Wednesday
Jul212004
STEALING AN ELECTION: Florida Officials Knew of Voter List's Race Flaw
Wednesday, July 21, 2004 at 12:50PM
As far back as 1997, state election officials knew that using race to
create a felon voter purge list could mean Hispanics wouldn't be
included in the purge, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has learned.
Elections officials studied the race issue for the purge conducted
before the 2000 election, and again in 2001 as they developed the
latest version of the list designed to keep felons from voting. The
decision to use race for the 2004 purge, knowing it could exclude
Hispanics, renews questions about whether the error was intentional,
said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton. "It's a clear indication of
a pattern of falsifying the voting process in Florida," Wexler said.
"As we now learn more and more, the likelihood of a coincidence is just
too great." Wexler said the findings could warrant an investigation by
the state attorney general's office, and Secretary of State Glenda
Hood's removal from office. [more] and [more]