Florida set to steal election again in 2004

[Donutboy 0]

SPECIAL REPORT: DEJA VOTE?

Hurdles remain

Florida's voter database won't be ready in time

Florida has spent tens of millions of dollars on new equipment, voter education and poll worker training since the 2000 election meltdown. But none of those reforms will matter if the would-be voter is denied a chance to cast a ballot to begin with.

And after spending almost $6 million to create - and then fix - a database to ensure accuracy in county voter rolls by weeding out ineligible voters, Florida will not meet a federal requirement to establish a central voter-registration database in time for the 2004 presidential election. The state now is seeking a waiver until 2006.

For whatever reason, :roll: many blacks in Florida were purged from the voting lists in Florida in 2000 and weren't even given the opportunity to cast a challenge ballot!! It looks like the state of Florida is going to be unable to get them back on the lists in time for the 2004 elections!! A waiver until 2006? How convenient!! Never mind that you'd be denying eligible voters their right to vote.

Many state lawmakers seem unconcerned. A Division of Elections update on how the state is implementing federal requirements earlier this month before a Senate appropriations subcommittee lasted about five minutes and drew no questions from committee members.

Gee, the Senate is unconcerned? Who'da thunk it? I wonder if they'd have been concerned if it were wealthy contributors being denied the right to vote?

But Rep. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to a task force to fix the state's election problems, called the failure to establish the central registration database "a major concern."

"Why, in four years, they can't get this thing done?" Smith asked. "I would think that this administration, after all the problems in 2000, would make sure that no one could bring up this issue again. You would think this would be a top priority for them."

No Charles!! You show concern AFTER you've gotten the desired result!!

Possibly thousands of voters were turned away from the polls in 2000, when their names were removed erroneously from county voter rolls because the state Division of Elections sent counties an inaccurate list of 173,142 supposed felons and others not qualified to vote.

Hmmmm, wonder how this happened? Of course, a state the size of Florida can't correct this in four years? Yeah, right!!

"When they went to vote, they were told they were criminals, and their names had been purged from the files. We got a great number of calls," said Anita Davis, who was president of the Tallahassee branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the time.

It's not known how many people were barred in error from voting, but Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho found his office could verify that only 34 names on the list of 694 supposed felons in his county were actually felons ineligible to vote.

Only 34 out of 694? That's a HUGE error!! :roll: Of course, an election determined by a few hundred, when the Supreme Kangaroo Court refused a recount, couldn't have been different if these thousands of blacks had not had their right to vote revoked by the state of Florida, could it? :roll:

Civil-rights advocates say one voter turned away is one too many, and most think that ineligible voters shouldn't be allowed to vote. But noted elections expert Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said those problems were minor compared with ballots that clearly showed a voter's intent, yet were thrown out because antiquated machines couldn't read them.

Preach on brother!! Hail to the thief!!

Well, you can read the rest by using the following link!!

Florida's voter database won't be ready in time

[CCTAU 3,536]

It's our job as citizens to make sure we are registered to vote. If there is a question, then re-register. If you are too stupid to figure out how to register and vote, then I don't want your vote, but the demoncrats do. Why doesn't the demoncratic party go and save these poor wretches from themselves?

And how many whites were purged?????? Don't know? Doesn't matter, they're white.

[Donutboy 0]

It's our job as citizens to make sure we are registered to vote. If there is a question, then re-register. If you are too stupid to figure out how to register and vote, then I don't want your vote, but the demoncrats do. Why doesn't the demoncratic party go and save these poor wretches from themselves?

And how many whites were purged?????? Don't know? Doesn't matter, they're white.

It's more than a matter of re-registering. Their names must show up on a central voters list and the state of Florida doesn't think they can create one before... oh, let's say, 2006. In other words, it won't do them any good even if they re-register because the state of Florida still isn't going to recognize them until after the 2004 elections and probably until after the 2006 elections!!

I'm sure that there were also whites left off of the voting lists but most of the attrocities happened in largely Democratic counties. I'm sure this isn't a problem for you. You've never had the right to vote denied to you. Jeb Bush promised to deliver Florida to Dubya in 2000 and he showed he would do it by any ways possible, legal or not. It sure looks like they're gearing up for a repeat in 2004 to me, doesn't it you? Of course, that doesn't matter to you because they're stealing it for your man!!

[CCTAU 3,536]

It's our job as citizens to make sure we are registered to vote. If there is a question, then re-register. If you are too stupid to figure out how to register and vote, then I don't want your vote, but the demoncrats do. Why doesn't the demoncratic party go and save these poor wretches from themselves?

And how many whites were purged?????? Don't know? Doesn't matter, they're white.

It's more than a matter of re-registering. Their names must show up on a central voters list and the state of Florida doesn't think they can create one before... oh, let's say, 2006. In other words, it won't do them any good even if they re-register because the state of Florida still isn't going to recognize them until after the 2004 elections and probably until after the 2006 elections!!

I'm sure that there were also whites left off of the voting lists but most of the attrocities happened in largely Democratic counties. I'm sure this isn't a problem for you. You've never had the right to vote denied to you. Jeb Bush promised to deliver Florida to Dubya in 2000 and he showed he would do it by any ways possible, legal or not. It sure looks like they're gearing up for a repeat in 2004 to me, doesn't it you? Of course, that doesn't matter to you because they're stealing it for your man!!

That's true. I registered when I turned 18. I paid for my own education. I got a job. And I didn't need to gubment to help me. I guess cause I'm white, I just can't understand that the goverment sees me as a better class citizen and doesn't have to supply me with all those crutches to make it through life.

And YOU have never been denied your right to vote either.

Please take your "Oh big whitey is keeping me down again" attitude and leave it at your NAACP meetings. The rest of the country is finally catching on to that act. Either you want to work for something in life, or you don't. And if these people want to vote, I guarantee you that if they register they will be on a list somewhere.

[Donutboy 0]

It's our job as citizens to make sure we are registered to vote. If there is a question, then re-register. If you are too stupid to figure out how to register and vote, then I don't want your vote, but the demoncrats do. Why doesn't the demoncratic party go and save these poor wretches from themselves?

And how many whites were purged?????? Don't know? Doesn't matter, they're white.

It's more than a matter of re-registering. Their names must show up on a central voters list and the state of Florida doesn't think they can create one before... oh, let's say, 2006. In other words, it won't do them any good even if they re-register because the state of Florida still isn't going to recognize them until after the 2004 elections and probably until after the 2006 elections!!

I'm sure that there were also whites left off of the voting lists but most of the attrocities happened in largely Democratic counties. I'm sure this isn't a problem for you. You've never had the right to vote denied to you. Jeb Bush promised to deliver Florida to Dubya in 2000 and he showed he would do it by any ways possible, legal or not. It sure looks like they're gearing up for a repeat in 2004 to me, doesn't it you? Of course, that doesn't matter to you because they're stealing it for your man!!

That's true. I registered when I turned 18. I paid for my own education. I got a job. And I didn't need to gubment to help me. I guess cause I'm white, I just can't understand that the goverment sees me as a better class citizen and doesn't have to supply me with all those crutches to make it through life.

And YOU have never been denied your right to vote either.

Please take your "Oh big whitey is keeping me down again" attitude and leave it at your NAACP meetings. The rest of the country is finally catching on to that act. Either you want to work for something in life, or you don't. And if these people want to vote, I guarantee you that if they register they will be on a list somewhere.

Oh, they WERE on a list. Unfortunately for them, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris decided they didn't need to be and removed them, without so much as a note alerting to the fact. They found out on election day 2000 when their gubment, to borrow your racist slang, refused them their constitutional right to vote.

No, I haven't been disallowed from voting and I hope it never happens but I'm still going to be upset when a government manipulates the voting rolls to better suit their political cause, regardless of whether it's a Democrat or Republcan. We routinely monitor (at least before Bush) elections in other nations because we don't trust them to have free elections without shenanigans and we can't even seem to do it ourselves anymore.

[Tiger Al 0]

Here's an interesting article about some things that have gone on in Florida.

In November (2001) the U.S. media, lost in patriotic reverie, dressed up the Florida recount as a victory for President Bush.  But however one reads the ballots, Bush's win would certainly have been jeopardized had not some Floridians been barred from casting ballots at all. Between May 1999 and Election Day 2000, two Florida secretaries of state - Sandra Mortham and Katherine Harris, both protégées of Governor Jeb Bush- ordered 57,700 "ex-felons," who are prohibited from voting by state law, to be removed from voter rolls. (In the thirty-five states where former felons can vote, roughly 90 percent vote Democratic.) A portion of the list, which was compiled for Florida by DBT Online, can be seen for the first time here; DBT, a company now owned by ChoicePoint of Atlanta, was paid $4.3 million for its work, replacing a firm that charged $5,700 per year for the same service. If the hope was that DBT would enable Florida to exclude more voters, then the state appears to have spent its money wisely.

[FreeThinker 0]

That's true. I registered when I turned 18. I paid for my own education. I got a job. And I didn't need to gubment to help me. I guess cause I'm white, I just can't understand that the goverment sees me as a better class citizen and doesn't have to supply me with all those crutches to make it through life.

CCTAU you really show your true colors with this post. "gubment" -- that's really nice.

Have you ever known what it feels like to suffer or were you born with a silver spoon in your mouth? Some people aren't born into stability. Some people aren't as lucky as you obviously were. When you are born into poverty, it's hard to climb the ladder. Did you ever notice that if you have money, it's easier to get more of it? If you have money, you can afford an education at an acredited college; you can afford a nice suit and a tie for a job interview. You can afford to invest some of your money so that you can make more money off of your extra money. Not to mention, when you aren't born into poverty...you have a lot more tools at your disposal. Safe neighborhoods, little luxuries like better schools and better teachers at those better schools. Do you see how it might trickle down??? Do you see how being poor affects ones entire life? Do you blame the poor for being poor? It sounds like you do. Most African Americans come from decades of poverty in their ancestry. I'll repeat this just in case you missed it: it's hard to climb that ladder of success when you have very few tools handed to you (like you've had) to get you there.

Again, prejudice comes from ignorance. You don't have enough of an awareness of what it is like to come from poverty to understand it. Instead, you judge it based on what you know, priveledge -- yet you'll never have an understanding until you put yourself in their shoes -- til you walk their streets. Just the same as George Bush himself. He's been handed EVERYTHING in his life on a silver platter, including the election that made him president. Do you think that may be why he holds the same attitudes that you do about those in poverty? Hmmm.

[CCTAU 3,536]

Like I said, Ole whitey's still got you down.

I am from meager beginnings, but I was taught to work hard and make opportunities. I NEVER looked for handouts. I have black (none of them are from Africa) who feel the same way. Their parents could have taken the easy way and went on welfare, but they had pride and decided that all would work hard to keep that from happening. I guess they were left off the NAACP victim memo.

So if you are looking for another crutch, go somewhere else. I don't see you crying for the poor whites.

I feel ALL americans should be treated equally, apparently YOU feel differently.

[FreeThinker 0]

I was including poor whites in my statement. Most of what I said was directed toward "the poor" in general. I specified African Americans toward the end of my statement because a larger precentage of the African American population comes from poverty.

It would be nice if all Americans were treated equally, but the fact is THEY AREN'T. And, the reason they aren't is because of your type of mentality: blaming the poor for being poor instead of realizing the HISTORY behind their poverty and realizing that over years and years of unequal treatment there is a COST. There is a cost to not being provided with the SAME benefits as everyone else. And, the only way to fight the detrimental effects of that cost is to provide some incentives for change -- some type of assistance so that they can try to get back up to a level where they can compete with those who have been handed the benefits all of their life. Now, maybe you feel that those incentives for change don't work or are faulty (welfare, food stamps, scholarships)...as do many people both Republican and Democratic...but that doesn't change the fact that something needs to be done to help those who have been handed a poorer quality of life than the rest of us -- for no other reason than THEIR HISTORY.

And, if you don't agree with those incentives -- run for office and change it! Educate yourself and vote for what you think the best incentives are! Not everything is done to take away from your piece of the pie...and that's obviously how you view it.

And yes, some of the poor can persevere against the odds. Some can. But, it is a difficult fight. Anyone who is poor has a difficult time climbing the ladder -- and poor African Americans have an even tougher time. Yes, some do it. But my guess is that the ones who DO have had all of the right pieces fit: good self esteem to think that they are capable (which is tough to have when you come from nothing), a supportive family (not one that suffers from alcoholism, drugs, or mental illness as many in poverty are more likely to suffer from these things), and some help along the way from SOMEONE who cared about them, etc. It is more complicated than your "just get up and do it" idea, you see?

[CCTAU 3,536]

It is more complicated than your "just get up and do it" idea, you see?

It's never more complicated than that. It's just that people like you (whether through good intentions or not) have sold them that bill of goods. And all forms of aid are supposed to be AIDS, not careers. So I have my own children and family to worry about. If you want to save the poor, be like Oprah, give'm a million bucks and then see, just like her, that it doesn't matter. some people were born to be poor others weren't. But it's all a personal choice.

And the only liberals that care about the poor are the one's right before an election so they can get their vote. You bleading heart liberals want to give everything to everybody. It doesn't work that way. The poor and stupid will always be with us. Its human nature.

And there are plenty of incentives for blacks out there. All they have to do is make "decent" grades and apply for a pell grant, making sure they mark "BLACK" in big bold letters and the money is theirs. I know many whites who come out of college with a tremendous amount of debt and those on grants come out with a great advantage in that area. And I could give a hoot about THEIR history. I wasn't born rich on the backs of slaves. So why should any race take a backseat to another. And that is exactly what you are proposing.

[FreeThinker 0]

some people were born to be poor others weren't. But it's all a personal choice.

Okay. I guess what you are saying then is that we have a choice in our biology? We have a choice in whether or not we are born to rich parents or poor ones???

You seem to understand better in "paint by number" terms so let me see if I can illustrate this for you.

Little Georgey was born to rich parents. Little Johnny was born to poor ones.

Georgey's family had no worries. His parents come from a rich family. His mother is a homemaker and his father is a lawyer. They got all the healthcare they needed cause they had great insurance they paid for. Whenever Georgey was sick, he went to the doctor and got some medicine and got well. He went to the best school in town, yes sir! He was so smart! He had some great teachers too. There were only 10 kids in his class, so he got lots of attention. Whenever he got a question wrong, his teacher came over to his desk to explain why it was wrong and what the right answer was. Georgey went straight to the head of his class. When he graduated he was offered many scholarships cause he was so smart. He graduated from a top college and now works as an investment banker. He makes lots of money and pays lots of money to send his children to the best schools in their town, too.

Little Johnny's family had lots of worries. Johnny's father worked hard as an auto-mechanic -- after all, his parents couldn't afford to put him through college and back then they didn't allow blacks to go to the college in his town. Plus, there were no types of assistance for blacks wanting to go to college back in his parent's days. Heck, they were lucky to even have jobs and enough money to put food on the table. When Johnny got sick, he missed school because they couldn't afford to go to the doctor or get the medicine he needed. They didn't have insurance because they couldn't pay for it and his parent's low paying jobs don't provide insurance benefits. When Johnny did go to school, he had to rush to the bus stop past drug dealers who were always trying to get him to try this or that. He saw some of his good friends get hooked on that stuff, even get killed. At school he was 1 of 38 kids in his class. They were some rowdy kids too! The teacher didn't seem to care though. She tried to keep them in line, but what was the use? It's hard to control 38 kids all at once. Johnny worked hard to do his work but half the time it didn't even get checked. How could he know his answers were wrong? After a while, Johnny thought that there wasn't much point in going to school. He learned from his father how to fix a car. He works as a mechanic and now has kids of his own. They're struggling to work hard and get good grades, but it's difficult with the state of the education system in Alabama. Johnny wishes he had the money to put them through private school, but he doesn't.

Was it Johnny's personal choice to go to a poor school? Was it Johnny's personal choice to not be taught? Was it Johnny's personal choice to come from parents who were uneducated? Was it their choice to be uneducated (if so, explain how they could have earned an educated and get a better job)? Was it Johnny's choice to live in a poor neighborhood (if so, explain how they could have lived somewhere else)?

I'm not saying one race should take a "back seat" to another. That would be pretty impossible in today's world considering the state of prejudice in our society (case in point, YOU). I'm saying for many life is a struggle and it isn't their fault that they are poor (for SOME people, it IS largely their fault -- those are not the ones I'm talking about). But we all have a duty to help our fellow man, don't you believe? Or is your world strictly based on "I'll take all I can get for me, forget the other people"? It is our duty as a society to protect those who are "at risk" from slipping through the cracks. If someone is disabled, do you agree that they need help? Or should they just make due with what they have? It's the same concept.

Man, someone must have really dealt you a bad hand. You seem to have some vendetta?

Oh and by the way, I'm white. I went to LSU on a Pell Grant (which, by the way, is only about $1200 per semester...that won't even begin to cover books and food) and I still have debt from LSU. I took more loans to pay my way through NYU grad school ($25,000 per year) and I have outrageous student loans that I'm paying for. However, I have a nice life now that I have that degree and I can afford to have a roof over my head, medical insurance, food, and extras. Yes, the Pell Grant helps some...but chances are that ANYONE, except for the filthy rich, will still need some assistance with funds for college.

And I could give a hoot about THEIR history.

I can tell. But, you see...you can't have a full understanding of ANYTHING without looking at the history of it. Try studying any war without looking at the history. You'll be left dumbfounded. Try studying anything without history and you will get nowhere.

This inattention to history explains a lot about your views. I'm beginning to understand you.

[FreeThinker 0]

And, of course some people are going to abuse the system. But, all in all the benefits that are out there tend to benefit the poor. And...all in all helping the poor succeed does, in turn, help our country. It helps the economy. It helps the crime rate. It helps keep your prices low. ETC. And, I don't know about you, but I'd much rather see my tax dollars go toward helping the poor...helping someone else succeed than some of the things our government wastes my money on. I don't think churches should get a free ride on property taxes. They don't pay one dime on property taxes, yet we've got some ministers driving cadillacs bought by a church that is the size of a college campus. Those property taxes could go toward educating our schools or helping our elderly.

You care so much about the free ride that you think African Americans get...what about the free ride that churches get? Instead, You agree with preachers driving cadillacs, right?

[CCTAU 3,536]

Yes you have me all figured out. Maybe too much of that yankee edumacation got you all confused.

Poor is not war. And many poor people have become successful without your idea of encouragement, crutches and self help from all the gubment entities designed to make everyone equal to the white hetero male.

And as long as there are people like you , there will be people like me to make sure that the scales do not tip too far in either direction. Maybe BECAUSE you got your gubment money, you feel that everyone could be just as successful as you. Like I said before, there will always be the poor. You can give them money and eventually they'll be poor again. Now if you really want to save the poor, fight for more education and better pay with accountability for the gubment teachers. That would be a better start than worrying about all those poor black people who can't seem to get registered to vote.

[FreeThinker 0]

What it all appears to boil down to is that you feel superior to blacks and you FEAR the idea that that may one day change. (here we go again with Conservativism=Fear) You actually feel that the white race is superior to other races, don't you? You have basically said that here:

And many poor people have become successful without your idea of encouragement, crutches and self help from all the gubment entities designed to make everyone equal to the white hetero male.

Do you realize how ignorant that is?

And, I'm guessing that the reason you feel that way is because you actually feel inferior deep inside. You've got some real issues, man.

You can give them money and eventually they'll be poor again.

Yes, you are right! Because you haven't given them any tools to help themselves! But, if you help them get an education (the Pell Grant) and you help them stay healthy (Medicaid/Medicare) and you help them have food to eat (Food Stamps), a roof over their head (Govt. Housing), Then MAYBE, just maybe they'll be able to focus on SOME of the TOOLS that they need to succeed in this world -- maybe they won't have to worry so much about how they might pay their rent and instead they can focus on bettering their lives! And bettering their lives helps to better OUR lives (lower crime rate, better economy, etc.) What's your problem with them bettering their lives??? Well, if you'll read the first part of this post, you'll see...it's because you feel that the white race is superior and so you want to keep the white race on top. Keep reading from that point to understand why you feel that way...

Now if you really want to save the poor, fight for more education and better pay with accountability for the gubment teachers.

Well, where in the world do you think the money for more education and better pay and accountability for the teachers will come from???? YOUR POCKET in the form of higher TAXES. Either way, you're still paying for it. So, maybe you should focus more of your energy toward accepting that and getting over your INFERIORITY COMPLEX so this world can be a happier, healthier, more accepting place to live.

Have a nice day!

[CCTAU 3,536]

Actually, I feel that people like you ONLY worry about the poor and minority. I feel that all races should be represented and all income levels too. People have it hard at all levels.

Yeah, you're right, I am just feeling inferior. I'm so glad I was born unto kings.

I am one of few who will speak out against any kind of preferential whining. Even if it means being called a racist and a hater. i give every person I meet in life the same chance and opportunity to impress me. Some have, most don't. And guess what, some who don't are actually white. I'm not out to save the world (we protesters like you to do that), I just want to save my little piece for my community and my family. I live in a community of like-minded individuals. As I am sure you have not moved back to the ghetto in order to aid in it's revival. There are those of us who live what we believe, then there are those of you who want everyone else to live what YOU believe, just as long as you don't have to.

So categorize me any way you wish. I still know who I am, where I come from, and work hard to make sure that it is I, and not the gubment, that provides for my family.

[FreeThinker 0]

There are those of us who live what we believe, then there are those of you who want everyone else to live what YOU believe, just as long as you don't have to.

Sounds like a perfect description of the Religious Right. Ironic coming from you, isn't it?

And, I do live what I believe. I work to help those in need...not just my own family. I stand up for what I believe in...as you do. For some reason you want to point at me and say that I am wrong for doing that, but it's okay for you to do it?

As for these "hand-outs" you continuously talk about...I can recognize who is taking advantage of the system and who isn't. I have people who call me every week looking for hand outs. I give them some of the information/tools that can help them get what they need, but they usually have to work for it -- it's not a free hand-out. Then I hear from others who are in situations they couldn't help - and I help them with any resources I can. Again, I'm not talking about giving free handouts to anyone who is lazy enough to take them. I'm talking about people who actually need the help because of circumstances beyond their control. You seem to want to assume that EVERYONE who takes assistance doesn't deserve it or could change the fact that they need it. That just isn't so.

[TrueTiger 0]

I guess florida will never be the same lol. Why did steve have to leave the gators lol.

WARR EAGLE

[Ranger12 53]

Give me a freakin' break!!! Are you liberals so scared by this election and the popularity of Bush and what the people may want, that you are already thinking of an excuse for losing already?! This is so laughable and just goes to prove my point that most liberals will try anyway to spin something to make themselves look good. I think this post has got to be tops on one of the all time most ridiculous posts ever made. I am surprised that you have not started a post with the liberals claiming Bush is an alien that is trying to take of the world or actually Elvis in disguise. TigerAl, will you please do me a favor? Will you please start making some posts that make a little more sense that I can seriously debate with instead of having to read Donuthead's feeble attempts at trying to sound like he knows the realm of politics. I usually do not get personal, but this guy has to be all of what 14 or 15 years old by the looks of his posts, because they are desperate babbling that does not care a whole lot of weight. I sure hope a grown man is not actually making these posts.

Donuthead, look, I know it must have hurt when your girlfriend ran off with that Young Republicans member, but there are more girls out there that do not have enough sense to know better then to date a liberal like yourself. You'll find one of them. Cheer up guy and let go of this extreme bitterness you have against conservatives. I have some liberal friends, but you take the cake on them all with you extreme hatred for conservatives. How many anti-Bush/conservatives posts are you up too every day know? 100?