Absentee isn't a guarantee
Requests are on the rise for absentee ballots because they provide a paper trail, but that still might not ensure your vote will be counted.
By ALISA ULFERTS and TAMARA LUSH
Published August 8, 2004

Victoria Mraz had never voted with an absentee ballot before the March Democratic presidential primary.

She's not sure she'll ever do it again.

Her ballot was rejected because it wasn't properly witnessed, a problem she says she discovered only because she called Pasco Elections Supervisor Kurt Browning to make sure he got it. Now she's wary of absentee ballots.

"I don't trust them," said Mraz, 77, of San Antonio. "I just don't trust them."

Thousands of voters across Florida had similar problems.

Florida legislators have since removed the witness requirement, which was responsible for most absentee ballot problems, but other potential pitfalls remain.

Requests for absentee ballots are on the rise across Florida this election year. Both major political parties are pushing them, and critics of touch screen machines have suggested absentee ballots as an alternative.

"If you are not comfortable with technology, you can vote by mail, you can create a paper trail," said Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho. "I think they are presenting to the voters the only wise option."

Others disagree. Those who think absentee ballots will guarantee their votes are counted could be as disappointed as Mraz, election experts say.

"I think it's really bad advice," said Dan Tokaji, a professor at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law and an expert on election systems. "There's a much greater chance that their votes won't be counted."

Still, prodded by a task force appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to recommend changes in the wake of problems with the 2000 Florida election, legislators have made it far easier to use absentee ballots.

Among the changes since 2000:

Voters no longer need to state reasons for using an absentee ballot. Any voter can use one.

Absentee ballots no longer must be witnessed or notarized. Lawmakers eliminated the requirement earlier this year, partly because elections officials said it was all but impossible to enforce and was the prime reason absentee ballots were tossed.

Voter identification numbers no longer are required.

Overseas ballots do not have to be postmarked by election day, a major point of contention in 2000 because many military ballots did not carry postmarks. Now, the ballots must merely be dated by election day and arrive within 10 days after the election.

"I think it's going to help the voter out a lot," said Susan Gill, supervisor of elections in Citrus County. "We just feel we'll be able to count more votes."

But the same task force that recommended easing the use of absentee ballots warned of a downside: It will "increase the number of rejected, problem and spoiled ballots" and add work for canvassing boards reviewing the ballots.

If this year's presidential election is as close as it was in 2000, absentee ballots will again play a critical role in the outcome. Final results could be delayed while overseas ballots trickle in. And in the 15 Florida counties with touch screen machines, making up about half the state's voters, absentees will be the only ballots that can be manually recounted.

Critics say the lack of a paper trail with touch screen machines means voters can't be sure their ballots will be counted. So they have urged the use of absentee ballots instead.

But absentee ballots, which are filled out with pencils like a standardized test and tabulated with optical scan machines, have their own problems.

Absentee ballots are rejected for myriad reasons every election.

In the March primary, for instance, Pinellas County rejected 99 absentee ballots, mostly because the witness forgot to sign the ballot or include an address. Others were rejected because the voter did not sign the ballot or the voter's signature on the ballot didn't match the signature on file.

In Hillsborough, 148 absentee ballots were rejected for many of the same reasons. In Pasco, 161 ballots were rejected.

Voters have to follow a number of rules to succeed.

Coffee spills, torn ballots or stray pencil marks can spoil a vote. The wrong postage - it varies by by county - means it might not be delivered, though some elections offices cover the shortfall. If it's not signed and dated - and if the signature doesn't match the one on file at the elections office - it won't be counted.

A first-time voter who registered by mail must include a copy of a picture ID with an absentee ballot. Without it, the ballot won't be counted.

If the ballot arrives late, it's not counted, either.

The potential for fraud is higher with absentee ballots, experts say, since elections officials can't be sure who filled it out.

Also, voters who aren't careful can vote for two candidates, which means their vote won't count.

Touch screen machines, on the other hand, don't let you vote for more than one candidate in a race.

"Touch screens are designed to eliminate some of the most common voter errors," said Dan Nolan, chief of staff of the Hillsborough elections office. "With touch screens, there are no stray lines or marks."

Elections officials in the Tampa Bay area say they haven't been deluged with absentee requests.

Hillsborough has mailed more than 14,000 absentee ballots, a 26 percent increase over four years ago.

Pinellas also has seen a similar increase, from 14,665 in 2000 to nearly 18,000, an 18 percent increase.

Pasco, Hernando and Citrus supervisors say they have had similar increases.

South Florida counties, where elections in 2002 were marred by problems, have seen a bigger surge in requests for absentee ballots.

Population growth and the intensity of the presidential election are largely responsible for the increase in requests, said Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson, though some voters are seeking to create a paper trail.

Despite the drawn-out 2000 presidential recount, manual recounts are rare. State law requires a machine recount when an election is decided by less than one half of 1 percent and a manual recount only when the difference is less than one quarter of a percent.

State elections officials have ruled that touch screen results cannot be manually recounted. There's nothing to manually recount, they say, and the machines do not allow voters to make mistakes. The ACLU has challenged that rule in a lawsuit that is still pending.

Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood say the touch screen machines are reliable and no paper trail is needed. The Republican Party of Florida recently apologized for sending out campaign fliers in South Florida urging voters in a legislative district to use absentee ballots to create a paper trail.

Even the Miami-Dade Elections Reform Coalition, which has been pressing for a paper trail for touch screen machines, does not recommend absentee ballots.

"It's a chain of custody issue," said Sandy Wayland, the coalition's executive director. "We don't really know what they do with the absentee ballots when they get them," Wayland said.

Elections officials say they follow strict procedures for handling absentee ballots.

In Hillsborough County, for example, elections workers note that the ballot was accepted so the voter can't go to the polls on election day and vote again. Any ballots that are rejected are kept in a separate file for months. Ballots that are wrinkled or torn are duplicated so they can be counted.

Absentee ballots are run through an optical scan machine beginning four days before the election. The results are not tabulated until election day, when the absentee votes are counted after the polls close at 7 p.m.

Local elections supervisors don't have the staff to call voters whose absentee ballots are rejected.

So Victoria Mraz wouldn't have known her ballot had been rejected if she hadn't called the day before the March primary.

Mraz, a retired photo studio manager, said the first person she talked to in the elections office assured her the ballot had been accepted. But Mraz insisted on talking to Elections Supervisor Kurt Browning to make sure. He had bad news: The ballot had been rejected because her witness failed to include her address, a common problem.

Within a half-hour, Browning had sent someone to Mraz's house with a new ballot. He didn't have to do that, he said, but told her he was willing to "so that your vote will count."

The happy ending, however, didn't give Mraz the confidence Browning hoped.

She has a new absentee ballot for the Aug. 31 primary "and you know what? I don't know what to do. After this, I'm leery of absentee ballots."

Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
Q&A: ABSENTEE VOTING

Who can vote by absentee ballot?

Any registered voter. In 2001, Florida legislators ped restrictions.

How do you get an absentee ballot?

You can request one in person, in writing or by phone from your local elections supervisor, and in most cases online, up to the day before the election. A voter or a member of the voter's immediate family or the voter's legal guardian can request an absentee ballot.

How much time do you have to mail an absentee ballot?

It must arrive at the local elections office by 7 p.m. on election day. Overseas ballots must arrive within 10 days after the election.

What information must be included on the absentee ballot?

Your name, address and date of birth. The ballot must be dated and signed, and the signature must match the signature on file with the elections office. First-time voters who registered by mail must include a copy of a picture ID with the absentee ballot. Alternative identification includes copies of a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck or other government document.

Will I know if my ballot was accepted?

No. Elections supervisors say they do not have the staff to contact voters.

Are there other alternatives?

Yes, early voting. You can cast ballots on the same machines used on election day, starting at least 15 days before an election, at your local elections office. For the Aug. 31 primary, early voting runs Aug. 16-30, excluding Sundays. Contact your local elections office for exact hours and locations.