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Download Magazine - Levin College of Law - University of Florida

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AP PHOTO/J.PAT CARTEREarly voters castelectronic ballots indowntown Miamiduring the 2004presidential election.<strong>Florida</strong> Administrative Code werewritten using ballots cast in the 2000election as examples to assist in identifyingcommon mismarking problems,resulting in clear guidelines to interpretvirtually any mark on a ballot as avalid or invalid vote.Lastly, the act removed voterecounts from the discretion <strong>of</strong> thecounty canvassing boards and no longerallows a candidate to protest votesin specific counties. As the law standsnow, an automatic statewide machinerecount is triggered if un<strong>of</strong>ficial returnsfor presidential elections indicatea margin <strong>of</strong> victory less than one-half<strong>of</strong> 1 percent <strong>of</strong> the vote. If the machinerecount shows a difference <strong>of</strong> less thanone-quarter <strong>of</strong> 1 percent in the margin<strong>of</strong> victory, a statewide manual recountmust take place <strong>of</strong> both under- andovervotes, unless the combined total<strong>of</strong> those ballots is less than the number<strong>of</strong> votes necessary to change the outcome<strong>of</strong> the election.“The new standards and votingsystem make the election moreuniform and provide tangible evidencefor review if a recount does arise. So,<strong>Florida</strong> is much better <strong>of</strong>f than we werein 2000 or even 2004,” said Mills.“But, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.”This year, <strong>Florida</strong>’s election wasa fairly uneventful mega-event. Despitelong waits to vote at somepolling places and occasional malfunctioningmachines, the votes<strong>of</strong> more than 8 million Floridianswere cast and counted — with littlepost-election drama. If a recounthad been necessary, new laws are inplace to standardize the process thatwould, hopefully, quarantine the controversywithin the bounds <strong>of</strong> <strong>Florida</strong>’scourts.<strong>Florida</strong> has come a long way sinceits 2000 presidential election, andone might now <strong>of</strong>fer it as a model <strong>of</strong>how to run a smooth election in a big,hotly-contested swing state … As longas the margins aren’t razor-thin. ■Mills is now serving as counselon a legal team representingFairDistricts<strong>Florida</strong>.org that includesCGR staff attorney Tim McLendon.The organization is the sponsor <strong>of</strong>a constitutional amendment to setstandards the Legislature must use whenredrawing district boundaries.The title and summary <strong>of</strong> theamendment, which was argued beforethe <strong>Florida</strong> Supreme Court Nov. 6 asCase No. SC08-1149, reads:STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TOFOLLOW IN CONGRESSIONALREDISTRICTINGCongressional districts or districtingplans may not be drawn to favor ordisfavor an incumbent or politicalparty. Districts shall not be drawn todeny racial or language minoritiesthe equal opportunity to participatein the political process and electrepresentatives <strong>of</strong> their choice. Districtsmust be contiguous. Unless otherwiserequired, districts must be compact,as equal in population as feasible,and where feasible must make use <strong>of</strong>existing city, county and geographicalboundaries.The primary goal <strong>of</strong> the amendment —if the Supreme Court approves it as a ballotmeasure for a 2010 general election — isto establish nonpartisan reapportionmentstandards by which districts would bedrawn. These standards would seek toassure continuity in redistricting so thatboundaries are contiguous and compact,preventing district lines from being drawnin such a way that cherry-picks andpatches together disparate areas thatreliably vote one way or the other.When districts are drawn to embracecontiguous communities, they include abroader range <strong>of</strong> constituencies and are notstrictly split by racial or partisan lines. Thetheory is that legislators and congressmenelected to <strong>of</strong>fice from such districts wouldbe less partisan and more balanced intheir views, resulting in an approach togovernment that is less divisive and morerepresentative, Mills said.“I think there are people <strong>of</strong> goodwill on both sides <strong>of</strong> the aisle whoreally want to see the process be astransparent and fair as possible,”said Stephen N. Zack (JD 71), apartner in the Miami firm Boies,Schiller & Flexner,which also representsFairDistricts<strong>Florida</strong>.org.“Obviously, there are otherswho just want to win, andthat is not the standard bywhich we should want tohave an election.”FALL 2008 21

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