Posted on 06/26/2002 9:46:39 AM PDT by Jean S
A voting rights lawsuit against the state, Miami-Dade and several other counties stemming from the disputed 2000 presidential election is headed to trial later this summer after attorneys deadlocked on a settlement, a federal judge said Tuesday.
''As far as I'm concerned, this case is going to trial,'' U.S. District Judge Alan Gold said after hearing that attempts for successful mediation had failed. ``It's disappointing, but it is what it is.''
The lawsuit, filed last year by the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, The Advancement Project, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and The People for the American Way Foundation alleged that improper registration and polling procedures disenfranchised thousands of minority voters in Florida.
Broward and Leon counties settled last month. Choicepoint, which the state hired to compile a database used to purge felons from voter lists, also settled, though details were not available Tuesday.
Last month, Judge Gold strongly encouraged the remaining parties to work on a settlement. But the mediator, former Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gerald Wetherington, said Monday that the parties were at an impasse.
The stalemate throws Miami-Dade, a key battleground of the 2000 election, back in the national spotlight.
Murray Greenberg, first assistant county attorney, said Tuesday that the county had made ''every reasonable'' effort to reach an agreement.
''The plaintiffs keep changing their positions,'' he said. ``We have tried to mediate in good faith. The court advised us this morning that we will go to trial.''
He refused to discuss specifics of the negotiations because of the pending trial.
County officials have said only one allegation affected Miami-Dade.
That one involved a man who complained he couldn't vote because his name was not on the precinct rolls and poll workers could not reach the main office because phone lines were tied up.
County attorneys said the man changed residences but never told elections officials.
Civil rights attorneys said they were willing to continue talks with the defendants. ''But at this point very few are willing to discuss a settlement seriously,'' said Elliot Mincberg, senior counsel with People for the American Way Foundation.
The trial is set for Aug. 26 -- two weeks before the fall primaries.
The defendants include Secretary of State Katherine Harris, state Elections Director Clay Roberts and the elections supervisors for Miami-Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Orange and Volusia counties.
Harris spokesman David Host said ``we remain confident that Florida's national leadership in election reform will be vindicated in the ultimate outcome.''
Leon County was the first to settle in April, followed by Broward a month later.
Both counties agreed to identify and reinstate residents who were wrongfully purged from the voter rolls.
They also need to develop voter education plans, which will be monitored by civil rights groups.
In the future, both will also have to provide a written explanation to anyone whose provisional ballot -- used when a voter's qualifications could not be immediately verified -- is ultimately rejected.
Broward also must have laptop computers at each precinct to check the master voter rolls -- a solution designed to address problems experienced in 2000 when voters were turned away because they weren't listed at a particular precinct and there was no way to verify their registration .
The suit alleged thousands of voters in predominantly black precincts were disqualified or wrongfully taken off voting rolls or their registrations improperly processed.
The civil rights groups want the judge to examine the way the state and counties drop voters, process registration applications and address changes, as well as assign precinct equipment and staffing.
The organizations want the state to restore people who were improperly purged from voting rolls. Defense attorneys have argued the new provisional ballot would address many of the plaintiffs' allegations.
However, civil rights groups said those ballots would not solve all the voter problems or address how counties maintain voter lists.
Not to mention dead people.
I'm anxious to see if they have anything other than these vague accusations to offer once they get into court. My guess will be no. The news media gave them any number of chances to talk about any evidence they have long ago. No evidence was ever presented or even hinted at.
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