Urgent letter from Janet Reno Election Day Voting Problems

Subj: Election Day Voting Problems Date: 9/12/2002 4:24:20 PM Eastern Standard Time From: info@renoforflorida.com To: info@renoforflorida.com File: vote_incident_report.zip (130509 bytes) DL Time (TCP/IP): < 1 minute Sent from the Internet (Details)

As you know, thousands of voters faced difficulties when attempting to vote in the Sept. 10th Primary election. The Reno campaign has been flooded with calls from Floridians who believe they have been denied their right to vote.

If you experienced any problems while voting on Sept. 10th, please take a few minutes to fill out the form below and return it to the Reno campaign as soon as possible. Your assistance will help us understand the full extent to which voting irregularities existed throughout the state.

Please fill out the below text report if you are unable to open either attachment.

PROBLEM (please include the time of the incident and if possible the names of poll workers):

Please complete this form and return it as soon as possible to the Reno Campaign:

---------------- Pd. Pol. Adv. Paid for by the Janet Reno for Governor Campaign. Approved by candidate Janet Reno (Democrat). (305) 760-2002 15495 Eagle Nest Lane, Suite 2002, Miami Lakes, FL 33014 http://www.renoforflorida.com

If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please reply to this message with the word 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.

PROBLEM (please include the time of the incident and if possible the names of pollworkers):

Please complete this form and return it as soon as possible to the Reno Campaign: • by fax at 305-822-5885, or • by email at hgershman@renoforflorida.com Thank you for your help.

This just came in my email:

Reno Refuses to Concede Fla. Primary

By KEN THOMAS
.c The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) - Bill McBride finished 8,196 votes ahead of Janet Reno in Florida's bungled Democratic primary for governor, according to unofficial state figures released Thursday. Reno refused to concede and would not rule out a court challenge to determine who will take on Republican Gov. Jeb Bush this fall.

The state canvassing board said McBride's margin of victory exceeded half of a percentage point, the trigger for an automatic machine recount. More than 1.3 million votes were cast.

According to the state, the Tampa lawyer had 601,008 votes, or 44.5 percent, to Reno's 592,812 votes, or 43.9 percent. State Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami had 156,358 votes, or 11.6 percent.

The results will be officially certified next week.

Reno campaign attorney Alan Greer said the former attorney general has not decided whether she will seek a recount or go to court to overturn the result, but was keeping her options open. The campaign fell 1,445 votes short of triggering a recount.

Greer and Reno campaign manager Mo Elleithee specifically questioned Miami-Dade County's ballot count in 81 precincts, saying thousands of votes could be affected on Reno's home turf. The campaign said there could be similar problems in Broward County.

Elleithee said the campaign has received hundreds of affidavits from voters alleging problems, and has e-mailed supporters statewide asking for more examples.

Still, Greer said the campaign is trying to avoid doing anything that would cause hurt the Democratic effort to oust Bush this fall. ``We are not here to start World War III in the legal sense,'' Greer said.

McBride was expected to claim the nomination later Thursday.

``He is ready to assume the mantle,'' spokesman Alan Stonecipher said. ``As far as we're concerned, we're planning a general election campaign.''

Robin Rorapaugh, McBride's campaign manager, said a court challenge by Reno could cost Democrats and be ``horribly divisive'' in the campaign against Bush.

David Niven, a Florida Atlantic University political science professor, agreed. ``If Reno challenges this, it will be the ultimate act of political selfishness because it will be a dramatic help to Jeb Bush,'' he said.

Florida was plunged into its latest political cliffhanger Tuesday when polling stations opened late and elections workers had myriad problems with the new touchscreen voting machines. Many voters were confused by new precinct boundaries.

In some places, ballots were chewed up by optical scanners, others were modified by hand and one Broward County precinct worker took ballots home after he couldn't reach elections officials.

Florida had enacted new laws and spent $32 million to reform its election system, eliminating paper chads altogether and hoping to avoid other problems that held up the 2000 presidential election for seven weeks.

Instead, hundreds of people complained they were turned away from the polls and many problems were reported in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which were considered key by Reno's campaign.

Miami-Dade was re-examining its count in 10 counties late Thursday. County officials said the original tally showed turnout in those precincts was less than 10 percent and they want to make sure votes weren't missed. Mayor Alex Penelas ordered his inspector general to investigate the county's problems.

The potential dispute reminded many of the presidential election, when George W. Bush's 537-vote victory was delayed as Al Gore demanded recounts and Democrats complained of uncounted punchcard ballots. Gov. Bush, the president's brother, blamed the latest problems on Democratic election chiefs.

``It's a black eye for Miami-Dade County and Broward County,'' Bush said. ``More resources, more training, more equipment, more state dollars, two years to do this, and it appears there were flaws in the implementation. Sixty-five counties got it right.''

But Elleithee pointed at Bush for the voting problems.

``We wouldn't be in this mess today if Jeb Bush had learned the lessons from 2000 about how to run an election,'' he said. ``There were problems all over the state.''

McBride, who once led Florida's largest law firm, was a political unknown when the campaign began and he trailed Reno by 25 points two months ago. But he won endorsements from key Democratic leaders and seemed to benefit from GOP attack ads that helped boost his name recognition.

Democratic leaders said McBride stood a better chance of defeating Bush in November.

Reno angered many in Florida's Cuban community, an influential voting bloc, when as President Clinton's attorney general she oversaw the federal raid two years ago that took Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives. The boy was sent back to Cuba with his father.

Reno was criticized for a grass-roots campaign that included statewide tours in a red pickup truck. Democratic officials and political experts said Reno needed to get on television earlier to tout her message. In the meantime, McBride was raising much more money than Reno - $4.2 million to $2.6 million, according to their latest filings.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.