Loa Angeles Times
October 17, 2004
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ignored advice to throw out a flawed felon voter list
before it went out to county election offices despite warnings from state
officials, according to a published report Saturday.
In a May 4 e-mail
obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Florida Department of Law Enforcement
computer expert Jeff Long told his boss that a Department of State computer
expert had told him "that yesterday they recommended to the Gov that they 'pull
the plug'" on the voter database.
The e-mail said state election
officials "weren't comfortable with the felon matching program they've got," but
added, "The Gov rejected their suggestion to pull the plug, so they're 'going
live' with it this weekend."
Long, who was responsible for giving
elections officials his department's felon database, confirmed the contents of
the e-mail Friday to the Herald-Tribune. He said he didn't remember the
specifics, but that Paul Craft, the Department of State's top computer expert,
had told him about the m eeting with Bush.
A software program matched
data on felons with voter registration rolls to create the list of 48,000 names.
Secretary of State Glenda Hood junked the database in July after acknowledging
that 2,500 ex-felons on the list had had their voting rights restored.
Most were Democrats, and many were black. Hispanics, who often vote
Republican in Florida, were almost entirely absent from the list due to a
technical error.
Bush's spokeswoman, Jill Bratina, denied allegations
that the governor ignored warnings about the list.
"It's also
irrelevant because the list isn't being used," Bratina said Saturday.
Bush told the Herald-Tribune that Craft didn't call him, and he denied
that any meeting took place May 3 with Craft or other election officials.
"Once it became clear after talking to the secretary of state that there
were problems with the list (in July), that's when we decided to end it," Bush
said.
Craft hung up on a Herald-Tribune reporter se eking comment
Friday. A message left for a Paul Craft in Tallahassee was not immediately
returned Saturday.
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Florida chairman of
Democratic Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign, said the report shows the
extent Bush will go to ensure his brother's re-election.
"Jeb Bush and
the Bush campaign need to come clean about their involvement in this sad
spectacle," Meek said.
Florida is one of few states that does not
automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons when they complete their
sentences. Purging felons from voter rolls has been a hot-button issue since
the 2000 presidential election, when many citizens discovered at the polls they
weren't allowed to vote.
Election officials have said that anyone who
feels they have been inadvertently removed from the voter rolls on Nov. 2 will
be allowed to use a provisional ballot that will be examined later to determine
eligibility.