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Action Taken to Improve Elections in Florida
July 15th 2005
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Elections Report |
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St Petersburg,
FL--An unusual coalition founded by local Libertarian, Democratic
and Green parties with a large coalition of community groups is
making news working for election reform in Florida. Republicans
declined to join, but many local Republican leaders support the
coalition.
The Election Reform
Coalition of Pinellas, a Florida county which includes retirement
havens and beach destinations St Petersburg and Clearwater, held
public forums, heard citizen complaints, and produced a report on 14
areas of long term joint action to "make every vote count."
FORUMS REVEALED KEY
PROBLEMS
Areas include a
citizen advisory board, handling computer glitches, and long term
proposals to bring proportional representation and reduced ballot
requirements to the county.
The report
foreshadowed software and other problems now getting wider
attention--in part due to the influence of the report. The coalition
documented reported instances of software failure that created
reverse votes, for example.
HITTING A NERVE
But the real story
may be their model for co-operation, attempting to set long term
areas of action not in government halls but by developing a citizen
consensus. Coalition member Julie Chorgo said the model focused on
what they could agree on, and they soon found there were
considerable areas of agreement. The coalition website and report is
at
http://www.ERCPinellas.org
To judge by public
and media response, the group is hitting a nerve. Their fact-finding
forums were standing room only. The report is downloaded several
rimes a day. Coalition leaders such as M. Gilson-De Lemos of the
Libertarians, who emphasize voluntary solutions instead of
government programs, and Democratic Vice Chair Arlin Briley, and
representatives of the Greens and the other community groups have
been busy in joint media briefings, interviews, TV, and radio shows.
By
Paul
Molloy
Freelance writer and consultant
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