S. O. Damocles
11-11-2004, 09:17 AM
Electric Nachos wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3960679.stm
BBC
Florida ballot papers go missing
Tens of thousands of postal ballots have gone missing in the state of Florida,
sparking fresh fears of irregularities in the US poll campaign.
Authorities are investigating the apparent loss of 58,000 absentee forms in
Broward County while officials have said replacements are being sent out.
Controversy over the vote in Florida in 2000 delayed the national result.
With five days until the poll, the presidential candidates are focusing their
campaigns in crucial states.
It looks like they're trying to steal the vote again
Diane Glasser
Florida Democratic Party
The accepted wisdom is that whoever wins two out of the three states of Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Florida will win the election, the BBC's Rob Watson in
Washington says.
The latest opinion polls suggest that the race in all three is still fairly
close, our correspondent adds.
For the fourth day, Mr Kerry held the president responsible on Thursday for 350
metric tons of explosive missing in Iraq.
"The commander-in-chief is not getting his job done," the Democrat said.
Mr Bush hit back, saying John Kerry was "the wrong man for the wrong job at the
wrong time".
'No blame game'
The missing ballots have fuelled an atmosphere of intense suspicion in Florida,
with Democrats already backing nine separate lawsuits in the state, says the
BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.
KEY SWING STATES
1. Florida - 27 electoral votes
2. Pennsylvania - 21
3. Ohio - 20
4. Minnesota - 10
5. Wisconsin - 10
6. Iowa - 7
7. Nevada - 5
8. New Mexico - 5
9. New Hampshire - 4
If the outcome is close and decides the result in the presidential race - and
both of those eventualities are perfectly possible - it seems virtually certain
that protracted legal battles will follow, our correspondent says.
Electoral officials in Broward County say they will send more ballots after
being overwhelmed by calls from would-be voters, unable to get to the polls, who
fear that their votes have been stolen.
A police investigation into the missing ballots has not uncovered any indication
of criminal wrongdoing.
The US postal service inspectorate said it was highly unlikely that 58,000
pieces of mail had just disappeared.
A spokesman said inspectors were trying to establish whether the ballots were
ever delivered to the postal service.
Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes said the situation was not a
"blame game".
"What we're concentrating on is getting the ballots to the voter," she told the
Miami Herald newspaper.
Lawsuits
Campaigners are working to ensure that no-one loses the right to vote because of
the missing ballots.
Democratic Party legislators have called on the electoral authorities to publish
newspaper ads telling people of other options for voting.
They also accused the Republican-dominated state government of dirty tricks.
Governor Jeb Bush - the brother of the incumbent president - has rejected
suggestions of bias.
In 2000, Broward gave Al Gore his biggest margin among Florida counties. He won
67% of the vote there, while losing the state to George W Bush by 537 votes.
"It looks like they're trying to steal the vote again," said Diane Glasser,
vice-chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.
Both the Democrats and Republicans have already begun filing lawsuits in states
across the US, challenging different aspects of the election process.
'Intimidation'
Voting rights activists in Florida say the state could also face acute problems
with vote-counting and the process of casting ballots in next week's election.
Early voting, which has been going on for more than a week, shows that new
electronic voting machine technology is much slower than the old punch-card
method, the BBC's Daniel Lak reports from Miami.
A high turnout could mean huge delays, our correspondent says.
Other concerns include accusations of voter intimidation by party
representatives outside polling stations during the early voting.
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3960679.stm
BBC
Florida ballot papers go missing
Tens of thousands of postal ballots have gone missing in the state of Florida,
sparking fresh fears of irregularities in the US poll campaign.
Authorities are investigating the apparent loss of 58,000 absentee forms in
Broward County while officials have said replacements are being sent out.
Controversy over the vote in Florida in 2000 delayed the national result.
With five days until the poll, the presidential candidates are focusing their
campaigns in crucial states.
It looks like they're trying to steal the vote again
Diane Glasser
Florida Democratic Party
The accepted wisdom is that whoever wins two out of the three states of Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Florida will win the election, the BBC's Rob Watson in
Washington says.
The latest opinion polls suggest that the race in all three is still fairly
close, our correspondent adds.
For the fourth day, Mr Kerry held the president responsible on Thursday for 350
metric tons of explosive missing in Iraq.
"The commander-in-chief is not getting his job done," the Democrat said.
Mr Bush hit back, saying John Kerry was "the wrong man for the wrong job at the
wrong time".
'No blame game'
The missing ballots have fuelled an atmosphere of intense suspicion in Florida,
with Democrats already backing nine separate lawsuits in the state, says the
BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.
KEY SWING STATES
1. Florida - 27 electoral votes
2. Pennsylvania - 21
3. Ohio - 20
4. Minnesota - 10
5. Wisconsin - 10
6. Iowa - 7
7. Nevada - 5
8. New Mexico - 5
9. New Hampshire - 4
If the outcome is close and decides the result in the presidential race - and
both of those eventualities are perfectly possible - it seems virtually certain
that protracted legal battles will follow, our correspondent says.
Electoral officials in Broward County say they will send more ballots after
being overwhelmed by calls from would-be voters, unable to get to the polls, who
fear that their votes have been stolen.
A police investigation into the missing ballots has not uncovered any indication
of criminal wrongdoing.
The US postal service inspectorate said it was highly unlikely that 58,000
pieces of mail had just disappeared.
A spokesman said inspectors were trying to establish whether the ballots were
ever delivered to the postal service.
Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes said the situation was not a
"blame game".
"What we're concentrating on is getting the ballots to the voter," she told the
Miami Herald newspaper.
Lawsuits
Campaigners are working to ensure that no-one loses the right to vote because of
the missing ballots.
Democratic Party legislators have called on the electoral authorities to publish
newspaper ads telling people of other options for voting.
They also accused the Republican-dominated state government of dirty tricks.
Governor Jeb Bush - the brother of the incumbent president - has rejected
suggestions of bias.
In 2000, Broward gave Al Gore his biggest margin among Florida counties. He won
67% of the vote there, while losing the state to George W Bush by 537 votes.
"It looks like they're trying to steal the vote again," said Diane Glasser,
vice-chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.
Both the Democrats and Republicans have already begun filing lawsuits in states
across the US, challenging different aspects of the election process.
'Intimidation'
Voting rights activists in Florida say the state could also face acute problems
with vote-counting and the process of casting ballots in next week's election.
Early voting, which has been going on for more than a week, shows that new
electronic voting machine technology is much slower than the old punch-card
method, the BBC's Daniel Lak reports from Miami.
A high turnout could mean huge delays, our correspondent says.
Other concerns include accusations of voter intimidation by party
representatives outside polling stations during the early voting.