Broward County Florida can't send out absentee ballots without controversy.
The office of the Broward County Supervisor of Elections sent out more than 60,000 absentee ballots last week with return envelopes that identify voters' party affiliations.How many hands touch the ballots at the elections office?The system invites fraud, critics say, because mailed ballots go through many handlers who are not certified as poll watchers.
Registered Democrats who vote by absentee ballot in the county are identified on the return envelopes with "Dem." Republicans are "Rep," and independents are "NPA," for "no party affiliation."Blame it on the computer. Why then was this only done in Broward County? Chuck Lichtman, who is a lawyer for the Florida Democratic party is quoted saying "I've never heard of that happening in Florida or anywhere else," he said. "This offends me."The ballots for the November 4 general election are the same, so there is no need to distinguish between Democratic and Republican ballots.
Mary Cooney, a spokesperson for Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes, said that the party references on the envelopes were merely a matter of computer-programmed information.
"That's just the way it was programmed," Cooney said. "The affiliation is not pertinent to the election."
Neither Palm Beach County nor Miami-Dade County includes party affiliations on return envelopes. Cooney acknowledged that there "have been issues" in the past with the delivery of absentee ballots. She added, though, that the missing ballots in 2004 were outgoing ballots.Memo to Cooney- This is a outgoing ballot issue also. Your cockermamie office sent out return envelopes a person's party affiliation on the outside.
Oh and the ballot screwup of 2004 involved 58,000 ballots that disappeared. I guess the office is 'improving', this year they made a mess of all absentee ballots.
Before that, the Broward County Elections Supervisor had to be removed from office in 2003 by then Governor Jeb Bush for 'grave neglect and incompetence.'
Broward County Republican chairman Chip LaMarca said that he had "a slight concern" about openly identifying voters' party affiliations.Neither Republicans or Democrats are too happy with what has happened. The only difference, being one Republican official saying-"I'm going to err on the side of having faith in the postal employees," he said.
"This is a shame that we cannot trust the postal people," said Colleen Stolberg, the absentee ballot chairwoman for the Broward Republican Party. "These people are stealing votes from us."Which is dumb. No one at this point besides Stollberg is claiming ballots are being stolen, discarded, etc. Postal workers are now asking for an apology, and the local GOP is escalating by asking the US Justice Department to monitor the Postal Service. Does anyone with a brain realistically expect every post office and all its employees to watched? What does realism have to do with elections in Florida?
A commenter at The Daily Pulp wrote-
Our absentee ballots had our party affiliation written on the mailing envelope. Isn't this an invitation to electoral fraud?Bob Norman's simple answer was "Yes". I have to agree.
Bob, who is one of the small handful of bloggers I've had the pleasure of meeting face to face, asks a very good question with the title of his blog post
Why Brenda Snipes, Why?
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Elections, Florida
Comments (7)
Where are Jimmy Carter and ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by epador | October 31, 2008 8:47 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Where are Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan when you need them?
1. Posted by epador | October 31, 2008 8:47 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 31, 2008 20:47
2. Posted by bill-tb | October 31, 2008 8:50 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Same county as 2000, still run by Democrats, for Democrats, of Democrats.
2. Posted by bill-tb | October 31, 2008 8:50 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on October 31, 2008 20:50
3. Posted by JLawson | October 31, 2008 10:22 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
It wouldn't be so depressing if they were COMPETENT democrats, but they AREN'T.
Sheesh! 2000 wasn't a wakeup call, neither was 2004 - and this is the party that thinks it can run the country?
3. Posted by JLawson | October 31, 2008 10:22 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 31, 2008 22:22
4. Posted by James Cloninger | October 31, 2008 11:34 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Well, at least they can't bitch about some god-damned hanging chad this time.
4. Posted by James Cloninger | October 31, 2008 11:34 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 31, 2008 23:34
5. Posted by Scrapiron | November 1, 2008 12:31 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I can see the need to put Dem on a democrats ballot. They need daily reminders and most of their mothers still stencil they're name in their underwear, that is the ones from the 20's through the 40's. After 50 most are in a mental facility or nursing home doing what they did when they were born, eating from a bottle and crapping in a diaper.
5. Posted by Scrapiron | November 1, 2008 12:31 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 1, 2008 00:31
6. Posted by Clint | November 1, 2008 1:36 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
*sigh*
I'm sure we'll never completely eliminate fraud in our elections -- but could we at least try to avoid making it easier??
My favorite example is still from when I was voting in San Francisco. Election precincts there all posted, outside the precinct, a list of voters registered to vote there. Reasonable, so that you don't have to wait in line only to discover that you're in the wrong place.
But here's the kicker: they crossed off people as they voted, on the list OUTSIDE the precinct.
If you wanted to cast a few dozen votes, all you had to do was drive from polling place to polling place near the end of the day, pick the name of someone who hasn't voted off the handy list, and then claim to be that person when you get to the front of the line. Remember that it's illegal for them to ask for any evidence that you are who you say you are.
Crazy, crazy system.
6. Posted by Clint | November 1, 2008 1:36 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on November 1, 2008 01:36
7. Posted by Corky Boyd | November 1, 2008 12:33 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
What every Republican who has voted absentee should do right now is contact the Broward County election office and see if they have received their absentee ballot. If not drag yourself to the polls and cast a provisional ballot. One or the other WILL be counted.
If you haven't sent it in, cross off the R and mark D on the outside. That will cause some doubt with anyone who might want to cause trouble.
7. Posted by Corky Boyd | November 1, 2008 12:33 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on November 1, 2008 12:33