O bylym prezydencie Miami, pozbawionym urzedu za udzial w falszowaniu
wyborow w '97, obecnie bioracym udzial w liczeniu glosow absentee w
Miami-Dade County jako czlonek lokalnego republikanskiego executive
committee.
Mirka
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http://www.feedmag.com/templates/daily_master.php3?a_id=1389
It seems, however, that Florida’s history of voter fraud is just as
storied as the Bush political legacy. The most famous -- or infamous
-- case involves the now derided ex-mayor of Miami, Xavier Suarez,
whose last election in 1997 was overturned because of charges of voter
fraud and falsification of records. And Suarez's relevance might not
be limited to past election irregularities.
The charges in the mayoral race centered around allegations that
addresses and names of Florida voters were falsified and altered
by campaign staffers shared by Suarez and then city commissioner
Humberto Hernandez. The case was originally reported by the Miami
Herald, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. Hernandez --
along with thirteen other volunteers and city officials -- was found
guilty of the charges and received a 364 day prison sentence for
his crimes.
The charges and ensuing controversy resulted in the ousting of Suarez
as the city’s mayor and the beginning of years of legal wrangling and
back-and-forth accusations, with Suarez to this day claiming he is
still the rightful mayor of Miami. While Suarez was intensively
investigated by the Dade County Prosecutor’s Office, he was never
charged or officially found guilty of any wrongdoing.
However, a civil case was later brought by eleven Dade County absentee
voters and resulted in overturning the Suarez election. In that case,
the jury found that Suarez and his staff did engage in vote fraud,
specifically tampering with 5,000 absentee ballots. In an interview
this morning, Suarez told FEED that he was "in no way involved in any
wrongdoing," and boldly promised to run for the office yet again in
the next election.
What is most stunning, though, is that Suarez now sits on the
executive committee of the Miami-Dade Republican party and was
specifically involved this year in helping get out the Republican
vote. Suarez, who told FEED that he is working to become the
committee’s chairman, said that leading up to last night’s election he
"helped fill out absentee ballot forms and enlist Republican
absentee voters in Miami-Dade County." If the 2000 or so disputed
votes in the Palm Beach area are in fact returned from Buchanan to
Gore, these same ballots may very well decide the presidential
election in the coming hours.
"Dade County Republicans have a very specific expertise in getting out
absentee ballots," he said. "I obviously have specific experience in
this myself."
When told of this, Kendall Coffee, lead attorney in the original
Suarez suit, said, "He said that?" Coffee, a recognized expert in
absentee ballot law, added, "This is striking. Florida has a troubled
history in absentee ballots. Republicans often tell voters that
they can use absentee ballots if it is more convenient for them, but
the law requires that there must be an inability or barrier to voting
in person."
Coffee went on to say that Suarez’s participation in any part of
enlisting absentee ballots troubled him deeply. "Suarez was found to
have taken part in systematic and massive absentee ballot fraud. He
was found to have done significantly better in absentee balloting than
in the general vote." He went on to say that since that time, while
some improvements have been made, "no one watchdogs absentee
balloting, other than the campaigns themselves. The election
commission has no authority to oversee the distribution of
coordination of absentee ballots until they are counted."
"These ballots are going to decide the outcome of the closest race in
a generation and, given Suarez’s and this state’s murky history with
regard to absentee balloting, this calls for meticulous and vigorous
investigation."
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