The Right to Challenge

[previous post in series here]

Concerned friends, some of each party, are emailing me asking whether I'm out suppressing the vote. Half of them sound like they're reading the John Kerry/NY Times/Mary Francis Berry talking points. In any event, I'm doing no such thing.

Section 101.111 of the Florida election code permits any local voter to challenge “the right to vote of any person who desires to vote.” The revised new election laws (federal and Florida) add complexity, and the rules governing "early polling" are fluid. Which makes access to the voter identification process, and ensuring that only valid votes count, all the more important--as the opinion letter acknowledges.

The placement of the observer table at the Ft. Myers early polling facility (in the Lee County Constitutional Complex on Thompson Street) makes this impossible. The observers are 30 feet from the ID table. Sight lines are blocked by the snaking line of voters. The din, and buzz of voters make the questions, if any, asked by election officials entirely unobservable. It’s possible that, were the early polling facility empty, an observer could see voter check-in. But this facility is now jammed and, in any event, the distance between observer and voter check-in is too far to hear.

At my urging, both the Republican and Democrat observers questioned Sharon Harrington, elections supervisor of Lee County (an elected position in Florida; Ms. Harrington is a Republican). The observers claimed that their rights under Section 101.111, and the opinion letter, were vitiated because they could not properly observe or challenge. Ms. Harrington patiently heard us out, and permitted the table to be moved 20 feet latterly. The result—still can’t see, still can’t hear.

I called the Florida Republican legal hotline for advice. And ultimately, they advised dropping the matter. They didn't say why--but I speculate that, because Bush should win Lee County, streamlining challenges here would help Democrats more than Republicans. So, no voter suppression here; move along; nothing to see.

(Is this sensitive information? Should I not reveal it? Isn't it likely that no Kerry-voter reads me? Beats me.)

At lunchtime, I moved to the early voting office in Cape Coral. It was vastly more efficient, with the observers having good access to the process. Voters entered, showed ID; county officials then asked each to verify their date of birth and “legal” address, which country workers matched with computer records and the ID itself. Or, voters hand in sealed absentee ballots, which are immediately locked in inaccessible closet.

When someone has no ID, it becomes a disputed ballot. Officials copy their driver license, and require a signed "disputed ballot affidavit" (a form letter).

Though not legally required, Cape Coral is enforcing a 50 feet rule--advocates must stay more than 50 feet from the building's entrance. It’s marked off in the parking lot. This was in response to a Kerry invasion earlier in the week, when dozens of Dems entered, wearing Kerry t-shirts, and badgered voters inside the building. Was much calmer today; didn't see anyone worth a challenge.

So far, I've challenged the right to challenge--and lost. And no one's been bared from voting. I know Democrats everywhere will sleep soundly tonight.

[Series continues here]