Floridas
close votes are not a mistake
COMMENTARY
Patrick Jennings
I have a certain feeling in my gut. The feeling you
get when youre about to deliver a report in class
and know that no matter how hard you prepared, something
is about to go horribly wrong. I just sent in my Florida
absentee ballot.
Im a native Floridian, and I lived through the
embarrassment of the last presidential election. All
of my extended family lives in different states, but
they all had to poke fun at the Florida clan. We cant
count. Were easily confused. We stand in front
of polling boxes and block the path of minority voters.
If you think it was a national nightmare, try living
in Florida at the end of 2000.
On Nov. 5, Floridians vote for governor. Jeb Bush, the
incumbent and Dubyas little brother, is ahead
in the polls by an increasingly small margin. Bill McBride
beat Janet Reno in a very close primary and has chopped
Bushs lead from double digits to a statistical
dead heat. With a month left, Bill McBride has the time
to make this even closer. If President Bush makes a
move on Iraq that goes sour, Gov. Bush is unfortunately
connected despite his efforts to stay silent on ousting
Saddam.
I mentioned the close democratic primary between Reno
and McBride. It was close enough that Reno demanded,
you guessed it, a recount and claimed voters were turned
away from the polls. The margin was large enough that
she had to accept defeat within the week. I saw this
happening and got that feeling.
To set the record straight, Gov. Bush did try to fix
the problem. Almost 50 million dollars was spent to
upgrade voting methods in poor districts to computerized
ballots. Well, those touch-screens were still buggy
and Gov. Bush got the blame. Also, I have serious doubts
that there was a massive conspiracy on the part of the
Bush brothers to keep poor, democratic-voting blacks
from casting a ballot.
Likewise, there was no plan to confuse the elderly retirees
of Palm Beach county. I remember the butterfly ballot,
and it had been in use for decades. Bush made a conscious
effort to right those perceived wrongs amidst legal
battles and scorn from half of America.
Id give 15-to-1 odds against there being a problem
in this election, but those are closer odds than anywhere
else in the country. So if it happens, what should my
home state do to restore credibility? Im sorry,
I cant think of anything.
The problem in Florida stems from an evenly divided
electorate. North Florida is an extension of the solid
south for Republicans, yet there are enough democrats
in urban Orlando, Miami and Tampa to cancel them out.
In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won 16 counties.
Bush won 51. No change in voting procedure can change
the fact that every election held state wide is going
to be close. My home county casts more than 200,000
votes for president, and got the same results on the
first count and recount.
So for those of you who are eager to make fun of my
state, or call it the home of voting irregularities,
please dont do it. Democracy works best with two
equal sides battling each other for supremacy. Close
elections arent a crisis of democracy, theyre
a boon.
Patrick
Jennings is a freshman economics major from
Melbourne, Fla.
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