Election supervisors: GOP pressure didn't affect absentee ballot count in Florida

[oracle]

Election supervisors: GOP pressure didn't affect absentee ballot count in Florida (http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0540_BC_OverseasBallots&&news&newsflash-national)

By DAVID ROYSE
The Associated Press
7/15/01 6:15 PM


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida elections supervisors on Sunday acknowledged discrepancies in how strict they were in deciding whether to accept overseas ballots in the presidential election.

But several supervisors denied Republicans pressured them to accept ballots from overseas military personnel likely favoring George W. Bush.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Republicans pressed election officials in GOP-leaning counties to accept overseas absentee ballots that didn't comply with state election laws and sought to have overseas ballots disqualified in counties won by Al Gore.

"This story confirms our worst fears about the Bush team's campaign to manipulate the Florida vote," said Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe. "It proves that President Bush was determined to win by any means necessary, including violating the spirit if not the actual letter of the law."

But in response to The Times' story, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "This election was decided by the voters of Florida a long time ago. And the nation, the president and all but the most partisan Americans have moved on."

The Times published results of a six-month examination of the 2,490 overseas ballots accepted after Election Day. It found 680 questionable votes, most of which lacked a required postmark.

Four of five questionable ballots were accepted as legal in counties carried by Bush, although the newspaper could not determine for whom those votes were cast. Bush won by a final tally of 537 votes.

In heavily Republican Okaloosa County in the Panhandle, officials initially rejected several ballots, then later counted ballots without proper postmarks, elections supervisor Pat Hollarn acknowledged.

But ballots were reconsidered only because the county was under federal court order to do so, she said.

In a case brought by Republicans, U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier ordered six counties to reconsider overseas ballots rejected for lack of a postmark or date or for other reasons.

"You don't ignore a federal judge," Hollarn said. "We allowed the Republicans and Democrats to file their protests. We took note, filed them away ... and did what we thought was right."

Supervisors agreed with The Times' assessment that counties approached
overseas absentee ballots differently.

"It substantiates what a lot of people already know -- that the election was a story of 67 counties with different procedures, different canvassing boards and different outcomes," said Pam Iorio, elections supervisor in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa.

Iorio acknowledged the pressure canvassing boards felt but said it came from both sides.

"There was a great deal of pressure in every county," Iorio said. "I thought it was extremely important that we adhere to the law and be consistent with how we apply the law."

But while Okaloosa initially relied on a state law that prohibited counting ballots without postmarks, other counties relied on a 1975 Florida Supreme Court case which set specific technical guidelines for counting absentee ballots.

"Some kind of leaned on the court case, which says as long as it is absent of fraud, count it," said Kay Clem, supervisor in Indian River County. "It kind of obliterates the absentee ballot laws."

Brevard County elections supervisor Fred Gailey, whose county includes Patrick Air Force Base, said the duress he felt came from the Gore camp.

...


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[DesertFox]

So for what -- the 6,521st or so time? -- Bush wins fair and square.

[Warlady]

What sets this one apart is that the lib rag NY Crimes did the count/investigation and had to admit Bush beat Gore. That had to hurt. I wonder if Clinton feels their pain. The only one's still in denial are Terry McAuliff and Joe sloberman.

[DesertFox]

I bet Padre knows. How 'bout it, Clinton? Feelin' that pain?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I could not figure out why the NY Times even bothered to go with its non-story. The facts it underreported were that most of the ballots later accepted were done so under orders from a federal court upheld by the 11th circuit.

There is no plausible claim that Gore was short-changed in any way with respect to absentee ballots.

They also failed to make the correlation that the opposition to such ballots in Gore counties was generally done at the behest of Democrats, not Republicans. The strategic assumption was that knocking out all absentee ballots in every county would be a net gain for Gore because absentee voters tend to be Republicans, even in Democratic counties.

All I can figure is that the NYT recognizes that the Democratic attack on military absentee ballots was widely seen as the single most sleazy partisan act in the entire Florida fiasco. It galvanized the GOP and embarrassed even Democrats (such as Liebermann). So perhaps the NYT was trying to put some revisionist spin on the absentee ballot count.

Or more likely, they spent a lot of time and money trying to find some way to reverse the vote count so they had to get at least one story out of it to justify the investment, even if the story was pretty thin.

[Warlady]

Well, Sniper I doubt seriously if the NY Crimes had an attack of conscience.

[DesertFox]

You gotta have a conscience to be bothered by one.

Not to mention consciousness.

[Rhino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by oracle:
In heavily Republican Okaloosa County in the Panhandle, officials initially rejected several ballots, then later counted ballots without proper postmarks, elections supervisor Pat Hollarn acknowledged.

But ballots were reconsidered only because the county was under federal court order to do so, she said.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Isn't it interesting how they conveniently don't report that Florida law does not require those valid postmarks? And isn't it interesting how they conveniently don't report that this was the reason they were ordered to count those ballots, because it was illegal NOT to? Gotta love that non-partisan media!

[DesertFox]

Interesting points, Rhino. I didn't know either of those, either.

Of course, had I been writing an article on the subject, I'd have found out before publishing.

But then, we know the Left constrains itself as little as possible by facts. Real research takes effort.

[Rhino]

emphasis added by me.

Section 101.62(7)(c) of the Florida election statute provides: "With respect to marked ballots mailed by absent qualified electors overseas, only those ballots mailed with an APO, FPO, or foreign postmark shall be considered valid." Although not part of the statute, Florida administrative regulations provide that, for the general election, an otherwise proper absentee ballot from an overseas voter also shall be counted if "signed and dated no later than the date of the election" and received no later than ten days from the date of the election. FAC § 1S-2.013(7). In a November 20, 2000 letter, Florida Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth (a democrat) urged county supervisors of elections and county canvassing boards to count otherwise proper unpostmarked ballots if they were signed and dated on or before the date of the election and to revisit any ballots previously rejected for lack of a postmark.

Federal law does not require a postmark on military ballots. Representatives of the military postal service have stated that, while they endeavor to postmark mail, often mail does not get postmarked because it must be moved quickly from ships or other outposts.

A series of post-election lawsuits challenged the inclusion of overseas absentee ballots received after election day and the exclusion of ballots that did not bear a postmark. On December 8, U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier ruled in Bush v. Hillsborough County Canvassing Board that it is improper to exclude an overseas absentee ballot solely for lack of a postmark (and solely for lack of a previously filed absentee ballot application). In the consolidated Harris and Medina cases, Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul ruled on December 8 that administrative regulation 1S-2.013 should be considered to supplant the Florida statute, in light of its history arising out of a federal court consent decree, and thus that overseas absentee ballots may be counted as long as they fall within the terms of that regulation. The Harris/Medina ruling was appealed on December 9 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. (it was not overturned)

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/election/electionfaq.htm#military