When the person in charge of Florida elections believes that...and the Florida Republican legislature passed laws in 2005 to agree with him...then there should be no surprise at long lines.
Here are several articles about why there are the problems. There are things that could have been changed to make things easier. Some of the hours and some of the reasons for limiting the places are certainly seeming unreasonable.
This article has one of the more weird reasons. A polling place that does not open on weekdays until 11:00 am? Gee, oh my, what about the working people?
From the Miami Herald:
Long lines continue for South Florida early votingIn Miami-Dade, Eugene Milton planned on showing up early to vote Monday morning.
He just didn't intend on getting in line this early. Milton was one of roughly 50 people waiting for the polls to open at North Dade Regional Library at 7 a.m. Unbeknown to them: Voting doesn't begin in Miami-Dade until 11 a.m. this week.
''I assumed today, it would be the same time as last week,'' said Milton of Miami Gardens. ``They should have kept the hours the same.''
On the county's website, the schedule is clear: This week, the polls are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, then only for four hours Saturday and Sunday. That came as little consolation to those lined up in Miami Gardens. Of the 20 polling places in Miami-Dade, the North Dade Regional Library has been among the busiest. On Friday, 350 people were in line before dawn.
So when just a few dozen gathered in front of the locked building at 7 a.m. Monday, those in line knew something was amiss. If nothing else, said Linda Bestman of North Miami Beach, there should have been a sign in the window, letting the early risers know to come back later.
On the county website? What if they were not looking at election websites on a computer? Why change the hours from one week to the next?
Why limit hours so that people who must go to work are affected?More on what GOP lawmakers did in setting the rules for early voting. It happened along party lines in 2005.
From McClatchy Newspapers via Common Dreams site:
Florida's GOP Lawmakers Blamed For Early-Voting LinesThose revamped rules trimmed early voting from 12 hours per workday to eight.
During the first presidential election since Gov. Jeb Bush signed the bill in 2005, the new law's impact can be seen throughout South Florida: exhausting lines at polling sites in Miami-Dade and Broward that led voters to miss work, senior citizens to beg for chairs and voting advocates to question whether some are being disenfranchised.
..."From Miami City Hall to the Southwest Regional Library in Pembroke Pines, voters on Monday and Tuesday -- the first two days of early voting -- sweated out waits of two to five hours. Broward reported record turnout for early voting, which ends Nov. 2. Now, the debate over those achingly long lines has turned political. Some Democratic leaders contend the bill intentionally slowed down a process that has historically benefited the party.
"They were using their power, their majority, to make it harder for people to vote, to gain a political advantage," said House Minority Leader Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. "It was horrible.''
Republicans dispute any political motives, saying the new rules set much-needed uniform standards while saving government money by trimming polling times. The 82-36 House vote was largely along party lines, with Democrat motions to expand the hours all falling flat. House Bill 1567 took effect during the 2006 election cycle. Before its passage, early voting centers could remain open for up to 12 hours on weekdays, and for a total of eight hours over the weekend.
Today, early voting sites are limited to eight hours on weekdays and a total of eight aggregate hours on weekends. Local governments are now limited to using libraries, city halls and election headquarters as polling sites.
Seems like it is South Florida that suffers the most. At least that is where all the stories are coming from about the long lines.
May I quote our Republican Secretary of State who with one side of his mouth expresses concern, and with the other side spouts partisan stuff. This quote should go down in history.
"Lines are a sign of a healthy democracy, and certainly our democracy is healthy today," said Secretary of State Kurt Browning. MSNBC Here is more from the Orlando Sentinel on
why early voting has meant long lines.Back in 2005, the Republican-led Florida Legislature pushed through a change limiting early-voting hours and locations, overriding protests from a few Democrats that the change would worsen wait times and potentially turn off voters.
Republicans said they were trying to treat all counties equally. Democrats said they were playing politics, given that Democrats have turned out in greater numbers for early voting.
Since then, the Legislature has resisted yearly requests by elections supervisors to expand early-voting hours and locations, despite growing public interest in avoiding the Election Day rush.
"There's no question they were trying to make early voting harder because it benefits Democrats," said House Minority Leader Dan Gelber, D- Miami Beach, who is running for the state Senate.
"I thought it was a naked power grab where they were running over people's right to vote."
Doggone those elections supervisors, always wanting to expand hours and increase the number of locations. :sarcasm:
The elections supervisors tried to change the system put in place in 2005 by Jeb's crew. Kurt Browning and Charlie Crist could step in and change things. But they are not planning to do so.
Last night I was criticized for posting concerns about this issue. Well, actually called an ugly name. In that thread even people I respect were defending Crist and Browning and saying there really is not a problem.
If the legislature limited locations and hours....looks like they could have gone a step further and said polling locations should allow for working people,
not open at 11 in the morning and close at 7 at night as is happening in a very large county in South Florida.I believe that in our country there is no excuse for long lines for anyone. It could be fixed if the powers that be so desired. Our Democrats here could have made a huge difference in 2005 if they had spoken out against what the Republicans were doing to early voting. But they did not speak out much back then.
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