News clips:

(news clips have not been kept updated - check archives)

Ballot wording sparks worries
Critics are concerned that the wording on the primary ballot will lead to more voter confusion.
The new statewide ballot that will help debut Florida's improved election system contains hints of the same confusion that brought disaster in November 2000.
In the Sept. 10 Democratic primary for governor, the ballot tells people to "Vote for One Pair," meaning one candidate for governor and one for lieutenant governor.
But critics say the word "pair" does not apply because none of the gubernatorial candidates has chosen a running mate. They worry that the phrase could encourage some voters to select more than one candidate for governor, an "overvote" that would nullify their choice 8/3/02

Reno campaign fears another ballot fiasco
Citrus County's ballot instructions tell voters to select one candidate for governor -- and then one pair. 8/3/02

Ex-secretary of state named to post
Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday named political veteran Jim Smith to succeed Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who unexpectedly resigned from her post a day earlier to run for Congress. 8/3/02

Bush names Jim Smith secretary of state to replace Katherine Harris - TALLAHASSEE — Former Secretary of State Jim Smith got the job back Friday, being appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to replace Katherine Harris until the post is eliminated in January. Harris resigned Thursday to run for Congress. Smith held the job from 1987 to 1995, and was attorney general from 1979 to 1987. He ran for governor as a Democrat in 1986, before becoming a Republican.8/3/02

Smith to fill Harris' job
TALLAHASSEE -- Facing questions regarding the legality of former Secretary of State Katherine Harris' continued claim to that office, Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday quickly appointed former Secretary of State Jim Smith to the job through the coming elections. 8/3/02 

Our state government is home to fiascos, intrigue - All of those folks hoping that the fiasco of 2000 won't be repeated in this fall's elections have to be swallowing hard right about now.- Qualifying candidates to run for office should be a cut-and-dried affair: Fill out the paperwork and pay the filing fee before the deadline.- Even that simple task was bungled last week.--  7/31/02

Harris muffs another
Ending her inept career on an appropriate note.-- ... When the controversy broke, Ms. Harris not only was out of town, she was conveniently out of touch, in her own undisclosed location. Her staff stressed that she was back in the office Friday -- "the critical day for her to be here." What a relief. She thus was in place to ask Gov. Bush to extend the qualifying deadline for a day because of the "emergency" caused by the plane crash. This would be the same Katherine Harris who saw no "emergency" when a virtual tie in the Florida presidential race demanded that counties get time to count as many legal ballots as possible. 7/30/02

Election 2002: Libertarians say state lost 12 candidates' petitions
FORT LAUDERDALE — A dozen Libertarian candidates seeking state offices say their names might miss the November ballot because the state has lost their qualifying forms, a party official said. The third-party candidates have had trouble getting proof that they've sent the required 445 signatures supporting their candidacy, said campaign coordinator Mark Eckert. "We've already lost 12 candidates because the Division of Elections lost the forms," Eckert said. "And the candidate swears up and down they sent it." 7/28/02

Controversy over state's 2000 ballots hangs on
 They were hauled across the state; counted and recounted. With leadership of the nation at stake, they were perhaps the most scrutinized pieces of paper in American history. Now Florida must decide whether to preserve them or throw them in the garbage 7/28/02

Bush backs Harris' extension request
By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Governor Bush's election qualifying deadline extension has some Democrats crying foul. 7/27/02

Libertarian official says state lost qualifying signatures for candidates - Up to a dozen third-party candidates may not make it on to the ballot for November's general election because their qualifying forms have been lost, according to a top Libertarian Party official. 7/26/02

Elections division errs; candidates pay
A mix-up concerning state qualifying fees has left close to 100 legislative candidates scrambling to save their campaigns. The Florida Division of Elections began notifying candidates for the House or Senate on Wednesday morning that if they had qualified to run for office by paying a fee, they had paid too little. They have until noon Friday to pay the difference or they could be kicked off the ballot. 7/25/02

State blasted for mix-up over filing fees for legislative candidates - TALLAHASSEE · Florida's 2002 election season is barely under way, and state elections officials are already being criticized for a qualifying fee mix-up that is causing panic among legislative candidates. -- 
The snafu comes just two days after the state Division of Elections goofed when it ordered Democratic gubernatorial contender Janet Reno to pay the wrong qualifying fee. 7/25/02

State elections Web site rife with errors - TALLAHASSEE -- Anyone relying on the state Division of Elections' Web site for information on local candidates and races may have to look elsewhere for accuracy.-- By Wednesday, local election officials were expressing the same concern they've had for weeks: that incorrect information is posted on the site concerning some candidates for newly redrawn and approved political districts.--- The elections Web site -- www.election.dos.state.fl.us, a primary source of information for voters, candidates and election officials in Florida -- was showing such things Wednesday as a candidate from the Florida Panhandle running for a Senate seat in Volusia County and an Ormond Beach man running for a Senate district on the west side of the state. 7/11/02

Homebuilders affiliates accused of contribution irregularities
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Elections Commission is pursuing charges against several homebuilders' organizations, alleging they funneled political contributions through several groups to avoid limits. The commission revealed this week that it has found probable cause to charge members of 14 state building associations and one candidate for local office with election law violations. 6/8/02

Plan for disabled voters is readied -- The report by the Secretary's Select Task Force on Voting Accessibility recommends several changes in law, including requirements that voting machines have voice software to accommodate blind voters, that polling places be accessible and that poll workers get training on how to better help the disabled.

Forgotten Florida
The decision to eliminate the salaries of the festival's two full-time coordinators would seem to fly in the face of Gov. Bush's bullish efforts to attract more tourists to help bail out Florida's anemic economy.

Florida Folk Festival funding cut - TALLAHASSEE -- Months before the Florida Folk Festival's 50th anniversary, state lawmakers cut its $36,000 budget, leaving the celebration's future in doubt. -
Between 10,000 and 20,000 people attended the Memorial Day festival each year to listen to bluegrass, Appalachian, Cuban or Cajun music at a state park on the Suwannee River. -- The festival was run by the Secretary of State's office until funding was cut in the final moments of the Legislature's special session. Lawmakers trimmed more than $1 billion from the state budget earlier this month.

Budget cut may doom folk festival
Tallahassee · It has played host to the Bellamy Brothers, fiddle great Vassar Clements and country stars such as Billy Dean and John Anderson, but a 49-year tradition of Florida folklore and music could be coming to an end.-- 
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of one of Florida's oldest and most cherished summer events, state officials have pulled the plug on the Florida Folk Festival -- the victim of a last-minute cut that saved the state $36,000 out of a $48 billion budget.

Letter: Harris: State acted to save taxpayers from 'gouging'
The Palm Beach Post
The Post's Dec. 7 editorial "Purging election reform" is replete with inaccuracies, distortions and half-truths. The Post lets no fact stand in the way of its left-wing political vendetta. The Post cannot bear to print the comments from state elections supervisor...

GOP apologists suffer denial over Bush's unfair 'victory'
The Palm Beach Post
With cries of "garbage," "get a life" and verbal abuse, the special report on the 2000 election by a consortium of newspapers, including The Post, brought C.B. Hanif incensed phone calls...

Former official blasts secretary of state
Ex-inspector general says he was fired after reporting misuse of funds - Secretary of State Katherine Harris "is simply not interested" in her job and fired her chief troubleshooter for bringing her bad news as she started to run for Congress, the ousted official said Monday.  

Harris deflects senator's criticism over election hearings
Secretary of State Katherine Harris Friday accused Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, of making election reform a partisan issue.

Panel faults Harris on election dispute handling - WASHINGTON -- Members of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said Friday that Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris did not act responsibly in her role as the state's chief election official in last year's presidential election.

Harris is criticized in reports
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris has fired her inspector general and been criticized in a state audit. State Auditor General William O. Monroe said employees of Harris' department sometimes flew business- or first-class to foreign cities rather than the less expensive coach, violating state travel regulations. 9/30/01

Want to help with this page?  email info@whoseflorida.com

 (Back)