Dem storm troopers in action

The Orlando Sentinel reports that union goons and other Democrat storm troopers are continuing the strongarm tactics they utilized earlier this month in trashing local Florida Bush-Cheney HQ's:

Early voting brings cries of bullying

By Brittany Wallman
Staff Writer

October 23, 2004

On Election Day, voters will be protected from campaign pressures by
a 50-foot cone, an invisible barrier that campaign workers cannot
breach. Not so for early voters.

While the Voter's Bill of Rights in state law says they have a right
to "vote free from coercion or intimidation by elections officers or
any other person," a glitch in the newer early voting law does not
include the same 50-foot guarantee.

As a result, with early voting taking place in busy public places
like City Halls and libraries, voters are voicing complaints of being
blocked by political mobs, or being singled out for their political
views. Others say they have been grabbed, screamed at and cursed by
political partisans of all stripes.

Republican Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo said the antagonizers are "Kerry
thugs" out to harass Bush voters.

"If you ask me whether I believe there is an organized effort to
intimidate Republican voters, the answer is absolutely yes," said
Feeney.

The Republican Party is calling on the secretary of state's office
for help, asking that early voting rules be clarified.

The secretary of state's office has not yet responded.

"Significant numbers of people have already been deterred from
voting," wrote Republican Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan to
Secretary of State Glenda Hood, "and this will continue until
corrective measures are taken."

Democratic Party officials in Tallahassee said they've had some
complaints, too.

"We have had incidents as well," said Christine Anderson, spokeswoman
for the Kerry campaign. "We've had quite a few."

She said the party hasn't taken affidavits from voters and found it
shocking the Republicans were so focused on the issue rather than
working to make sure people can vote.

"It's just absurd they would try to accuse us of intimidation
efforts," said Anderson.

Permits in Palm Beach County show that the SEIU union and other
Democratic groups have been holding rallies at early voting
locations, where they have a captive audience of voters standing in
line. Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore said the lines are long
because voters are brought in by the busload.

"Special interest groups are trying to whip everybody into a frenzy
and get everybody upset," she said. "Campaigns and their observers
are confronting the workers and the voters. Things have gotten nasty
and ugly."

LePore said the county has an ordinance that forbids interference in
county business in the building and they are citing that law to the
campaigners. Her attorney has told her that an area at each polling
place can be set aside for solicitation so she planned to do so.

LePore said campaign workers followed voters into polling places and
handed out literature next to the voting machines. Other voters
standing in line were told the machines don't work and that they
should vote absentee.

Gisela Salas, deputy elections supervisor in Broward County, said
even though early voting "doesn't have that voter solicitation rule,
so to speak," her office has posted signs saying "no campaigning
beyond this point" and have had cooperation for the most part. Still,
there were complaints in Broward.

Florida Senate Minority Leader Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, one of the co-
sponsors of the early voting law, said it's a shame that everything
must be spelled out.

"I wish people would use common sense in terms of how they approached
these things," said Klein. "It's a new law. Certainly there's a few
things we need to go back in the legislation and fix. We are going to
have to go back and put more specific rules in about how early voting
should work."

State Rep. Irv Slosberg, a Democrat from Boca Raton, said he wasn't
happy with the early voting, either, because the rules changed daily.

"Someone from the elections office has to come out rather than
relying on the county library to make these decisions," said
Slosberg. "That's what's happening. It's up to the library
people. ... Every day's a new game."

Republican Party senior adviser Mindy Tucker Fletcher said she had
more than a dozen affidavits from voters around the state that would
be forwarded to Hood's office.

According to the affidavits Fletcher released:

One woman who voted early in Boca Raton, at the Southwest County
Regional Library, complained that as she stood in line, two men
behind her were "trashing our president," Fletcher said, declining to
identify the woman. She tried to ignore them. Then the man touched
her arm and said, "Who are you voting for?"

"I said, `I don't think that's an appropriate question,'" the woman
said she responded.

"Uh oh! We have a Bush supporter here," screamed the man behind her.

For the 2 1/2 hours she had to wait in line, she was heckled by the
man. As they neared the voting room, someone in the rear of the line
yelled, "I sure hope everyone here is voting for Kerry!" she reported.

That's when the man behind her held his hand over her head and
screamed, "We have a Republican right here!" There were "boos and
jeers" from the crowd.

"I felt intimidated, harassed and threatened!" the woman wrote in her
complaint to the Republican Party.

Elaine Fandino complained to the Republican Party that she took her
mother to vote on South Military Trail in Palm Beach County and was
confronted by 25 people supporting John Kerry for president. The
crowd was "very angry and used foul language," she reported. She said
the man next to her said, "Where's my shotgun?"

In Broward County, at the regional library in Pembroke Pines, a voter
complained that Kerry supporters used abusive language about
President Bush and had signs and banners within 50 feet of the
entrance.

Kerry supporters were "shoving anti-Bush propaganda at us,"
complained the voter, who said he shouted back "Vote President Bush!"

A woman who voted in Plantation at the West Regional Courthouse said
she was offended to see five or six people with "huge stick on
badges" for Kerry/Edwards, standing near the voting machines.

"Never in all the years of voting do we remember being allowed to
show a badge or poster or literature while inside the area where the
voters are standing ready to cast their vote," she wrote.

Juan D'Arce of Miami complained to the Republicans that he tried
early voting in downtown Miami. He was wearing a Bush pin, but he
couldn't stand the taunting, so he turned away and did not vote.

Howard Sherman complained about his voting experience at North Shore
Branch Library in Miami-Dade County. He found a crowd of Kerry
supporters blocking the door.

"They were positioned directly in front of the entrance to the
library in such a manner that it would be impossible to avoid them
while entering the polling place," he reported.

Sherman said he tried to slip through the thinnest part of the crowd,
but a woman in a Kerry T-shirt grabbed his arm and asked if he was
voting for Kerry.

"I seem to recall from civics class that this sort of electioneering
is illegal," Sherman complained to the Republicans.

Republican Lawrence Gottfried, who became a poll watcher in Delray
Beach after what he thought was inappropriate behavior at the polls,
said the things he saw upset him.

Gottfried said that while working at the Delray poll, actor Danny
DeVito and his wife, actress Rhea Perlman, showed up. Gottfried is a
fan, but he didn't ask for an autograph.

"I said, `Look Mr. DeVito, I'm a big fan of yours and Rhea's, but you
are blocking the entrance. You're campaigning, you've got a Kerry-
Edwards button on, and it's not appropriate."

Gottfried, who used to be a Democrat, said the things he saw
were "ridiculous."

"There is a time for partisanship and it's OK to have a different
point of view, but don't violate the sanctity of the polling area,"
he said.

Buddy Nevins contributed to this report.

Brittany Wallman can be contacted at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-
356-4541.