[Mb-civic] Report: Jeb Bush Ignored Felon List Advice

[Michael Butler]

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    Report: Jeb Bush Ignored Felon List Advice
    The Associated Press

     Sunday 17 October 2004

     Tallahassee, Fla.- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ignored advice to throw out a
flawed felon voter list before it went out to county election offices
despite warnings from state officials, according to a published report
Saturday.

     In a May 4 e-mail obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Florida
Department of Law Enforcement computer expert Jeff Long told his boss that a
Department of State computer expert had told him ``that yesterday they
recommended to the Gov that they 'pull the plug''' on the voter database.

     The e-mail said state election officials ``weren't comfortable with the
felon matching program they've got,'' but added, ``The Gov rejected their
suggestion to pull the plug, so they're 'going live' with it this weekend.''

     Long, who was responsible for giving elections officials his
department's felon database, confirmed the contents of the e-mail Friday to
the Herald-Tribune. He said he didn't remember the specifics, but that Paul
Craft, the Department of State's top computer expert, had told him about the
meeting with Bush.

     A software program matched data on felons with voter registration rolls
to create the list of 48,000 names. Secretary of State Glenda Hood junked
the database in July after acknowledging that 2,500 ex-felons on the list
had had their voting rights restored.

     Most were Democrats, and many were black. Hispanics, who often vote
Republican in Florida, were almost entirely absent from the list due to a
technical error.

     Bush's spokeswoman, Jill Bratina, denied allegations that the governor
ignored warnings about the list.

     ``It's also irrelevant because the list isn't being used,'' Bratina
said Saturday.

     Bush told the Herald-Tribune that Craft didn't call him, and he denied
that any meeting took place May 3 with Craft or other election officials.

     ``Once it became clear after talking to the secretary of state that
there were problems with the list (in July), that's when we decided to end
it,'' Bush said.

     Craft hung up on a Herald-Tribune reporter seeking comment Friday. A
message left for a Paul Craft in Tallahassee was not immediately returned
Saturday.

     U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Florida chairman of Democratic Sen. John
Kerry's presidential campaign, said the report shows the extent Bush will go
to ensure his brother's re-election.

     ``Jeb Bush and the Bush campaign need to come clean about their
involvement in this sad spectacle,'' Meek said.

     Florida is one of few states that does not automatically restore voting
rights to convicted felons when they complete their sentences. Purging
felons from voter rolls has been a hot-button issue since the 2000
presidential election, when many citizens discovered at the polls they
weren't allowed to vote.

     Election officials have said that anyone who feels they have been
inadvertently removed from the voter rolls on Nov. 2 will be allowed to use
a provisional ballot that will be examined later to determine eligibility.

 
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