Posted on 09/15/2002 3:44:26 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
By Associated Press
September 15, 2002, 5:32 AM EDT
MIAMI --
Election workers in Janet Reno's stronghold of Broward County have found uncounted votes from last week's primary, though officials didn't say how many.
The votes were found Saturday in a precinct that first reported no votes, said Willie Weslie, project manager with Election Systems & Software Inc., which made the touchscreen voting machines used in the county.
That precinct, with 832 registered voters, was among 247 that Reno has asked officials to review in her battle with Bill McBride for the Democratic nomination.
"I don't know what happened in every case. I just know 1/8poll workers 3/8 had procedures and didn't follow them," said Weslie.
Weslie said poll workers in the precinct should have inserted a cartridge in the machines, which would have collected the votes when polls closed. But they did not, he said, so the empty cartridge made it appear that no votes were cast.
Workers examined touchscreen voting machines until shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, and were expected to continue Sunday. The deadline for counties to report official vote tallies to the state is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Election Supervisor Miriam Oliphant's office would not discuss the uncounted votes.
"Once the process is complete, the supervisor of elections will have a statement with respect to that and every other issue her office feels is necessary to assure the voters of Broward County that every vote will be counted," said spokesman Rick Riley.
Reno trailed McBride by 8,196 votes in unofficial counts from the state. The 247 precincts she asked to be reviewed have 15,841 voters.
Reno has also asked Miami-Dade County officials to check for lost votes. Officials there found more than 1,800 uncounted votes from four precincts Thursday, and were reviewing touchscreen voting machines to determine if more were unreported.
Miami and Broward counties used the same touchscreen machines made by Election Systems & Software.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
If it is the SOP, how do you turn it off? You can't tell people not to cheat this time.
Reno wants to win, any way she can. If she has to step over the body of another 'Rat, no problem. It's all about power with the Clintonistas.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - Under intense pressure from Broward County's most powerful political leaders, Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant agreed Thursday to accept help in ensuring November's election is not a repeat of this week's disaster.
Oliphant's decision came hours after Attorney General Bob Butterworth and Sheriff Ken Jenne had a candid, closed-door meeting with her to discuss the problems with Tuesday's vote and what must be done. The move likely will dampen calls for her removal.
Oliphant had refused to take any responsibility for the meltdown at the polls and was rallying loyal supporters to defend her. But other local officials were concerned not only about what would happen in November, but that her removal would give Gov. Jeb Bush the opportunity to name Broward's new election chief.
The tersely worded plea for help went out to the state Division of Elections, the County Commission, Jenne, Butterworth and the legislative delegation. Among the ideas being discussed is the formation of a committee to help run the November election.
"Our goal is to have a successful election," Oliphant said. "We cannot do it alone. We need the entire community to make the election a success."
Oliphant did not specify in her letter what help she would need. "I am respectfully requesting that you provide assistance from your office, so that the upcoming Nov. 5, 2002, general election will commence without any major delays," she wrote.
Commission Chairwoman Lori Parrish immediately called off an emergency meeting she had scheduled for next week to discuss with legislators how to force Oliphant to accept help.
"This is what we were looking for," Parrish said. "We can get everyone together to make sure this November election runs smoothly."
Tuesday's vote brought back memories of the 2000 presidential election problems even though $17 million had been spent for ATM-style voting machinery. Some voters couldn't cast ballots Tuesday as polls opened late or closed early, while other voters received inaccurate registration cards or the wrong ballot.
Bush has been so angry about the problems that he wanted to "fire" Oliphant. He asked Butterworth for help dealing with Oliphant because he didn't want a resolution mired in partisan politics. Oliphant, like Butterworth, is a Democrat, while Bush is a Republican.
"I've asked General Butterworth to come up with a strategy," Bush said. "I'm not going to let this turn into a political issue. We don't have a political problem. We've got an incompetence problem."
Oliphant's fate threatened to become political, though, as some Democratic activists and black leaders moved to support her. In a letter to Bush, a coalition of black elected officials Thursday charged that Oliphant's removal would be undemocratic and would create more chaos.
U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Fla., agreed with them. "It's an outrage to be finger-pointing at Miriam Oliphant," he said. "The governor never supplied the adequate resources to run this election."
County Commissioner Ben Graber also attempted to deflect criticism from Oliphant. He held a news conference at the Government Center and charged that the commission, the state and the company that sold the voting machines to Broward shared responsibility for Tuesday's problems.
He asked State Attorney Mike Satz to investigate the possibility of fraud involved with poll workers not reporting to their assignments Tuesday and with polling places closing despite Bush's order that they remain open two extra hours. Satz's office, though, said it is not investigating anything involving the election and would not do so unless it is brought specific allegations of fraud.
Election Systems & Software, the company that made Broward's voting machines, defended its equipment's performance. All machines accurately captured 100 percent of the votes cast, with no votes lost or not counted, the company said in a statement.
Jenne and Butterworth sought Thursday's meeting with Oliphant and sat down with her in the courthouse office of her political mentor, Public Defender Al Schreiber, in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Schreiber sent his top deputy, Bob Wills, to the meeting and added his voice to the chorus criticizing Oliphant - potentially the biggest blow to her, because Schreiber helped groom her for office and put his political machine behind her election. He said she had refused even to accept his help.
"She is in a state of denial," Schreiber said before Oliphant backed down. "She doesn't believe she did anything wrong. It is all [the fault] of other people."
Oliphant thought she might be asked to resign at the meeting and brought along several black leaders and staff members. It turned out, though, that the black leaders were her toughest critics, warning her to improve her office or they would abandon her.
Resignation didn't come up, and instead the meeting focused on ways to improve the election system. The group discussed the idea of volunteers who could help with her problem, such as using teachers from local schools and colleges to help train poll workers.
"The discussion revolved around what was necessary to make this a smooth election," Jenne said. "We were convinced Ms. Oliphant wants a smooth election, and so did everybody at the meeting."
Ed Kast, the state's election director, said he had received Oliphant's letter and stood ready to send any technical assistance necessary. His office had offered help before Tuesday's primaries, only to have the offer turned down.
"We are always ready to step in and help any supervisor who asks for help," Kast said. "Our goal is to make sure Florida has a good and fair election."
Whether Broward's election system can be fixed and confidence in it can be restored remains to be seen.
Some cities, including Weston and Coconut Creek, are considering running their own elections in the future because Tuesday's troubles destroyed confidence in Oliphant.
Mayor Eric Hersh of Weston said he has asked his city attorney to look into the legality of having the city hire and train its own poll workers, borrowing the county voting equipment and counting the votes on its own. He plans to pitch the idea to the rest of Broward's cities.
"Maybe a whole group of us can get together and free ourselves from her, at least in the municipal elections," he said.
Another problem area facing those wanting to right Broward's election system will be the hard feelings Oliphant has created among volunteer poll workers.
Even as she said she was willing to accept help Thursday, her spokesman was saying she was conducting her own investigation into the roll that poll workers played in Tuesday's problems, particularly those who didn't show up for work. Oliphant's blaming of the poll workers could put her in a jam come November.
Many poll workers, even those who had a smooth day Tuesday, said they may quit unless they see drastic changes. Her attacks are shaking their loyalty.
"Most of them said they wouldn't come back because of poor training, last-minute calls, being moved to different precincts, and then you don't have enough people and the equipment's not there," said Alan Gaskin, who worked at a Hallandale Beach precinct. "Preparation was poor."
Poll workers said long lines for precinct clerks to pick up equipment the day before the election caused some to walk off the job. Additionally, clerks are used to receiving a list of their workers a week ahead of time so they can call them. This time, precinct clerks said they got the list on Monday, with the rest of the equipment.
Some workers who left before 9 p.m. said they were never told to remain open, while others said they knew the polls were supposed to be open but had reasons they couldn't stay. Some were seniors with diabetes who needed to eat or couldn't drive home in the dark.
"I would like to go to court," said Louise Bricker, who closed her Coral Springs precinct at 7 p.m. because she wasn't told to stay open. "I would like to face them head-on and tell them it's all a big sham."
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(The Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.)
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© 2002 South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
"Fellow Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, who is also black, suggested that the problems at minority polling places could be laid at the feet of social inequality.
Poor blacks are less likely to have technical training, she says. Many of the precinct workers were literally afraid of the new machines, and the state provided little money for training."
Afraid ? Give me a freakin' break.
More fraud. Ain't it grand?
No doubt, but it shows a Party that has lost control of its own apparatus.
They can't hope to win in the general election.
The failure came because the Party elite figured Reno would be a easy primary winner.
They bet on the wrong horse.
Yeah, it's a beautiful thing. Now we get to sit on the sidelines and watch the spectacle of 'Rat fratricide. If I were in Florida, I think I would just have to start phoning up every media outlet I could find to tell them that the ballot design in Palm Beach County was deceptive, and I wound up voting for Pat Buchanan by mistake!
Amen! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm rather impressed with the performance of these machines. I think they surprised the folks who thought they could get away with tampering.
Doesn't this point out a serious flaw in these machines? Shouldn't it also print out a paper copy that is placed into a locked box just like the old paper ballots (and can be visually scanned by the voter to ensure their vote was recorded correctly.) Then if there is a question, you can count the number of paper votes and compare them to the electionic votes. If they don't match up exactly (which they should using an electronic system) you know someone has been toying with the machines.
Tree killer. If more people were like you, we would have more fire breaks and fewer forest fires. You make too much sense.
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