'Trouble in paradise?' Blame Florida politics.

So says Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm, who writes today about how not much has changed since Time magazine's cover story 27 years ago.

"The first story created a storm of local reaction -- anger, denial, even a bit of introspection. But hardly anyone paid much attention to a quote deep in the story from Dan Paul, Miami's great civic reformer,'' Grimm writes. "Twenty-seven years later, Paul's rhetorical question reads like a warning bell that never stopped ringing. He asked, 'How do you deal with these issues in a political climate that demands instant gratification?'

"Until Paul's question gets resolved, Time magazine will have an endless opportunity to rediscover trouble in paradise."

Column here.

Miami mayor withholds Obama endorsement

This update from Herald political writer Beth Reinhard, who is covering Barack Obama's speech inside the secure perimeter of Miami's Hotel Intercontinental:

In a noteworthy snub of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama,  Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, said he would not offer his endorsement today.

Diaz, who endorsed Hilary Clinton in the primary, said he would make a decision "on my own timetable."

The mayor is in the spotlight this weekend as newly installed president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and host of its conference, taking place this weekend at the Hotel Intercontinental. Obama was a featured speaker there this afternoon.

Diaz, however, said the purpose of the nonpartisan convention was to focus on urban problems.

Diaz also refused to say whether he shared the concerns of Cuban-exile protesters outside the hotel, who have condemened Obama as a terrorist. They have attacked him for having campaign advisors who helped return Elián Gonzalez to Cuba eight years ago. Diaz was a member of the legal team that fought to keep the boy with his Miami relatives.

"I dedicated six months of my life to that cause," Diaz said Friday. "I cringe every time I see the Cuban government use that boy for political purposes."

Nelson likes voting reforms, wants more

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson addressed the Florida Senate Thursday morning. His message: America needs more voting reforms.

He lamented the fact that Florida's Jan. 29 primary - in which a record 3.6 million residents voted - is not being counted in choosing a Democratic presidential nominee.

"For me, it's fairly simple: It's a case of fundamental rights versus party rules," Nelson said. "This election has provided further evidence that our system is broken."

But he praised Florida's Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist for helping push voting reforms, including doing away with touch-screen voting machines. Nelson asked lawmakers to support his movement to eliminate the Electoral College and require voting machines that produce paper-trail receipts.

"What I stand on is the principle that every citizen has an equal right to vote," he said. "I want to give citizens the direct power to elect the president."

Bipartisan long-shot push to change primary law

While Democrats scramble to attempt a re-do of the Jan. 29th primary, a bipartisan group of legislators are hoping that the Florida Legislature would open up the next presidential primary to the nearly 2 million voters who don't have a party affiliation. The legislation would essentially allow an independent voter to be given a ballot

But both Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican, and Rep. Rick Kriseman, a St. Petersburg Democrat, admit it may be hard to even get their bills heard during this session despite support from both Democrats and Republican members in the two chambers.

And when asked why it wasn't more important to take care of the write-in loophole first, supporters of the legislation called it a "first step" that may  eventually convince lawmakers to open up other elections.

"

Rep and Dem party chairmen weigh in on primary do-over

Broward Democratic Party Chairman Mitch Ceasar and Broward Republican Party Chairman Chip LaMarca both had another chance to enter the debate about a Democratic revote, following Hillary Clinton's resurgence Tuesday night.

The breakfast debate at the Tower Club in downtown Fort Lauderdale was slated to be about the importance of "Principles or Package" in picking a presidential candidate. (Certainly a viable topic in a presidential race where discussions about "character," "charisma" and "likability" have gotten almost as much airtime as policy debates about health care, the economy and the war in Iraq.)

But as soon as people started asking questions, the discussion turned back to whether Florida's Democratic delegates would be seated at the Democratic National Convention later this year.

The answer from both party chairmen? Yes, but it's not clear when, how, what role they will play in the nominating process or whose to blame for all the confusion to begin with.

"A Florida and Michigan answer must be determined," Ceasar said. "Whether we revote or not, I don't know...What we do know is Florida loves attention. And we love to be in the center of the political universe. And we may again be there in May or June, where if you thought New Hampshire and Iowa had an invasion, that's nothing compared to what you'll see in Florida if there's a revote."

To hear part of the revote discussion: Download Ceasar_and_LaMarca.wav .

And to read more about a potential Florida revote click here.

Surprise! Judge rejects Florida's request

U.S. Judge Stephan Mickle late Wednesday turned down Florida's request for a stay in the ongoing legal battle over the state's voter registration law, a decision that in effect keeps intact the injunction that the judge slapped last week against the state. Micke's injunction blocks the state from enforcing the "no match" law that requires information on a voter registration application to match information found in state or federal databases in order for a voter to be eligible to vote.

Mickle rejected arguments from state lawyers that the change in election laws so close to the Jan. 29th presidential primary would create voter confusion and chaos. Mickle said that the state had not presented enough evidence to show that a stay of his previous injunction order was "warranted" and he argued that election supervisors can still verify the identity of voters without the match. Read order here: Download order_denying_motion_to_stay.pdf

Last week Secretary of State Kurt Browning announced that the state would add roughly 14,000 voters to the state voting rolls even though the voters were initially deemed ineligible to vote because they did not meet the matching requirements.

(UPDATE: Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit - including former Florida Supreme Court Justice Rosemary Barkett -- have also turned down Florida's request to stay Mickle's injunction. But the appeals court did grant a motion to expedite the case, requiring all legal briefs to be filed by Jan. 14.)

More than 14,000 voters will be added back to rolls

Secretary of State Kurt Browning said that the state will take steps starting on Dec. 28 to add at least 14,000 voters previously rejected back to the rolls while the state continues its legal fight over a 2-year-old voter registration law. The state also plans to go back and add as many as an additional 2,000 voters who were rejected between Oct. 1 and now to the rolls.

Browning told the Miami Herald today that state officials have always intended to comply with the ruling of Judge Stephan Mickle - but that it took a couple of days to deal with the logistical and technical issues.

"Quite honestly, we are changing the tire on a car going 100 miles per hour,'' said Browning.

And Browning said even though lawyers for the state have requested a judge to lift the injunction - state officials are moving full speed ahead to comply with Mickle's order. Mickle sided with the NAACP and other groups that contended Florida's "no match" law that requires the state to match information from voter registration applications with state and federal databases appears to violate federal voting rights laws.

State asks federal court to lift injunction against voting law

The Secretary of State's office late Thursday afternoon requested a federal court to lift the injunction slapped against Florida by U.S. Judge Stephan Mickle. Mickle ordered Florida election officials on Tuesday to stop enforcing a two-year-old voting law that requires a match between voter applications and state and federal databases.

But so far state officials have not yet complied with the federal order - and now they have asked that the injunction be lifted while the state pursues its appeal. The request to lift the injunction warns that complying with the order will create "disruption" during a time when election supervisors are about to close down registration books for the Jan. 29th presidential primary.

"The preliminary injunction unquestionably alters the status quo," argues the filing written by lawyers from GrayRobinson, including Pete Antonacci. "The state's and Supervisors' focus on altering procedures to comply with the court's order will necessarily detract from their other critical election tasks in connection with the upcoming Presidential Preference Primary." Click here to read the filing: Download request_for_stay.pdf

Federal judge blocks voter registration law

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered state election officials to stop enforcing a two-year-old voter registration law, ruling that there is already proof that the change put in place by the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature has resulted in "actual harm to real individuals."

Some 14,000 people have not been able to register because of Florida's "no match'' law that requires a citizen's name on a voter registration form be matched with a Social Security number or driver's license number. The law has been challenged by the NAACP and other groups who say the law unfairly blocks blacks and Hispanics from being able to register to vote.

U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle rejected arguments from state officials that the law was needed to deter possible voter fraud, pointing out that the state has not been able to prove that the 14,000 voters now in limbo engaged in voter fraud.

"The disenfranchisement, however unintentional, causes damage to the election system that cannot be repaired after the election has passed," wrote Mickle in the order. Read order here.Download nomatch_decision.pdf

The decision to block state election officials from enforcing the law comes at a critical time since the deadline is approaching for people to register to vote in order to vote in the Jan. 29th presidential primary election.

Justin Levitt, an attorney for the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, hailed the ruling and said it should lead to the state clearing the way to place those 14,000 people on the voter rolls.

"We think it's a big win for the voters of Florida who have one fewer administrative hurdle and bureaucratic barrier in their way," said Levitt.   

Hometown Democracy head says someone hijacked her e-mail

Lesley Blackner, the Palm Beach County attorney leading the fight for Hometown Democracy, says that someone "hijacked" her e-mail account at AOL and used it to send out incendiary e-mails to state legislators and county commissioners across the state this past weekend.

Blackner said it is part of the continuing "nightmare" that has been waged against Hometown Democracy supporters, who want voters to approve an amendment that would allow land use changes be subject to local referendums. The amendment is opposed by a powerful coalition of business groups who contend it could shut down economic development in the state.

The e-mail that Blackner says was fake tells commissioners that they "give out Comprehensive Land Use Amendments out to developers like candy on Halloween....The average Floridian knows we have government of the developer, by the developer and for the developer. The simple fact is: county commissioners don't care about Florida's future. Why else would you allow bad growth to devour the state?"

The fake e-mail concludes by saying: "The bottom line: you've had the power 100 years, since zoning was commenced, and you've done a bad job of it. Just look around. What kind of future are we creating for generations to come? A look around your county shows just how sick and corrupt the system really has become. It's sort of like The Wizard of Oz. When they pull back the curtain, it's just a bunch of you good old boys in the back room cutting a deal. Thirty days to go and my idea - Hometown Democracy - will qualify for the 2008 ballot and be inevitable. After that, you and your sugar-daddy developer pals will be powerless against WE the PEOPLE! Your time is almost up!"

Wanted: 253 gay marriage foes

That's how many more valid signatures are needed to put a constitutional ban on gay marriage on the 2008 ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections web site this morning.

Last night the number was a bit lower. Regardless, Florida4Marriage.org, which led the petition drive, plans to announce at a 10 a.m. press conference in Tallahassee that it has enough names. Story here.

Gay marriage ban organizers within "striking distance"

Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage say they are "within striking distance" of gathering the more than 611,000 petition signatures needed to get their amendment on the 2008 ballot. John Stemberger of Florida4Marriage.Org said today in an e-mail to supporters that they have received "thousands upon thousands" of petitions this summer. (Full text in comments below)

The deadline to turn in petitions is next year. But Stemberger says they are mounting one last push to get in enough signatures by this September.

Of course, any amendment on the 2008 ballot must now pass by a 60 percent threshold. Voters last year made it harder to amend the constitution.

New group formed to battle gay marriage amendment

A new group called Florida Red and Blue has been formed to fight the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage that appears likely to be on the 2008 ballot. The chairman of the group is Jon Kislak, a former finance chairman for Attorney General Bill McCollum and former Rep. Clay Shaw. The group, which formed within the last two months, will announce its quarterly fundraising totals on Tuesday. The group previously announced that it had a goal of $1 million for the past quarter and that it had two $250,000 "challenge grants" to help reach that total.

Meanwhile, Florida4marriage.org, the group led by John Stemberger that is pushing the amendment banning gay marriage, says it is only 18,000 petitions short of the more than 611,000 it needs to place the amendment on the 2008 ballot. The group has until February to collect its remaining petitions.

18,000 more signatures to gay marriage amendment

John Stemberger of the Florida Family Policy Council says the group needs 18,000 more signatures to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the 2008 ballot. Read his blog posting on a new national poll here.

Chat with Colin Powell

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is slated to have an interactive conversation with Miami Dade College students in the first local "Generation Engage'' event at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

GenerationEngage is a non-partisan initiative that aims to connect young Americans with political leaders. For more information, go to www.generationengage.org

Powell will field questions on "young leaders and public service: effecting global change through location action." An impertinent young leader might ask: "So what ever happened to those WMDs?''

The event will be in Room 7128 at the Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. 2nd Ave., Miami. R.S.V.P. to Ali.Ingersoll@GenerationEngage.org. or call 954-303-5585.

Wexler: "Crist delivered" on paper trails.

U.S. Congressman Robert Wexler, a Democrat, was effusive Monday morning in praising Republican Gov. Charlie Crist shortly before Crist signed the comprehensive elections bill, HB 537, into law. The new law provides nearly $28 million to replace touchscreen machines with optical scan machines and it moves the presidential primary up from March to Jan. 29th.

"There's not a single Floridian who today does not owe the governor an extraordinary thanks,'' said Wexler. "...What we sought was fairness and Gov. Crist delivered."

And Wexler was not the only Democrat to praise Crist. Christine Jennings, the Democratic candidate for Congress who narrowly lost to Republican Vern Buchanan and continues to challenge the results, held her own press conference in Sarasota to praise the new law. Jennings said she will continue to fight to find out what happened last November and that the new law is a step to ensuring "integrity" in elections.

Meanwhile, Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer was happy about the move of Florida's primary to Jan. 29th. "Florida is now in the driver's seat when it comes to choosing the nominee for the next Republican President of the United States."

Prayer and politics in Orlando

Oddly, the music from NBC's hit show The West Wing - which featured a Democratic president played by liberal activist/actor Martin Sheen - was playing as the annual dinner of the conservative Florida Family Policy Council got underway in Orlando.

Jokes about another Hollywood liberal, Rosie O'Donnell, a bumbling routine by a President Bush impersonator, and a silent auction was juxtaposed in between prayer and politics.

"As long as we have breath, we  will fight for the family and traditional marriage in this state,'' the council's president, John Stemberger, told the crowd of about 700 people.

Republican elected officials in attendance included Attorney General Bill McCollum, Florida Speaker Designate Ray Sansom of Fort Walton Beach, Sen. Dan Webster of Winter Park, Rep. Will Weatherford of Wesley Chapel, and Rep. Dean Cannon of Winter Park.

One noticeable absence: Gov. Charlie Crist. Last year, during the Republican primary campaign, he initially said he wasn't invited, though he ultimately attended. His office said he RSVPd this year, though Stemberger said he never heard from him.

Paper trail, primary not the only parts of election bill

Along with eliminating touch screen voting machines and moving up the state's primary, Thursday's election bill also included several other provisions by lawmakers who wanted to capitalize on the popular proposal.

Among them:

• a change that would let elected officials run for federal office without resigning from their current job. For example, the high-profile provision would let Gov. Charlie Crist run for vice president without giving up his job as governor.

• a penalty that would fine outside groups registering voters if they don't promptly return forms to election officials.

• a requirement that write-in candidates live in their district to qualify for office. The provision by state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, is designed target candidates that enter races as write-ins to force a closed primary. For example, last year a write-in candidate prevented Democratic and Independent voters from casting ballots in the heated Republican primary between state Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, and former Miami-Dade school board member Frank Bolaños.

Another major change for Florida elections

The Florida House voted today 118-0 to approve a comprehensive elections bill that will provide nearly $28 million to scrap touchscreen machines in 15 counties and replace them with ones that use optical scan ballots. The measure, which Gov. Charlie Crist said he will gladly sign, also moves up Florida's presidential primary to Jan. 29th. More here.

Vaporized voters used to push paper trail

A coalition of groups pushing for paper ballots have launched a new website, www.countallvotes.com, that includes a video that shows voters getting vaporized when they use a touchscreen voting machines. The website also features a way for voters in Florida to say they support Gov. Charlie Crist and his recommendation that the touchscreen machines be junked. The Senate passed the paper trail bill earlier today.

Senate rejects resign to run law change

The Florida Senate this afternoon overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to alter Florida's resign-to-run law that would have allowed anyone in elected office to run for president and vice president without giving up their current post.

Sen. Lee Constantine drew up the proposal at the request of House Republicans and had planned to attach it to a comprehensive elections bill that includes nearly $28 million to buy new voting machines for the 15 counties that also use touchscreen machines.

But his fellow senators were skeptical about the proposal and without a lot of debate shot it down on a voice vote.

Senators also shot down a proposal by Sen. Steve Geller to move back the date of Florida's presidential primary to February. The legislation now calls for the primary to be held on Jan. 29th. Geller said he asked for the date change in order to tell national party leaders that he "tried" to stop the change. Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has threatened to take away delegates from Florida if the primary is moved up before Feb. 5.

"We really really want this,'' said Geller sarcastically, right before it was scuttled.

Obama Effect hits Florida's legislators, young

Outside a Tallahassee fundraiser for Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, dozens of college students came to greet their political rockstar.

They chanted his name, carried camera phones, and a few toted copies of his most recent book.

The outdoor rally even had a college-centric conception: It was organized by Facebook, a social networking website originally aimed at college students.

Inside, lobbyists and even Republicans paid hundreds to get up close.

Obama emerged briefly from the fundraiser to greet his younger fans. In a two-minute speech, he said: "This is an example of the energy that young people are bringing to this campaign.''

"Whether it's been slavery, or women not having the right to vote or unions not having the right to organize, the civil rights movement, or movement against Vietnam, at each juncture it's been young people," Obama said before he was ushered back to his VIP guests.

Just about an hour earlier, Obama had told Florida's Democratic caucus, his campaign goal was to spend more time with the people, and less at fundraisers.

When asked why he was spending such a short time at the rally, he said, before walking back inside: "I didn't spend that much time up there either - and this is just the first time that I've been here."

-- Yudy Pineiro and Breanne Gilpatrick

House Republicans say they will now hear paper trail bill

Hours after shooting down an amendment offered by House Democrats to set aside money to replace touchscreen machines, the House Majority Office said that Rep. Dean Cannon, the Winter Park Republican in charge of the Economic Expansion and Infrastructure Council, has decided to hear HB 213, a bill sponsored by Rep. Dorothy Hukill that requires all voting machines in Florida to have a voter-verified paper trail that can be subject to a manual audit.

The bill was pulled out of the House Ethics and ElectIons Committee at 11:41 a.m., about two hours after Republicans had defeated the amendment proposed by Rep. Ari Porth to set aside $32.9 million to replace touchscreen machines. During the meeting Republicans said it was wrong to consider the money before the legislation had been heard. But privately Democrats say that they have asked for the bill to be heard but that House Republicans kept saying no.

House Republicans vote against paper trail

House Republicans on the Policy and Budget Council voted down two amendments this morning that would have set aside money to create a paper trail for touchscreen voting machines, including one amendment that would put up $32.9 million for the job, which is enough money to replace touchscreen machines with optical scan ones.

The vote was a straight party line vote, with House Democrats siding with Republican Gov. Charlie Crist on replacing the voting machines, while House Republicans were unified in their opposition. Those Republicans voting against the amendment included those who represent Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Miami-Dade has had problems with its touchscreen machines in recent elections. Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican, said he doesn't trust touchscreen machines and he always votes by absentee. But he and other Republicans said it was unfair to "punish" those counties that bought optical scan machines, while others bought touchscreen machines.

Rep. Ron Saunders, a Key West Democrat, replied that he didn't care about the counties but the voters. "Just because the counties screwed up and got the wrong machines doesn't mean I want to punish voters,'' said Saunders.

Rep. Dennis Baxley said the issue was more about perception than reality, then he suggested those pushing the issue were upset about who has won elections in Florida, a veiled reference to the contested 13th Congressional District race that is still the subject of a challenge by Democrat Christine Jennings.

"The fact is that some people don't like the outcome of elections so they question the integrity of these elections,'' said Baxley.

Crist's paper trail push gets lukewarm reaction

Gov. Charlie Crist went to Washington on Friday to tell Congress how he's pushing to make sure all voting in Florida has a paper trail. But Crist, who initially asked for $32.5 million to buy optical scan machines for 15 counties that now use touchscreen machines, has yet to get much traction on on the issue in the Legislature. Neither the House or Senate have set aside any money for voting machines, nor has a bill been yet heard this session. More here.

Crist said Friday he has scaled back his spending request to under $30 million. But the House wants to see if federal money, instead of state dollars, could be used, while the Senate will soon roll out a "substantially cheaper" proposal according to Sen. Lee Constantine, the Altamonte Springs Republican in charge of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

Get your Broward election results here

Less than 10 percent of the voters in Broward turned out to cast ballots in 11 municipalities yesterday. Polls opened on time and no major voting machine glitches were reported.

Cooper City ousted two incumbents in the wake of a scandal over commissioners dining on the public tab. West Park voters gave three incumbents four more years. Davie re-elected Susan Starkey and elected newcomer Marlon Luis.

Incumbent Bill Julian and interim commissioner Keith London held on to their seats in Hallandale Beach. Miramar voters opted for a political novice, Yvonne Garth, while two well-known names prevailed in Dania Beach.

For the rest of Tuesday's election results, click here.

Department moving on paper trails

Before the Florida Legislature has even acted on Gov. Charlie Crist's request to spend $32.5 million to replace touchscreen machines with ones that use optical scan ones, the Department of State continues to move ahead with creating a paper trail.

The department on Friday advertised that a new rule that would outline when and how printers could be used in connection with the ATM-styled machines used in 15 counties, including Miami-Dade and Broward. Secretary of State Kurt Browning has proposed letting counties keep touchscreen machines for early voting and for the disabled, while requiring them to move to optical scan machines for Election Day.

But currently Florida has no rules on how printers can be used in conjunction with touchscreen machines and the state has not approved the use of any printers _ which usually allow a voter to see a printout of their vote. (The voter does not actually leave the polling place with a paper receipt.)

"This is to clear the way for us to certify the printer for touchscreen,'' said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Department of State.

The department is holding a workshop on March 17 in Tallahassee to discuss the new rule. But count Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho among those skeptical about the department's plan. Sancho called scrapping touchscreen machines "excellent" but citing reports around the country about paper jams and other problems he said they could be a "disaster."

Candidate in trouble for TV ad

In a case that could spark additional complaints in the future, the Florida Elections Commission has found probable cause that Jay Beskin, a former Aventura City Commissioner, broke the law last fall when he challenged incumbent Sally Heyman for a spot on the Miami-Dade County Commission. He could face a fine up to $1,000 if the charge is ultimately upheld.

Beskin's alleged campaign violation? Failing to include closed captioning on his 30-second television ads, and then failing to file a statement that explained why his ads did not include closed captioning. Who pointed out that Beskin's ads couldn't be understood by the hearing impaired? Well, that would be Heyman herself.

Mark Herron, a Tallahassee lawyer who handles election law cases, said this was the first time he had ever heard of anyone getting charged with breaking the law regarding closed-caption ads because the law allows people to waive the requirement by filing a form. Even the company that did the ads for Beskin said that most campaign ads they did during the 2006 campaign season did not include closed captioning. And it turns out that Beskin's campaign consultant noticed that the ads did not have closed captioning and had the original ads replaced with ones that did five days after the first ad ran.

Unanimous vote for early primary

Even as the nation's secretary of states plead with states to slow down, a bill (HB 537) to move up Florida's presidential primary from its current March date was approved unanimously by the House Ethics and Elections Committee on Thursday morning. It now has only one more stop before it heads to the full House for a vote.

There was some handwringing among both Republican and Democratic legislators about whether Florida is risking losing some of its delegates to the national convention by jumping too far ahead in the primary schedule. Both national parties have rules that try to discourage states from placing their primaries earlier than February. The bill approved Thursday moves the date to the first Tuesday in February or the week after the New Hampshire primary, whichever date is earlier in the calendar year.

But bill sponsor Rep. David Rivera downplayed the threat and said it was worth the risk. "This is one of the burdens we may have to bear to creat the relevancy in Florida we are seeking,'' said Rivera, a Miami Republican. Rivera asserted the earlier primary date will force presidential candidates to take stances on issues important to Floridians, such as the creation of a national catatastrophe fund.

Democrats voted for the measure, even though Florida Democratic Party chair Karen Thurman wrote a letter saying that the party only supports moving the date of the primary to Feb. 5 and no earlier. Thurman said the state should not tie its primary to New Hampshire since officials in that state often wait until the last minute to set a date in order to make sure their primary is the first in the nation.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Secretaries of State is holding a roundtable discussion this weekend in Washington D.C. to try to drum up support for a plan to hold four regional primaries that would run from March until June each presidential year. A different region would go first each four years.

Monday morning quarterbacking on Miami-Dade strong mayor

African-Americans voted overwhelmingly against it. Hispanics supported it. Anglo voters were divided.

That's the post-election analysis of the Miami-Dade strong mayor referendum by Dario Moreno, director of The Metropolitan Center at Florida International University.

About 78 percent of Hispanic voters, 57 percent of Anglo voters and only 8 percent of African-American voters said yes to Mayor Carlos Alvarez's proposal.

The four black county commissioners ran a vigorous campaign against the measure, arguing that it would diminish their community's voice. It worked. Those four commission districts were the only areas that voted down the referendum.

A Miami Herald analysis showed that heavily Democratic precincts strongly opposed the measure boosting the Republican mayor, while majority Republican precincts favored it.

Another interesting factoid: early and absentee voters favored the referendum, while the Election Day vote was split. Had the county commissioners gotten their act together earlier, they might have prevailed.

Maybe Christine Jennings will show up

Voters and election officials can weigh in on the 2006 election at a public hearing held by the Ethics and Elections committee of the Florida Senate from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

"We have made incredible strides in this state to improve the voting process, but we can always do better,'' said the commitee's chairman, Sen. Lee Constantine a Republican from Altamonte Springs.

Tell that to Democratic congressional candidate Christine Jennings, who went to court after losing to Republican Vern Buchanan by less than 400 votes. More than 18,000 ballots registered no vote in the southwest Florida race to replace Katherine Harris.

Jennings' legal battle and other revelations of problems with touchscreen machines are fueling demand for a paper trail.

The meeting will be broadcast live statewide on the Florida Channel, a service of WFSU-TV and the Florida Legislature. Voters can send comments to the committee at 2006election@flsenate.gov or 404 South Monroe St., 420 Knott Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100.

Recount help coming to Sarasota

Florida's secretary of state is sending a team to conduct an audit of Sarasota County's voting system after a Congressional race in which a stunning 18,382 votes were either not cast or recorded.

Secretary of State Sue M. Cobb made the announcement today in a letter to Sarasota County elections chief Kathy Dent, who had asked for the audit as well as a team to observe an upcoming recount of the nationally watched election.

Story here

The hunt for 18,382 undervotes

The latest Florida election whodunit, replete with a razor-thin vote margin and a looming recount, played out here Wednesday as state and county officials were at a loss to explain why 18,382 votes weren't cast or recorded in the nationally watched congressional race to replace Katherine Harris.

Already, the specter of the botched 2000 elections has gripped the area, owing to the mere mention of Harris, the former Florida secretary of state, as well as partisan battle cries, with Republican Vernon Buchanan saying it's time to move on after he claimed a 368-vote victory near 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Democrat Christine Jennings said voters were ''victimized'' because the ''staggering number'' of so-called ''undervotes'' were disproportionately higher here compared with the other four counties in House District 13 and other races. More votes were recorded for the Hospital Board Southern District.

Hanging in the balance: voter faith in the ATM-style touch-screen voting machines -- the same type used in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. By chance, Sarasota voters were the first in Florida to amend their county's charter Tuesday to call for a paper-trail ballot system.

Story here.

Florida voters are in a bad mood

What's on voters' minds? The Miami Herald visited five counties in different parts of the state -- Broward, Charlotte, Osceola, Flagler and Jackson -- to find out. What reporters heard: Voters have had it up to here with the public schools, insurance bills and housing costs. Many are also upset about a war 7,000 miles away in Iraq.

Whether they blame the reigning Republicans in Tallahassee and Washington for their troubles largely depends on their party affiliation. Increasingly, new voters are choosing neither major party.

The voting pool is also increasingly diverse. The percentage of voters identifying themselves as ''other'' than white or black is up 62 percent over 2002. That's partly because of a boost in the Hispanic population; more voters are also switching from the ''unknown'' to the ''other'' category. The number of black voters jumped almost 25 percent since 2002, while white voters increased by 8 percent.

To read profiles of the five counties visited by the Herald, click here.

Final tally: GOP up, Dems down

The final voter registration numbers are in for Election Day _ and they are good for the Republicans and bad for the Democrats. The new tally shows that Florida has 10,433,849 registered voters. The breakdown shakes out like this: There are 4.21 million registered Democrats, 3.93 million registered Republicans and 1.96 million voters who registered with no party affiliation.

In 2004, the same year that the Democrats and other groups put on massive voter registration drives, there were 10,301,290 registered voters. There were 4.26 million registered Democrats, 3.89 million registered Republicans and 1.88 million voters who registered with no party affiliation. So that means the Republican voting ranks grew and the NPA ranks grew but the numbers of Democrats actually declined.

Polls show Republicans and amendments ahead

An exhaustive poll done last week by the Miami Herald shows that Attorney General Charlie Crist has a comfortable lead over his rival U.S. Rep. Jim Davis in the governor's race, while the Republicans seeking posts on the Florida Cabinet also have leads - although the attorney general contest between State Sen. Skip Campbell and Bill McCollum is tight.

Meanwhile in the U.S. Senate race incumbent Bill Nelson continues to have a sizable lead over U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris. The Herald poll, which was done by Zogby International, also shows that five out of the six proposed constitutional amendments are poised to pass, including a controversial proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution.

The poll was done before Friday's bombshell involving Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned from Congress after revelations about e-mails he had written teenage pages who had worked at the Capitol. Read here about the race for governor. For the Cabinet races go here. Here's the story on the amendments, while here's the story on the Senate race.

Broward don't know Jack

That was the irreverent headline on an e-mail distributed by Broward Democrat Phil Busey, who's concerned about voter complacency. He spent the day roving around Miami-Dade and found more campaign activity.

"Go down Calle Ocho as I did this morning and you will see where Miami-Dade takes politics to a high art form, as evidenced by the intensity and quality of campaign signage,'' he wrote to Democratic activists. "Maybe it is that most Miami-Dade candidates are of  families who came from Cuba, so that freedom is a recent and hard-fought struggle.

"To check this out, I went up 17th Avenue and crossed the Miami River into Liberty City, and although I saw fewer signs, I saw campaign activity, volunteers knocking on doors...

"Are we in Broward too complacent? Yes we are. Whichever Democrats you support in the primary, you should campaign like there was no tomorrow."

Turnout in the 2002 primary was 22 percent in Broward, compared to 33 percent in Miami-Dade.

New poll: Voters want more Democrats in Legislature?

One fascinating surprise lurks in an otherwise predictable poll by Florida United Business this week: If state legislative races were held today, more people would vote for a Democrat than a Republican. The numbers: 38 percent of the 600 voters surveyed July 24 and 25 would pick a Democrat, compared to 30 percent who would support a Republican. Another 32 percent are undecided.

Unlike other recent polls, this one queried not just likely primary voters but the whole field -- including the growing numbers of independents who make up the crucial collection of new voters in Florida.

What's more, the poll shows that 65 percent of those surveyed believe the country is headed down the wrong track, while only 25 percent say it's going in the right direction. As for Florida, the split is even: 45 percent say the state is headed down the wrong track while 44 percent say it's steering straight.

Republicans have seen these numbers coming for some time, based on their own internal party polls. Incoming House Speaker Marco Rubio has warned his colleagues that unless his party becomes known as a party with new ideas and solutions, it's going to lose the dominance it has gained over the past decade. Thus his quest for "100 Innovative Ideas.''

Florida's legislative districts have been apportioned so carefully to benefit Republicans, there is no chance more Democrats will be elected this year to the state House and Senate than Republicans. But if these numbers are any proof, there's a clear sign that this year's general election fight will be over the minds and hearts of the independent voters.