LePore still counting votes but Kerry's lawyers are ready

[DoYouEverWonder]

A couple of interesting items in this article in today's Palm Beach Post. First, Teresa LePore will still be counting votes in WPB. Why does this woman still have a job?

However, Kerry is sending 100 lawyers to Florida, to watch the polls and help voters.

But the best little tidbit in this article is the huge increase in registered voters in WPB. I would not be surprised if this is a trend across the rest of the country and if that is true, then this is very good news for democrats. We'll see what happens.


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LePore: We'll be ready for elections

Sunday, August 1, 2004

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore sits in her "war room" about 30 days before the ballot battles of 2004 begin. She is finalizing preparations for the Aug. 31 primaries and bolstering her troops for The Big One: the Nov. 2 general election that will pick the next president.

"We'll be ready," she declares.

<snip>

In November, armies of lawyers from both parties will flock to the polls to scrutinize the vote. Miami attorney Steve Zack, the Kerry campaign's general counsel in Florida, said he has already recruited more than 100 attorneys to represent voters who encounter problems at the polls.

Armed with cellphones and Blackberry wireless devices, volunteer attorneys will staff every precinct with a history of high voter turnout and every elections office, Zack said. The team of lawyers includes former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey and Miami criminal defense attorney Roy Black, he said. They will be watching and waiting for any mistakes.

<snip>

This time around, there are thousands more voters. Voter registration for the primary ends Monday, and Oct. 4 for the general election.

LePore expects about 700,000 to be eligible to vote in the primary and 725,000 before Nov. 2, compared with 656,694 who were registered in 2000. They will cast ballots at about 695 precincts, compared with 637 four years ago.

[salonghorn70]

1. Significance Increase In Registration

Is it likely that these are Democratic voters?

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Usually, higher turn outs

favor Democrats, especially in places like WPB, that already has a majority of Dems.

[sallyseven]

3. Heard on the radio

either Imus or Stern. Fla. voters need to check their standing on the voter list. One guy went from Ind. to Democrat, for the primary and he was sent a letter that he was dropped from the list. The other guy got the same letter and he was pissed off. Everyone in Fla should check the voting lists before it is too late.