Harris' reasons

By Compiled by Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 16, 2000

In her letters to county elections officials, Secretary of State Katherine Harris said there are no express statutory standards by which to evaluate the facts and circumstances associated with a late filing of county election returns. Instead, she said, the appropriate standards for determining whether to exercise discretion to accept or reject late election results are those used by Florida courts in deciding whether or not to uphold a challenged election. Here's what she said those standards are:

1. Where there is proof of voter fraud that affects the outcome of the election.

2. Where there has been a substantial non-compliance with statutory election procedures, and reasonable doubt exists as to whether the certified results expressed the will of the voters.

3. Where election officials have made a good faith effort to comply with the statutory deadline and are prevented from timely complying with their duties as a result of an act of God, or extenuating circumstances beyond their control, by way of example, an electrical power outage, a malfunction of the transmitting equipment, or a mechanical malfunction of the voting tabulation system.

Harris said the following facts and circumstances do not warrant waiver of the deadline:

1. Where there has been substantial compliance with statutory election procedures and the contested results relate to voter error, and there exists a reasonable expectation that the certified results expressed the will of the voters.

2. Where there exists a ballot that may be confusing because of the alignment and location of the candidates' names, but is otherwise in substantial compliance with the election laws.

3. Where there is nothing "more than a mere possibility that the outcome of the election would have been affected."

-- Florida Department of State

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