Both sides ready to litigate in Florida

[Champ]

PALM BEACH, Fla. - There were more historic lines in Florida Monday, with voters waiting up to five hours to cast ballots.

"We just want a fair election. This time!" said 76-year-old voter Edna Justice in Palm Beach.

There's no shortage of groups watching the once-troubled election process in Florida this year, including the United States Justice Department, independent monitors and volunteer lawyers mobilized by both parties.

More than 3,000 attorneys are swarming the state for the Democratic party alone.

"Our job is to put in place a system so that when voters show up to vote at the polls and they want to vote that they're not turned away," says Chuck Lichtman, Special Lead Counsel for the Kerry campaign in Florida.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6386143/?GT1=5809

[NVMojo]

1. Thank you, Bush family, for changing the face of US elections...

[JPZenger]

2. Florida Challenges Based Upon Inaccurate Info.

From this morning's St. Petersburg Times.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/11/02/Decision2004/Will_Flo...

Excerpts:
"Florida Republicans, following a strategy the party is using in other states, finally confirmed that they would use a 109-year-old state law to challenge up to 13,568 registered voters; the challenges will be based on data gleaned from the flawed state felon voter database and compared with records on the Florida corrections Web site.

The state party also armed poll watchers with precinct-specific lists of Democrats who had already voted, and GOP poll watchers said they will keep a sharp eye out for people without adequate identification.
State law does not require voters to show a photo ID. They can sign a form attesting to their identity or cast a provisional ballot if they are first-time voters. Under Florida law, among acceptable forms of ID are a credit card with photo, a student ID, a company badge or a utility bill.

Democrats ... noted that Republicans culled their list of felon voters from a database Secretary of State Glenda Hood had to scuttle in July after it showed numerous flaws. On radio ...Bill Clinton urged people not to worry about potential Republican efforts to block votes: "The Democrats will protect your rights," Clinton said in the radio ad, "but you need to show up."

Democrats, meanwhile, did their part to try to intimidate thousands of Republican poll watchers expected to be on duty today. The DNC sent each of them a letter warning that they could be criminally prosecuted for voter intimidation if they knowingly file a false challenge against a voter. Also Monday, a network of Democratic trial attorneys and law professors threatened to sue poll challengers who intimidate or disenfranchise voters in Florida, Ohio and other battleground states."