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"Local Activists Mobilize to Reform Elections, Empower Voters"
December 2002 Edition of the ACLU of Florida Newsletter
By Courtenay C. Strickland
Voting Rights Project Coordinator
When someone asks me what I think about the November 2002 elections, my answer is always a glowing, "I think they went very well" ? a comment that inevitably evokes an expression of surprise and confusion on the face of the listener. It's only then that I realize the person was asking about the election results, who won and who lost, and not about the elections themselves and whether they were administered properly.
For the past two years, the ACLU of Florida has been working on a campaign for free and fair elections, and it is a campaign in which we've finally seen a victory. As the ACLU's Voting Rights Project Coordinator, it has been hard for me to see the elections as anything else.
I expected September 10, 2002 to bring a continuation of some problems witnessed in November 2000, such as insufficient poll worker training, erroneous removal of voters as felons from the rolls, and the unlawful turning away of voters for failure to provide photo identification. But I never expected the total meltdown that occurred in some Florida counties on September 10th.
At about 7:30 that day, my cell phone began ringing. First, I heard reports that voting machines were down at the American Legion Hall in Miami. Then I got calls about long lines. At first I chalked the calls up to a few isolated problems with the new voting machines. But then I got a call from Florida City, south of Miami, letting me know that the polling place there was shut down entirely due to total machine failure. I jumped in my car and headed down to Florida City's City Hall, where I found that indeed not a single machine was working and that not one had ever worked that day.
The days that followed were bewildering as we tried to devise the best approach for addressing what had happened. We decided to form of a coalition to promote positive electoral reform. Nearly fifty people attended the first strategic planning meeting on September 19th. The group, later known as the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, decided upon a three-pronged approach: 1) pressuring the County to meet a list of necessary changes, 2) calling for independent and experienced monitors for the November 5th elections, and 3) empowering voters to stand up for their rights even in the face of problems at the polls. The coalition demanded that the County provide hands-on training for poll workers, distribute sample ballots, and provide back-up paper ballots for use in the case of voting machine malfunction.
To achieve voter empowerment, the group adopted and distributed a "Make Your Vote Count!" pamphlet created by the ACLU and the League of Women Voters of Dade County.
The Coalition, organized mainly through an ongoing e-mail list I maintained at the ACLU of Florida, continued to meet every Wednesday, with an average attendance of around 40 people. Participating organizations included the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, the Miami Workers Center, the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, Haitian Women of Miami, the March for Justice, the National Women's Political Caucus of Miami-Dade, ACORN, and many others.
Through the ad hoc organization, we were able to extend the hours and days for early voting in Miami-Dade County, have sample ballots (along with the contents of the "Make Your Vote Count!" pamphlet) mailed to 867,000 households for the first time in Miami-Dade County history and ensure the availability of paper ballots in the case of machine malfunction. In addition, the coalition lobbied to bring in the Center for Democracy as independent monitors for the November 5th elections ? something that had never before occurred in U.S. history. The Coalition is now working on a post-election report that will detail the thankfully few problems that arose and will make recommendations for changes that should be institutionalized for future elections.
I cannot tell you what a joy it was to watch this group of activists volunteer their time week after week. I have never seen a group more focused or more devoted to the cause of preserving democracy. Not only did they appear each Wednesday to participate in Coalition meetings that often lasted four hours, but they also followed up their discussions with concrete action. Both novices and old-hands lobbied County Commissioners, writing letters, sending out press releases, giving speeches and making follow-up calls. In short, the Coalition applied pressure and Miami-Dade County voters reaped the rewards in elections that were generally smooth and polling places that were not overcrowded despite the ridiculously long ballot.
For me, November 5, 2002, presented a real victory by the people and for the people, particularly in Miami-Dade County. The process I saw gave me hope and energized me for the future. I hope it can do the same for those around the state who are working diligently in various areas to preserve our civil liberties. If you are not one of those people, please consider joining with those who are to become a part of the continuing process of preserving the freedom and democracy of which we are all the beneficiaries. November 5th was proof that we, as citizens, are often in the most powerful position to make that change happen.
