Maybe they should forbid Floridians the vote. I’m surprised Jimmah Carter isn’t somehow involved in this assault on sanity.

Primary day glitches few but frustrating

By Robert Nolin
Sun-Sentinel.com
1:48 PM EST, January 29,2008

South Florida voters took to the polls in force Tuesday, setting the stage for what may be a record turnout for a primary election, deciding a make-or-break race for Republican presidential hopefuls and the fate of a property tax overhaul measure.[snip]

Buried at the bottom of this story is this tidbit:

In northern Coral Springs, near the Sawgrass Expressway and Coral Ridge Drive, David Nirenberg arrived to vote as an independent. Nevertheless, he said poll workers insisted he choose a party ballot.
“He said to me, ‘Are you Democrat or Republican?’ I said, ‘Neither, I am independent.’ He said, ‘Well, you have to pick one,”’ Nirenberg said.
In Florida, only those who declare a party are allowed to cast a vote in that party’s presidential primary.
Nirenberg said he tried to explain to the poll worker that he should not vote on a party ballot because of his “no party affiliation” status.
Nirenberg said a second poll worker was called over who agreed that independents should not use party ballots, but said they had received instructions to the contrary.
“He said, ‘Ya know, that is kind of funny, but it was what we were told.’ … I was shocked when they told me that.” Nirenberg said he went ahead and voted for John McCain.

Area voters in Florida Primary are reporting problems at polls

One voter was told by poll workers there was no Democratic primary today

On Florida Primary day, voters are reporting problems across Central Florida from Daytona Beach to Hunter’s Creek. Among the precincts experiencing glitches was one in Orange County where voters were told by poll workers early on there was no Democratic primary today.
Phil Marjason said poll workers at precinct 145 in Hunter’s Creek would not give him a Democratic ballot.
[snip]

But Orange County officials said their records show Marjason was given a Democratic ballot and it was cast. Marjason disagreed.
“You sign a piece of paper then you walk over to the next table and they hand you a ballot,” he said. “It probably shows that I signed for it, but they didn’t give me a Democratic ballot.”

Sheneka McDonald spent 10 minutes trying to convince poll workers at the same precinct that she should have a Democratic ballot. She questioned poll workers when she was handed a Republican ballot but was told, “this is the only ballot we have.”
“I said, ‘How can this be the only ballot,’” McDonald recalled. “That’s when the guy chimed in from the back and said the Democratic primary was in March.”

The poll captain eventually apologized to McDonald and told her they had forgotten to unpack all the ballots. “It was a little unnerving this morning,” she said. “I don’t see how you forget to unpack ballots. This is what gives Florida its reputation.” [snip]

I had to cut this here, the rest of this story, it just gets worse, and funnier, and dumber, and—Maybe the south had it right with literacy tests to vote. The problem then was the selectivity. Give the test first to the poll workers.

Archived in: 2008 Election, Democrat Primary, Florida, John McCain, Republican Primary