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Letter Condemning Latest Florida Voting Fiasco
Via Facsimile
September 10, 2002
The Honorable John Ellis Bush
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Jim Smith, Florida Secretary of State
Office of the Secretary of State
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250
David C. Leahy
Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections
111 N.W. 1st, Suite 1910
Miami, FL 33128-1906
Miriam Oliphant
Broward County Supervisor of Elections
115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 102
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
John Stafford
Duval County Supervisor of Elections
105 East Monroe Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Dear Governor Bush, Secretary of State Smith, and Supervisors Leahy, Oliphant and Stafford:
We are writing to express our deep concern about very serious problems that voters have experienced in Miami-Dade, Broward and Duval Counties as they have attempted to vote in today's primary election, and to demand that you take immediate action to remedy the problems that voters have encountered.
Voters in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Duval Counties have reported that dozens of polling places did not open at 7:00 a.m. as required by law and, indeed, that some polling places opened literally hours late. In addition, according to voters in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Duval Counties, as well as anecdotal reports from across the state, voters have been turned away from the polls because they did not have identification, have encountered inoperable and malfunctioning voting machinery, have not been offered provisional ballots, and have found that paper ballots were completely unavailable in some precincts and that they were available for only one political party in other precincts.
We are aware that, pursuant to Executive Order No. 02-248, Governor Bush has decreed that all polling places in the state shall remain open for two hours beyond their regularly-scheduled closing times. While we believe this step will assist in addressing the problems discussed above for some voters, it is clearly insufficient to remedy these problems. We call on the Supervisors to inform all poll workers immediately that they should be providing provisional ballots to all voters claiming to be properly registered in the county and eligible to vote at the precinct in the election, but whose eligibility cannot be determined, as required by Fla. Stat. Sec. 101.0148(1). In addition, the Supervisors should inform all poll workers immediately that if voting machines at a precinct are not working, voters should be permitted to vote by paper ballot (e.g. provisional or absentee ballot) rather than being denied the right to vote.
Moreover, we ask that you publicize widely in the media that you have extended the polling hours, to maximize the likelihood that voters who were turned away from the polls will learn that polling hours have been extended and will return to the polls and vote. Finally, we demand that you take immediate steps to ensure that today's problems do not recur during the November, 2002, general election. If you have any questions about the problems highlighted in this letter, please contact Thomasina Williams at (305) 379-6676.
Sincerely,
William McCormick, President
Ft. Lauderdale Branch, NAACP
Isaiah Rumlin, President
Jacksonville Branch, NAACP
Adora Obi Nwize
NAACP, Florida State Conference of Branches
Ralph G. Neas, President
People For the American Way Foundation
Laughlin McDonald, Director
Southern Regional ACLU
Elaine R. Jones
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Penda Hair, Co-Chair
Advancement Project
