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State finally isssues guidelines on poll watcher rules

The Tribune sez that voter intimidation and suppressing the vote are longtime traditions in Florida. So, relax - it’s just some boys having fun, is all.

Poll watchers' plans to challenge voter credentials Tuesday may read like some ugly new threat to the democratic process, but at least some historians say it's just business as usual - particularly in Florida.

``Voter intimidation is a tradition in Florida so long- standing that it must date back at least to the 1830s,'' said Cantor Brown Jr., a Florida A&M University history professor.

``Our elections typically have been tumultuous. It's more the rule than the exception.''

The SP Times has a little more helpful take on the whole situation.

Hoping to ease rising concern over voter challenges, state elections officials on Friday released new guidelines for handling such challenges without delaying other voters.

The four-page memo from state Elections Director Dawn Roberts was an attempt to clarify a 109-year-old election law that in recent days has generated widespread anxiety about whether it would be used to deter voters.

The memo emphasizes that voter challenges must be resolved without delaying other voters.

It says that even if a challenge is successful, the voter must be given the option to file a provisional ballot. And it reaffirms that inclusion on a controversial state felon list is not sufficient evidence to sustain a challenge.
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State law allows each political party and candidate to post a single preapproved poll watcher at each precinct. They must be registered to vote in that county, and they cannot be a candidate or law enforcement officer.

While historically there to gauge voter turnout, this year some are expected to challenge voters.

Under state law, they must do so in a sworn affidavit. Election workers on site are then charged with deciding if the challenge if valid.

Public records show officials in Hillsborough County have approved 806 watchers; Pinellas, 616; Pasco, 120; and Citrus, 77. Hernando numbers were not available. Miami-Dade expects more than 2,325. Jacksonville's Duval has 959 signed up.

Roberts' memo recommended supervisors designate areas in each precinct where a challenge might be resolved, away from the table where other voters are checking in. It also spelled out that the poll watchers' challenge must be substantiated by evidence.

The memo also said that inclusion in the state's flawed felon voter database is not sufficient evidence. Hood discarded the list in July after critics found multiple flaws in the data.

If a challenge is successful, the would-be voter must be offered the chance to cast a provisional ballot, the memo said. That would allow a voter to appeal the precinct workers' decision before the county canvassing board, which reviews all provisional ballots before they can be counted.

Browning said it's naive to believe such guidelines, even if strictly followed, will maintain decorum.

"That sounds good, but you're in a polling place and your right to vote has just been challenged, what are you going to do?" Browning said. "Are you going to sit back while others decide your fate.

"I don't think so," he said. "You're going to get ticked. You may yell and stammer around the place and have your hands in the air and maybe use profanity. That alone is going to be disruptive."

Such concerns prompted Pinellas County Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark, even before Roberts' memo, to add a note at the top of a form that poll watchers will use to file challenges. It notes that it is a third-degree felony to falsely affirm an oath in election matters.

"I just want people to know that if they make this allegation, it's serious," Clark said. "If they willingly make it falsely, it's a felony of the third-degree."