-Caveat Lector- -----Original Message----- From: MICHAEL SPITZER <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Monday, January 22, 2001 9:27 PM Subject: [CTRL] MH: 2,000 Floridians voted illegally Nov. 7 >-Caveat Lector- > >http://www.herald.com/content/archive/news/elect2000/decision/102736.htm > >Miami Herald >Monday, January 22, 2001 > > >2,000 Floridians voted illegally Nov. 7 > > >MANNY GARCIA AND TOM DUBOCQ >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >Ninety-year-old Cora Thigpen voted twice in the presidential >election -- and would have liked to have voted more. > >``If I had voted a half dozen times, I would have voted every >time for Al Gore,'' the North Florida resident said. > >Joseph Bonner, 21, voted just once -- and he's sorry he did. With >a felony drug conviction, the Gulf Coast resident man was >prohibited by state law from casting a ballot. > >``I wish to apologize for voting,'' he wrote after he got caught. > >``Please understand that my error was made in good faith.'' > >Their votes were among more than 2,000 illegal ballots cast Nov. >7 by Floridians who signed affirmations swearing they were >eligible to vote -- but were not, a review of election records in >25 Florida counties shows. > >The ballots, which all counted in the election, came from >unregistered voters, ineligible felons -- and a handful of senior >citizens who voted absentee first, then voted again at their >local precinct after swearing they hadn't voted yet. > >The voters cast ballots even though their names were not on >precinct voter registration lists. All they had to do was sign >the affirmations swearing they were eligible to vote. Poll >workers never checked, ignoring county rules intended to combat >fraud. Elections officials say the workers were overwhelmed by >high voter turnout. > > >NEW RESIDENTS > >Another problem: Many of the voters apparently didn't realize >that state law required them to register in the counties where >they live. Many of the people who signed affirmations were new >residents who hadn't yet registered in their home county. > >The 2,000 illegal affirmation votes add to an already troubling >number of bad ballots cast in the Nov. 7 presidential election, >which was decided by only 537 votes. > >In previous stories, The Herald has reported that at least 1,200 >felons who had lost their voting rights somehow slipped through >and cast ballots. Those counted in the razor-thin election, too. > >``Numbers like that are very troubling,'' said Kurt Browning, the >election supervisor in Pasco County. ``What this does is chip >away at the credibility of our whole elections system.'' > >Browning, who identified 64 illegal affirmation votes in his >county, is part of a governor's task force investigating ways to >correct problems. While better voting machines could eliminate >hanging ballot chads, he wonders what can be done to better train >poll workers and inform voters of registration rules. > >One possibility is the use of so-called ``challenge'' ballots >issued by poll workers to voters whose registration is in >question. Those ballots would be checked before they were tallied >rather than afterward, as they were on Nov. 7. > > >FOUND IN REVIEW > >The 2,000 newly discovered illegal votes turned up in a review of >affirmations filed in 25 Florida counties where records were >available. Because ballots are secret -- and many of the voters >failed to identify party affiliation on their affirmations -- >it's impossible to know precisely how the votes affected the >outcome of the election. > >Statewide, the bad ballots were cast by: > > About 1,700 people who were not registered to vote in counties >where they cast ballots. This includes people who were removed >from the voting roll because they had not voted in several years, >had moved out of the county or simply were not registered voters. > > Nathaniel Wiseman, 30, said he voted in Orange County although >he is not a registered voter. Wiseman, a window tinter, said he >moved into the county a year and a half ago from neighboring >Seminole County, but never bothered registering. > >``I told them I was not registered,'' said Wiseman, a Democrat >who said he voted for Al Gore. ``They looked around at each other >and asked the precinct deputy for advice and they let me vote.'' > > > More than 100 additional felons who had been stripped of their >civil right to vote. > > Six voters who cast absentee ballots, then voted at their local >precincts. One of them was Cora Thigpen of Madison County, which >borders the Georgia state line. > >``I do remember something about the absentee ballot, and I do >remember going to the polls,'' Thigpen said in a telephone >interview. > >Elections Supervisor Linda Howell said the signature on Thigpen's >absentee ballot matched Thigpen's signature on the voter register >at Precinct 3. > >Howell said the poll worker ignored the notation on the register >showing Thigpen already had voted absentee. > >``I was so shocked when I saw it,'' Howell said. ``Why the clerk >allowed it, I cannot tell you. I guess we are always going to >have mistakes because we are human.'' > > > About a dozen people who voted in one county but live in >another. In the tiny town of Ocoee, nestled in Orange County, >Keith Evans voted for president -- although he told poll workers >he lives 90 miles away in Tampa. > >``I feel more comfortable voting back home,'' said Evans, 19, a >computer technician and college student who said he voted for >Gore. ``I was born and raised there. I know the issues. I just >didn't know I couldn't vote there. The poll workers didn't say >anything.'' > >In Lake County, in the heart of central Florida, James K. Rogers >voted for president although he admitted he lives in neighboring >Sumter County. > >``I moved to Sumter, but I've been too busy with work to register >there,'' said Rogers, 28, a tree relocator. So I drove back to >Lake so I could vote.'' > >Rogers declined to tell The Herald for whom he voted except to >say: ``I was happy with the outcome.'' > > > Dozens of voters whose registration applications were deemed >invalid because they were incomplete or filled out incorrectly. >Others submitted applications after the Oct. 10 deadline for the >presidential election. Few counties were spared problems. > >In Volusia County, election officials discovered 277 bad votes, >almost all from non-registered voters. Some 73 bad votes came >from a precinct at Bethune-Cookman College. > >``Students were allowed to vote although they were not >registered,'' said Denise Hansen, assistant supervisor of >elections. > >Weldon Blake, a college employee and longtime vote-drive >organizer, said the Rev. Jesse Jackson appeared at the >predominantly black campus on Oct. 10 -- the state registration >deadline for the presidential election -- urging students to >register. Many of the registrations were filled out quickly and >were missing information, he said. > >That day, the Volusia elections office was flooded with boxes >filled with applications. Many were rejected. > >Hansen said that typically signatures, dates of birth and >citizenship information were missing. > >Hansen said the election's office could not reach many students >who applied at the last minute. As a result, she said, many >students went to the polls believing they were registered. > >``The poll workers could not get through on the phone so they >erred on the side of protecting someone's right to vote,'' Hansen >said. > >In Jacksonville on Election Day, poll workers allowed 327 >unregistered voters to cast ballots, precinct registers show. The >tally includes 162 people who filled out voter registration >applications at the precincts -- nearly a month after the Oct. 10 >registration deadline. > >Assistant Elections Supervisor Dick Carlberg said poll workers >took matters into their own hands. > >Poll workers are supposed to call their elections headquarters to >verify registrations when a voter appears without identification >or is not listed on the voter roll. But in hundreds of instances, >the calls were not made. Other times, poll workers said they >tried to call but got a busy signal. > >Robert Kurtzke, a retired construction worker, oversaw voting at >The Tides at Marsh Landing in Duval County, where 15 >non-registered voters cast ballots. > >``There are really no safeguards,'' Kurtzke said. ``The system is >set up to allow people to vote. Think about it: You don't even >need a voter's card to vote anymore, just a picture ID. But what >could you do when someone showed up without a picture? To make >things worse, it was impossible to get through on the phones to >check if someone was registered, so we let them vote. What could >you do?'' > >Herald staff writers Larry Lebowitz, Jasmine Kripalani, Anabelle >DeGale and Lisa Arthur contributed to this report. > > >================================================================= > Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT > > FROM THE DESK OF: > *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends >================================================================= > ><A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> >DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER >========== >CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic >screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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