Believe what you want about the 2000 election in Florida. What is hard to deny is that regardless of the outcome, the election was a disaster. Unfortunately, things are not looking much better this time around. As a Floridian, I have endured countless jokes about how we can't read a ballot, don't know how to vote, and need Fisher-Price to design our voting machines. But it is no laughing matter.
While the average voter may make the innocent mistake of punching a chad for Bush instead of Gore in 2000, I find it hard to believe that the Jewish population of Palm Beach County would cast numerous votes for Pat Buchanan, a man who has openly admired Adolf Hitler. That ballot was clearly problematic beyond the failing hand-eye coordination of a few elderly individuals.
This time, much will be made of the difficulty facing Florida after suffering four consecutive hurricanes in one year and the impact of those storms on the state's power grid. But this year's problems predate even Charley. In attempting to address the problems of the 2000 election, Gov. Jeb Bush has taken a series of steps ostensibly to improve the system.
His first step was to ask Accenture, one of the world's largest technology consulting firms, to help with various election-related tasks, including the production of the list of Florida felons. Florida law prohibits felons from voting. However, in 2000, a small but significant number of felons were wrongly disenfranchised after having received clemency. Given the narrow margin of the vote, the profundity of the mistake was magnified.
Over the summer, the Miami Herald chronicled what may as well have been an indictment of the Florida electoral system. First, the Herald discovered that 2,100 citizens, who had been granted clemency restoring their voting rights, were nonetheless on the banned-voter list. Then the Sarasota Herald-Tribune discovered that only 61 of more than 47,000 supposed felons were Hispanic, a demographic group that typically votes Republican in Florida, while the vast majority of the disenfranchised were African-American, a traditional part of the Democratic base.
Unbelievably, though the felon list was among the largest sources of criticism in 2000, Gov. Bush tried to slip it through the cracks again.
Prior to the revelation, Gov. Bush and his administration denied public access to the list. It took the ruling of a federal judge to make its contents public. Following this scandal, many Florida citizens, including Florida Senator Bill Nelson, called for an independent audit of the entire election process, including the role of Accenture.
Former President Jimmy Carter also chimed in to express deep concerns about the election in Florida, fearing that the results may again be tainted in 2004. This from a man who monitors elections in places like Mozambique and Venezuela! Naturally, Gov. Bush blocked any independent audit, saying that it would slow the process and reduce voter confidence in the system.
Attention then turned to the touch screen voting systems, another new addition meant to improve the efficiency of Florida vote counting and eliminate the risk of difficult to read ballots. Critics of the new system pointed to the frequent problems with touch-screen voting, such as the system's inability to leave a paper trail should a recount again be necessary. Secretary of State Glenda Hood, a staunch Republican, issued a mandate in April preventing manual recounts in touch-screen counties. It took judicial intervention to insist that there be some paper trail of the election. One wonders whether Secretary Hood has a federal position waiting for her if Bush wins Florida and is reelected as a result, as Katherine Harris did after her role in pushing through the results in 2000.
The most egregious event in the ongoing election scandal was the Florida Republican Party putting out an advertisement in the Tampa Bay area for registered Republicans to vote absentee to avoid the touch screen voting system. Gov. Bush wisely discredited the ad, saying that he had every confidence that registered voters from both parties ought to use the system. Then again, the system is only in place in 15 of Florida's most populous counties. Logistically this makes sense, but Florida's urban areas, particularly in South Florida, are the most strongly Democratic, whereas rural regions are strongly Republican.
Early voting is already underway in Florida, and there have been a few glitches. But the big glitch seems waiting for the state of Florida on Nov. 2. It is especially hard to believe, given the events of 2000 and the consequential increased attention on the state's election, that Gov. Bush would again try to give his brother an unfair advantage in case of another close election.
Florida's Republican leaders would do well to remember that the perception of impartiality and fairness is one of the most important factors in maintaining the faith of the people in their government. This is the United States, not a banana republic.
Justin Carlson is a junior majoring in biotechnology and International Relations.
