Harris Unable to Offer Much Insight Into Florida Election Gaffes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. â€”  Although she oversees Florida elections, Secretary of State Katherine Harris on Friday told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that she had little knowledge of the election department operations and learned of widespread problems in presidential balloting only from news reports.

Harris said she delegated authority and was unable to respond to a series of questions about election day complaints, voter education and the state’s efforts to purge felons from voter rolls. The secretary clearly frustrated and even angered many of the seven panel members when she repeatedly referred questions to Clay Roberts, director of the state’s division of elections.

“I stand accountable,� Harris said. “But I will still have to refer to Mr. Roberts. He does the day-to- day operations.�

Response Disappoints Panel Chairwoman

In a news conference afterward, commission Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry called Harris’ testimony “laughable.�

“I had been warned by my staff that she would take that position and not answer,� Berry said. “I’m disappointed that even under questioning that she seemed unwilling to share information. I feel it’s a sad commentary. She neither saw nor seems interested in the kinds of problems we have been seeing here.�

In two days of hearings in the Florida capital, the commission looked into complaints of voting irregularities and civil rights violations during the Nov. 7 election. Allegations included reports that voters, many of them black, were intimidated by police roadblocks, were asked for several forms of identification at the polls and were incorrectly identified as felons.

Harris, who served as co-chairwoman of George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in Florida, became a flash point of controversy because of the secretary of state’s role in certifying election results. The commission ordered Harris and Roberts to provide documentation about the election from Nov. 12 until Dec. 12, the day the U.S. Supreme Court halted vote recounts and helped deliver the presidency to Bush. Those documents include logs of phone calls and e-mail records involving top state officials.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, younger brother of the president-elect, testified Thursday that he took no special measures to ensure that the state’s election was conducted properly, even though he was aware that the presidential race would be close and that minority voter turnout was expected to be high.

Harris said she also kept her distance from the workings of the department she supervised and had virtually no contact with local election supervisors in Florida’s 67 counties.

“Has anyone ever heard of the merry-go-round called denial?� Commissioner Victoria Wilson, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf in New York, asked Harris. “I’ve heard from supervisors desperate for help. They wanted money, guidance, and you abandoned them. And the voters ended up paying the price.�

Among those who asked for help was Leon County election supervisor Ion Sancho, who testified Friday that some election problems might have been avoided had Harris been successful in a budget request to spend $100,000 statewide on voter education.

Also testifying Friday were Col. Charles C. Hall, director of the Florida Highway Patrol; Phyllis Hampton, general counsel of the Florida Elections Commission; state Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth; and state Agriculture Commissioner Robert Crawford, who was named to replace Jeb Bush on the state election canvassing board after the governor recused himself because of his brother’s candidacy.

Butterworth said that after the election his office received 2,600 complaints from disgruntled voters, including 2,300 from Palm Beach County residents who were upset about the confusing “butterfly ballot� used there. Other complaints had to do with confusion about casting absentee ballots and about registered voters who were not allowed to vote.

Complaints About Troopers’ Checkpoint

Only three of the written complaints alleged discrimination based on race, Butterworth said.

One complaint was based on the experience of Tallahassee voter Roberta Tucker, who testified Thursday that she was stopped on her way to the polls at a Florida Highway Patrol checkpoint. Although she was not ticketed, Tucker said she felt intimidated.

Hall told the panel that the checkpoint, set up two miles from a polling place by a sergeant and three troopers, was a routine check for unsafe vehicles but was not authorized for that day. He said that, of 150 vehicles stopped and checked, 16 drivers were cited for violations. Of those, 10 were white and six were African American.

“I don’t see how that could affect anyone’s ability to vote,� Hall said.

Tucker did go on to vote Nov. 7, as did two other black voters who testified Thursday about civil rights concerns. One of them, the Rev. Willie D. Whiting, said he was misidentified as a felon and told he could not vote. Whiting, however, was allowed to vote after contacting county election officials and clearing up the mistake.

The civil rights commission, made up of presidential and congressional appointees, has set its next hearing on the Florida election for Feb. 16 in Miami. The panel’s report on remedies to election day problems is due in the summer.