"
Here We Go Again..."
FROM KNIGHT RIDDER:
FORT LAUDERDALE - The Broward County Supervisor of Elections office on Tuesday said it couldn't account for nearly 60,000 missing absentee ballots sent to voters and that its phone lines were being overwhelmed by calls.
...Just six days away from the general election, the Supervisor of Elections office has fielded hundreds of complaints from people who have yet to receive their absentee ballot. Countless more have been unable to get through to election officials to complain or get their questions answered.
"I tried for the last week or so to call the elections office, and it's just busy continually," said 70 year-old Paula Zubatkin, whose four-week old request for an absentee ballot has gone unanswered. "I want to vote."
Election officials also said they launched an investigation and found that many of the missing ballots - 58,000 of them - were sent Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. The problem, they say, lies with the post office.
Post office officials say they are not at fault...
...Some, like 68-year-old Myrna Davis, depended on her absentee ballot to vote. After they fruitlessly waited weeks for an absentee ballot, they decided to show up at an early voting site. But after a three-hour wait in line, they gave up.
"The heat was too great," Davis said. "Although there was air conditioning, there were so many people there, I couldn't tolerate it. I feel this is a third world country."