Florida Democrats gearing up to protect voting rights

KEN THOMAS

Associated Press

BOSTON - Fresh off their convention, Florida Democrats are issuing renewed calls to protect voters' rights amid questions over new electronic voting machines and an anticipated down-to-the-wire campaign that could mirror the 2000 election.

Florida delegates and party activists began departing Boston on Friday, concluding a week where "count every vote" was an obvious applause line for the parade of party luminaries who addressed them at breakfast meetings.

Florida, the owner of 27 electoral votes, remains a toss-up state in the presidential contest and a coveted prize for John Kerry's presidential campaign. The point was emphasized repeatedly to delegates who still hold vivid memories of the 2000 recount, which Democrat Al Gore lost by 537 votes, costing him the White House.

"When you leave this convention, you get back down to Florida, I want you stop every person you see and you ask them, 'Are you registered to vote?' and tell them they need to vote for John Kerry," Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said. "And if they don't stop, I want you to tackle them."

Both the Rev. Jesse Jackson and filmmaker Michael Moore said they would make separate trips through the state to highlight voter education. U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch told delegates he was seeking a federal investigation into touchscreen voting machines used in 15 counties.

Deutsch and election reform groups have requested an audit of the machines since elections officials in Miami-Dade County acknowledged they lost detailed electronic records from the 2002 gubernatorial primary in computer crashes last year.

But some party delegates said the repeated emphasis on voting issues and the 2000 election could lead to Democrats running the risk of undermining the confidence of some voters and depressing turnout.

"The eyes of the world are on Florida and it's a lot of pressure. We know even with the base, we have to fight a lot of cynicism," said Carole Shields, a Miami delegate and former president of People for the American Way.

"We don't know which people are going to not come to the polls because they don't believe that their vote is going to be counted. We don't know how much of that factor is going to be there," Shields said.

In 2000, ballot problems and voters' punch-card mismarkings complicated a series of recounts that were made necessary by a narrowly decided presidential election. President Bush eventually beat Gore after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in his favor.

"You don't want to get to the point that there's a sense that it's going to happen again," said state Rep. Bob Henriquez, D-Tampa. But he added the voting system has been vastly improved since 2000 by reforms that eliminated the punch-card ballots and improved technology.

McAuliffe said the party was working to protect the integrity of the election, with plans for 10,000 lawyers to watch over elections in 21 battleground states. He said he was mindful of some critics who argued that Democrats failed to quickly respond in Florida in the first days following the 2000 election.

"We are very prepared, very aggressive. There are people who felt that the Democrats didn't fight hard enough," McAuliffe said. "That's not a negative, they just felt the Republicans moved in and did what they did. That's not going to happen."

Miami attorney Steve Zack, the Kerry campaign's general counsel in Florida, said he has recruited more than 100 attorneys to serve as point people for dozens of other lawyers to represent voters who encounter problems at the polls.

Armed with cell phones and Blackberry wireless devices, volunteer attorneys will staff every precinct with a history of high voter turnout and every supervisor of elections office in the state, Zack said.

"We are hoping for the best but preparing for anything that might occur," Zack said. He said the team of lawyers involved include former Attorney General Bob Butterworth, former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, and Miami attorney Roy Black.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Mitchell Berger, who is also involved, pointed to remarks earlier in the week by Al Gore, who was defeated by Bush in 2000. Gore told the convention, "Take it from me - every vote counts."

"Let's go and vote because it matters," Berger said. "And if you don't believe it matters, talk to the 900 families that lost their kids in Iraq."