12143: U.S. election lawsuit based on poll failures with minorities (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

U.S. election lawsuit based on poll failures with minorities

By Linda Kleindienst
and David Cazares Staff Writers
Posted May 23 2002
Sun Sentinel

Problems encountered by Hispanics and Creole-speaking Haitians at the polls
during the 2000 election appear to be the focus of the U.S. Justice
Department's threat to sue three Florida counties, including Miami-Dade and
Osceola.

Miami-Dade was contacted 10 days ago about inadequate language assistance
given to Creole speakers. A settlement is already being negotiated that
would help the county's Haitian-American voters overcome their language
barrier in this fall's election.

"That's their whole issue," said Miami-Dade Assistant County Attorney Murray
Greenberg. "Everything they're looking for from us has to do with that."

A proposed consent decree released on Wednesday would require Miami-Dade to
ensure Haitian-Americans get help in the voting booth and to assign at least
one Creole-English- speaking poll worker to precincts with large numbers of
Haitian-American voters. Signs in English in Haitian precincts would also
have to be written in Creole.

In a scathing letter to the elections supervisor in Osceola County, where
more than 27 percent of the voting-age population is Hispanic, federal
officials criticized poll-worker refusals to give language assistance to
Hispanic voters. Besides a lack of voting instructions written in Spanish,
the county was cited for insisting that voters speak English and asking
Hispanics for green cards before they could vote. Green cards are proof of
residency in the United States; only citizens can vote.

The unusual announcement that three Florida counties face possible federal
voting rights violation lawsuits came Tuesday from Assistant U.S. Attorney
General Ralph Boyd as he testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee
meeting in Washington, D.C. Boyd, who said lawsuits are also being
considered in Tennessee and Missouri, refused to name the counties.

State officials were taken by surprise, especially in light of the election
system overhaul ordered by the Florida Legislature in the spring of 2001.

"While the 2000 election revealed concerns about our elections process that
had festered across our nation for decades, Florida remains the only state
that has funded comprehensive election reform, while passing legislation
that forcefully addresses the exclusion of persons with disabilities from
full and equal participation in elections," said David Host, a spokesman for
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, the state's chief election
official.

`Done our very best'

Greenberg conceded there may not have been enough Haitian-speaking
volunteers at the Miami-Dade polls, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. More
than two years ago, the county enacted an ordinance requiring that ballots
be available in Creole -- and it was in effect for the 2000 presidential
election.

"We've done our very best. We've had Creole-speaking people, as many as we
can get, come to the polls to help," he said. "Many of them signed up for
training but for whatever reason didn't show up on election day. We're
continuing to do everything we can do. We're reaching out."

He called the Justice Department a "Johnny-come-lately" to the Creole issue.
The county has spent $25 million on new touch-screen voting machines that
will provide ballots in three languages in time for this fall's elections.

"They move kind of slow. They're going after things that aren't broken,"
Greenberg said.

But Aude Sicard, president of the Women's Alliance of Miami-Dade and
Broward, said there were instances where Haitian voters were forced to deal
with non-Creole speakers, even when a Creole-speaking poll worker was
available. Others found polling places closed without prior notification and
with no sign telling voters where to go.

"It's about time all of this was put out in the open," she said.

State voting overhaul

After the 2000 election debacle, which resulted in George W. Bush winning
Florida by 537 votes out of more than 6 million ballots cast, the state
quickly enacted an overhaul of the state's voting system. Punch-card ballots
-- with their hanging and dimpled chads -- were outlawed, the state helped
counties buy new elections equipment, a new statewide voter database was
ordered and specific standards were required to determine what constitutes a
valid vote. The new state law also called for a standard statewide ballot
design, better voter education and provisional ballots.

This year, the Legislature passed the Voter Accessibility Act, guaranteeing
help at the polls for the disabled.

State officials also said that Florida has already enacted nine of the 11
recommendations made by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which determined
the state's election was marred by "significant and distressing" barriers
that discouraged voters from casting ballots.

Christopher Edley, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard Law
School and a member of the Civil Rights Commission, said he feels somewhat
vindicated by news of the Justice Department's intentions.

"I don't want to say, `I told you so.' I want to say, `Where have you
been?'" Edley said. "It took 18 months to find the nose on their face."

While Miami-Dade and Osceola counties brace for their negotiations with the
Justice Department, in Palm Beach County some voiced surprise that the home
of the butterfly ballot has not been threatened with a lawsuit.

More than 20,000 residents, including handicapped, Haitian, Hispanic and
black voters, filed affidavits with the county Democratic Party, claiming to
have been discriminated against.

"We should be [sued]," said Monte Friedkin, the Palm Beach County Democratic
chairman. "We're in worse shape than the other two counties."

In Broward County, meanwhile, civil rights activists said they were
satisfied with changes being made by Elections Supervisor Miriam Oliphant,
who launched a massive voter registration campaign, increased spending on
voter education and switched the county to touch-screen voting equipment
when she took office after the 2000 election.

"The rest of the state should be following Miriam's lead," said Fort
Lauderdale City Commissioner Carlton Moore. "She's out there every day
teaching people how to use the new voting devices and urging people to
register to vote."

Miami-Dade is one of six counties that remain in the lawsuit brought by the
NAACP and four other groups seeking reform of the state's voting process.
Although an August trial date has been set, a federal judge has asked the
parties to pursue mediation.

Staff Writers Madeline Baro Diaz, Marian Dozier, Patty Pensa, Scott Wyman,
Gwyneth Shaw of the Washington Bureau and David Damron of the Orlando
Sentinel contributed to this report.

Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or
850-224-6214.


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