Eyes tell voters not to believe ears on counts

The Miami Herald ^ | Thu, Sep. 12, 2002 | LUISA YANEZ, JACQUELINE CHARLES AND CHARLES RABIN

[ijcr]

Miami-Dade County says only one person voted at the Sans Souci Manor precinct in the northeast part of the county on Tuesday.

Don't tell that to Jill Brothers, 63, and her neighbors. Brothers voted at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. The place was packed.

''I can't believe it, why would they say that?'' Brothers said. ``It was almost full when I was there.''

Glum-faced county election workers admitted late Thursday that they had found vote-count anomalies in four polling places: Precinct 14 at North Shore Community Center, Precinct 105 at Highland Oaks Middle School, Precinct 148 at Sans Souci Manor Apartments and Precinct 254 at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church.

Janet Reno's campaign alleges the problems affected as many as 80 precincts, and Miami-Dade election officials are investigating.

Brothers cast her ballot at 1900 Sans Souci Blvd., north of Miami Shores. According to election results put out by Miami Dade, her precinct -- with 873 registered voters -- cast only one ballot on Tuesday. It went for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride, county election returns show.

But Shari Hadani says she voted there for Janet Reno.

''There were other people there when I voted,'' Hadani said. ``In fact, there were people on both sides of me. If my vote doesn't count, it wouldn't be the first thing the state stole from me.''

In Precinct 105, the county election returns indicate no one voted.

''You are kidding. It was a mob. Every one of the machines was busy when I got there,'' said Leila Gregg, an 80-year-old Reno fan who voted at the precinct, 2375 NE 203rd St.

NOT SURPRISED

Caren Lesser was angered when she learned her vote there didn't count.

''But not surprised, given the condition of the voting process in Florida. It's just living up to its reputation,'' she said.

Silvia Fernandez called it ''a lie'' when told that only four votes were counted in her North Shore neighborhood in Precinct 14.

''They are crazy. That's a lie. When I voted, there were like 10 to 15 people there,'' said Fernandez, 65, a registered Republican. ``I can't believe they say only four people voted.''

Fernandez, among the 721 registered voters at North Shore Community Center, voted midafternoon.

Her friend Felicia Garcia, 73, also couldn't believe only four votes were counted at the center, 7250 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach.

''I know five people who voted yesterday,'' she said. ``They all live around here. What are they talking about?''

Paul Hermoza, 27, voted at Precinct 14, but only after two failed attempts. The third time, at 5 p.m., he was able to vote for Reno.

''But I saw about 40 people in line,'' Hermoza said. ``The second time I saw about 10 people. It's not true that only four people voted there.''

ALL OVER AGAIN

Across town at Liberty City's Precinct 254, where the county reported only about a 5 percent turnout, people just called it ``déj vu.''

''It's just a slap in the face,'' said Beverly Turner, 41. ``You go to vote because you are encouraged, and then your vote doesn't count for anything.''

Michele Marshall, 34, was outraged to learn that her and her daughter Cepeatria's votes for Reno may not have counted.

''It's ridiculous,'' she said. ``I live right down the street and I know there were more than 87 people who voted.''

Democratic candidate Jacqui Colyer in House District 104 -- who lost to Yolly Roberson -- said she wants a recount.

''Something is foul. Something is wrong,'' Colyer said.

``I want them to do something about it. I want them to recount all of the Northwest ballots.''

[ijcr]

The magnifying glass is being focused on these two counties and decades of fixed voting.

[Rome2000]

Bunch of goddamned socialist crooks, this isn't going to get swept under the rug.

[Rome2000]

Too bad for McAuliffe and the DNC that they can't buy off all of the people who's votes they stole.

This election was rigged for McBride at the orders of the DNC.

Somebody needs to go to jail.

[MissAmericanPie]

Nothing to see here, move on. Neither party seems eager to confront or repair vote fraud.

[Elkiejg]

I am so enraged at this mess in SoFL I called the Sec. of State's office yesterday. I was told that Miami-Dade Supervisor was appointed and could be removed by their Board or the Governor. Broward supervisor is elected and can be removed only by the Gov. So I sent Jeb an email and requested he remove both of them immediately. The fact that both supervisors are DEMOCRATS is of course being ignored by our wonderful press. Freepers need to bombard the media to this fact AND that County Supervisors have complete control over their districts - NOT THE GOVERNOR. On this point, I urged Jeb to have the legislature rewrite the laws concerning this situation. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

[Consort]

This Primary is a field test for the Democrat Vote Fraud Team in preparation for November and subsequent elections. They are developing fraud procedures for the new voting machines.

[patton]

''But I saw about 40 people in line,'' Hermoza said. ``The second time I saw about 10 people. It's not true that only four people voted there.''

[MissAmericanPie]

Good for you, I hope other Florida Freepers will join you and make a phone call.

[Semi Civil Servant]

This Primary is a field test for the Democrat Vote Fraud Team in preparation for November and subsequent elections. They are developing fraud procedures for the new voting machines.

My guess is that at the DNC "How to Commit Voter Fraud" Seminar this summer in Chicago, the Florida team was not one of the presenters. If these DNC toffs keep pulling this kind of sloppy fraud, they might motivate people in their own party to start calling for an independent investigation.

OK. So I'm hopelessly naive. Never mind. It's Jeb's fault.

[4CJ]

So why are there no McBride voters complaining about missing votes? Just curiuos.

[B4Ranch]

Paul Hermoza, 27, voted at Precinct 14, but only after two failed attempts.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Neither party seems eager to confront or repair vote fraud.

The old "They all do it" cop-out . . . just be cynical and you won't have to burn out any synapses actually thinking.

The Republican Party is the party of the rich middle class.

The Democratic Party is the party of the poor as provided by the rich in order to distinguish themselves from the middle class.

None of the senators are poor, but the richest senators are all Democrats. The Democratic Party gets fewer contributions but larger ones than the Republican Party.

Journalists are sympathetic to the Democratic Party, criticizing it only from the left--thereby positioning the Democratic Party "in the middle." This makes publicizing the virtues of the Republican Party or the flaws of the Democratic Party difficult.

But don't strain your brain, "both sides do it."

</sarcasm>

[Katya]

Didn't they switch to paperless ballots and vote on touch screen? The paperless system bothers me immensely.

[Rome2000]

In Precinct 105, the county election returns indicate no one voted.

Dade democrat leaders decided to just throw out Reno votes.

This is vote fraud on a massive scale.

[MissAmericanPie]

Don't strain your brain assumping you know what I'm thinking. The Republicans are wimps in that they have not raised cain about the vote fraud. It's obvious to anyone that it was the Demoncrats that stuffed ballot boxes from Florida to San Francisco, that is most likely how Hillary nailed her Senate seat.

Enligthen me, did I miss the Republican party yelling foul over this? Did I miss them demanding, pointing fingers, and bulling the Democrats into passing effective legislation to insure it doesn't happen again? So why haven't they? Because they whimp out on any confrontation with Democrats.

[carra]

Since this is a Democratic primary election in mostly Democratic counties, may I be the first to predict that we won't hear a damn thing about poor disenfranchised black voters.

[Coop]

Having served as an election official in VA, I find it incomprehensible that problems like this can occur. We have redundancies and double-checks built into the system, and in three elections we've had problems rectifying only a handful of votes. Only once during that time could we not, by close of business, balance the books against the voting machine totals. We were ONE vote off. And during the Presidential 2000 elections we had about 2200 voters come through. Not exactly a quiet day.

[Elkiejg]

Following is a letter I've been sending to some FL newspapers. I've also emailed Jeb to fire the 2 supervisors and change the laws:

Again Florida is the laughing stock of the nation as the State who can't vote straight.

Part of the blame has to be placed on the voters for not caring enough to properly prepare themselves prior to voting.

But the greater blame must be placed on the Election Supervisors - especially in Miami-Dade (who is appointed by the County Board) and Broward (who is elected). It's unforgivable that these two counties where there were so many problems in the 2000 election are again at the center of turmoil.

According to the Sec. of State's office, these Supervisors can both be removed by the Governor and in Miami-Dade by the County Board as well. It's time to do so. They are both incompetent and obviously incapable of controlling the election process in their counties.

It's also time for the State legislature to correct the laws that give total control to each county Supervisor. It's past time for our State to operate under one system with strict rules and regulations. After the debacle of the 2000 election where each Supervisor was making up their own rules, this change is long overdue. Voting rights are one of the basics of our country - it's time for Florida to enter the 21st. century with fraud-free, consistent procedures throughout the entire State.

The media and some politicians are inaccurate and unfair in blaming Governor Bush for the problems when each county Supervisor is "king" of their individual "kingdom". It's time to stop the political games and clean up our State mess.

A note to outsiders with personal agendas - stay out of Florida and our business, we'll clean up our own mess without help from you - thank you very much.

[eureka!]

"The magnifying glass is being focused on these two counties and decades of fixed voting."

Yep. The Rat party wanted McBride and they are doing what they tried to do to W in 2000--this time to Reno. This has got to stop. Jeb/W needs to send in the troops in these counties, Big Time....

[TC Rider]

This election was rigged for McBride at the orders of the DNC.

Makes sense, they get the candidate they want and can then blame Jeb for all the problems.