- Oct 16, 1999
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/n...housands-of-bad-palm-beach-county-abse/nSpnM/
What "getting out the vote" means in Florida.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/n...housands-of-bad-palm-beach-county-abse/nSpnM/
With the White House, key state and national races and the overarching issue of womens reproductive rights hanging in the balance, Palm Beach Countys leading abortion rights advocate had no intention of sitting out the November election.
Intentions aside, Mona Reis will have no voice in the upcoming election. Her absentee ballot was tossed out this week by the countys canvassing board.
The reason: Her signature on the ballot didnt match the one on file in the elections office.
It wasnt even close, said County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor, who, like other members of the three-member board, recognized Reis name.
This is unbelievable, said Reis, who is founder and CEO of Presidential Womens Health Center where abortions and other services are offered. I have never heard of anything like this in my life.
While signature problems impact a relatively small number of votes, they illustrate the perils of casting absentee ballots, said Charles Stewart III, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In a report published last year, he estimated as many as 21 percent of absentee ballots requested nationwide never are counted. In the 2008 presidential election, 3.9 million of the 35.5 million ballots requested never reached voters. About 2.9 million that were received by voters never made it back to election offices. Another 800,000 were rejected for other reasons, such as signature problems and not being mailed in time.
The 21 percent figure may be high, he conceded. But even if you cut it in half or by a third, its still a big number, he said.
To put it in perspective, he said in the paper, If 20 percent, or even 10 percent, of voters who stood in line on Election Day were turned away, there would be national outrage. Because the issue remains largely unexplored, problems persist with nary a comment.
But, he said, voters who are thwarted in their attempts to use a voting system that is touted as safe and convenient become angry and often paranoid.
Stewart said he wasnt surprised that many Palm Beach County voters who say theyve been waiting weeks to receive absentee ballots suspect two things: incompetence on the part of Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher; or mischief by a rival political party. A recent printing snafu, that is forcing Bucher to hire workers to copy an estimated 27,000 absentee ballots that cant be read by tabulation machines, is doing little to instill voter confidence.
But, Bucher insists she is sending out error-free ballots within two days of getting a request. The U.S. Postal Service insists its moving them. Why, then, voters ask, havent they arrived?
There are numerous ways the system can break down, Stewart said. A voter could give the wrong information; a clerk could make a mistake; the post office could lose a ballot; or any number of problems could arise. The best evidence suggests that the pipeline that moves mail ballots between voters and election officials is very leaky, he said.
Even when elections and postal officials manage to move a ballot back and forth, as Reis found out, problems can erupt.
The night the canvassing board composed of Taylor, Bucher and County Court Judge Caroline Shepherd rejected Reis ballot it tossed five others because signatures didnt match those on file.
While numbers for recent elections werent available, a Palm Beach Post review of the 2004 presidential contest found that 176 absentee ballots were rejected because of signature problems. In a hotly contested state Senate race in August, when 24,000 votes were cast, Bucher said 40 people lost their votes that way.
Reis said she had no idea signatures were checked. Its never been a problem, she said. The signature Bucher has on file was probably one from 1975 when Reis, now 61, registered to vote. Handwriting experts say peoples signatures change dramatically over time.
Thats why Bucher advises people to update their signature card before voting by mail. Her website warns: If the signatures do not match, your ballot may not be counted.
While Reis vowed to fight, Bucher said there is nothing she can do. That was your voting experience, she said. Chris Cate, spokesman for the Florida Secretary of State, said the only exception is if Reis can prove someone fraudulently voted for her.
Attorney Louis Silber, who represents Reis, said there should be a remedy. In addition to the starkly different views on abortion and contraceptives between Democrat President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, voters will decide whether to amend the Florida Constitution to curb abortion rights.
This is an extremely, extremely important election, he said. Its extremely distressing that this is happening.
What "getting out the vote" means in Florida.
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