Early voting shut out
Fairness should be election supervisor's bigger concern

Daytona Beach News Journal Editorial
Last : October 11, 2004

If two or three more hurricanes were to hit Volusia County between now and Nov. 2, would elections scheduled for that day be canceled?

Of course not. Local officials would find a way to set up polls, accept ballots and count them. It would be difficult and stressful. But it would get done.

That's the same attitude we need to see from Supervisor of Elections Deanie Lowe toward early voting. In the past week, the controversy has crystallized into two choices: Lowe can start moving now to set up additional early-voting sites in Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Deltona. Or the county can waste time, energy and money defending against a federal lawsuit and face the possibility that a judge will order her to set up early-voting sites. If it's difficult now, it will be even more so by Oct. 19, when the first court hearing is scheduled.

The County Council made it clear Thursday that money is not a barrier to expanding early voting. Council members said they were willing to spend whatever it takes and lend employees to help operate the satellite voting sites. The community needs to see the same attitude from Lowe, who has been entrusted with the final responsibility of overseeing elections in this county.

The voters protesting the lack of early-voting sites have a legitimate reason for complaint.

The state Legislature authorized early voting this spring, understanding that many voters have trouble making it to the polls on Election Day but don't trust absentee balloting.

Early voting has been embraced across the state, and is proving to be a good combination of access and accountability: A voter can come to a designated site up to two weeks early, fill out a ballot and put it in the machine that tabulates it instantly. There is no question of ballots being "lost in the mail" and the opportunity to correct a ballot rejected because it was improperly filled out.

The suit was filed by the Volusia County chapter of the NAACP, but this issue is more geographic than racial. As it stands, voters in DeLand have easy access to the only early voting site at the main elections office. Voters in other areas of the county don't. It's not fair to them.

There's plenty of blame to go around for the current dilemma. Lowe and the County Council mutually agreed to close branch elections offices in 2002, and didn't officially reconsider early voting in May, after the Legislature passed the bill specifically authorizing early voting. E-mails between Lowe and County Manager Cindy Coto shed light on the discussion and demonstrate that neither Lowe nor county officials considered opening satellite sites a priority.

That's an outrageous stance, because early voting was a popular move in 2000 so popular that some sites were so crowded that voters had to wait two or three hours to cast ballots.

There is no doubt that setting up early voting now would be difficult. Lowe would need extra voting machines, which are in short supply, and she would need to provide additional training for poll workers chosen to staff the remote-voting stations. She says her staff already is working seven days a week processing absentee ballots and new voter registrations.

Those are not valid excuses. There are 66 other supervisors of elections in this state, and a state Division of Elections that might be able to provide aid if requested. Daytona Beach officials already have said they'll provide space for early voting, and other city officials probably would be just as amenable. If not, Lowe could certainly commandeer space in a county library.

The local leaders who spurred the lawsuit should make it clear that they're open to a reasonable solution that meets the requirements of access while recognizing the time limitations.

Once again, the cost of inaction is proving to be far higher than the expense of doing things right the first time. This issue should be resolved soon with the best interests of the voters at heart.