U.S. Plans Suits Over 2000 Vote
Rights Violations Alleged In 3 Counties in Florida

May 22, 2002; Page A01
By Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Justice Department disclosed yesterday it will file suit in three Florida counties charging voting rights violations in the 2000 presidential election, a move designed to prevent ballot box problems this year and beyond.

The department will file similar suits in a Tennessee municipality and one in Missouri. Officials declined to identify the specific counties and towns targeted.

Ralph F. Boyd Jr., assistant attorney general for civil rights, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the cases are likely to be filed in 30 to 60 days. He said he expects the counties and municipalities to admit wrongdoing and agree to take steps to prevent recurrences of problems in the 2002 elections.

Boyd's announcement is the first formal action taken by the Bush administration to deal with the politically explosive controversies that surrounded the 2000 election in Florida. The suits would not seek to overturn the presidential election's results, which ultimately were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead, they would try to ensure that local governments take specific actions to safeguard voting rights in future elections.

The suits "will be well in advance of the primaries for the November 2002 elections," Boyd said.

Under questioning by Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), Boyd said the allegations include improper purges of voter rolls, "disparate" treatment of minorities in the voting process, failures to provide required voter registration material in certain public places and inaccessible balloting for disabled voters.

The Florida Legislature has taken some steps to address complaints about the state's 2000 election procedures. It enacted a measure eliminating the much-criticized punch-card voting system, providing $24 million for new voting machines and mandating uniform ballot design and vote-counting procedures.

In Congress, meanwhile, the House and Senate have passed bills designed to improve voting practices nationwide. The more expansive Senate bill would require states to have a mechanism for counting disputed ballots. It would provide as much as $3.8 billion to the states to help them train poll workers and upgrade voting equipment and procedures.

Congressional leaders say they expect the two chambers to resolve their differences and send a bill to President Bush for his signature.

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