would be allowed to cast ballots that would be held but later counted if those voters were, indeed, eligible. But the Florida law restricts such ballots to voters who show up at the correct precinct, which still denies the vote to many who, through confusion or error, try to vote at the wrong precinct. Whether that restriction has a greater impact on minority voters could be difficult to determine.

The Justice Department has the authority to review state election law because of discriminatory practices in the past, and many minority voters believe they were treated unfairly in the 2000 election. The goals of the Justice Department and Florida elections officials should be the same: to protect all eligible voters' right to cast a ballot and to have it accurately counted.