Absentee ballot may not require a witness

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Tue, Apr. 13, 2004

ELECTIONS


Absentee ballot may not require a witness

State election officials want to do away with requiring absentee voters to find a witness to sign their ballots. Critics say the change could lead to fraud.

BY ERIKA BOLSTAD AND MICHAEL VASQUEZ

[e-mail]


TALLAHASSEE - With thousands more Floridians expected to use absentee ballots to vote in November's presidential election, state election officials are calling for changes that critics say could invite fraud.

Election supervisors across the state want to do away with requiring absentee voters to find a witness to sign their ballots, even though witness information proved crucial in overturning a rigged 1997 Miami mayoral race.

The witness portion of the ballot is unnecessary, election officials say, since their clerks merely verify whether the voter's signature matches the one on file. Voters must have a witness's signature and address on the absentee ballot, but no one in the election office ever checks the address or identity of the witness.
(snip)

A state Division of Elections survey found that problems with witness signatures disqualified more than 2,300 absentee ballots in the March 9 presidential primary.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/8417885.htm
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For newcomers to Florida election history, Florida has a bad record of election fraud, focusing most scandalously recently on ABSENTEE BALLOTS in Miami.

[Florida_Geek]

1. This is a Red Herring issue

Requiring a witness is BS and more than that there is no way to check it. The Supervisors of Elections can not check the witness signature. All they can check is the voters signature. So this is just BS and should be done away with.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

2. Did you read this part:

Election supervisors across the state want to do away with requiring absentee voters to find a witness to sign their ballots, even though witness information proved crucial in overturning a rigged 1997 Miami mayoral race.

That seems to suggest that requiring a witness is anything but BS!

[Warren Stuart]

3. People will be voting from their graves

And the Republicans will say it's Clinton's fault they cheated.

[hang a left]

4. I just knew it was Florida before I clicked.

n/t