Florida ���Loses��� 58,000 Absentee Ballots, FairVote Demands Reform

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, October 28, 2004                            Contact:        Andrew Kirshenbaum
                                                                                             Right to Vote Program
                                                                                             301-270-4616
                                                                                             [email protected] 

TAKOMA PARK, MD:  Less than a week before the presidential election the critical swing-state of Florida is yet again the focal point of electoral controversy: 58,000 absentee ballots supposedly sent out by the Broward County Board of Elections have yet to reach voters.  This error makes it near impossible that voters will be able to complete and return their ballots in time to be counted.  While this glitch may be the result of a mistake made by the Board of Elections or the U.S. Postal Service ��� through no fault of their own, tens of thousands of registered voters will be unable to cast ballots and with little recourse.  A mere 537 voters gave Florida���s Presidential Electors to George Bush fours years ago, and the absence of 58,000 potential voters in this overwhelmingly Democratic county could easily sway the election results.

Rob Richie, Executive Director of FairVote-The Center For Voting and Democracy, stated, ���the ability to vote should not be restricted by the mistakes of a county or the slowness of the mail.  Every U.S citizen should have the opportunity to cast a ballot.  However, under our current state-based electoral system, these voters have no recourse, when a state makes a mistake.���

FairVote believes that citizens should have a federally protected right to vote.  The Center supports Congressman Jesse Jackson���s proposal to add a right to vote amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Such an amendment would make voting a right citizenship.  It would empower Congress to set national electoral policies all states would have to follow to ensure that each vote is counted and counted correctly.  This could include uniform standards on absentee ballot mailing procedures that would prevent such problems in the future. 

Richie further explained, ���state-based voting systems often make election procedures a political process decided by political operatives.  Even if the Broward County ballots were lost in an innocent manner, the public impression may be one of mistrust and suspicion in certain segments of society.  Uniform Federal standards by which state elections administrators would be judged, would help to ease these tensions in the future, and ensure that elections procedures are fair to all.���

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