Wexler Seeks Support of State in Preparing Palm Beach County for November Elections
Sends Letter to Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning

(Washington, DC) Today, Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), a long-standing advocate for voter-verified paper ballots and election integrity, reached out to Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning regarding Palm Beach County’s preparedness for the upcoming November election.  Congressman Wexler sought the assistance of Secretary Browning and other community leaders in response to his concerns and those expressed by his constituents over the recent difficulties encountered by Palm Beach County during its tabulation of August election results.

“As the November election fast approaches, it is absolutely critical that voters in South Florida, and for that matter across the entire state, can participate in this historic election with the upmost confidence that their votes will be counted,” said Wexler. “It is my hope that in the coming weeks, Secretary of State Kurt Browning can help Palm Beach County prepare for November and maintain a full account of every vote cast.  I will continue to assist officials at both the state and local level in any way possible so that this election is conducted in the most organized and professional way possible.”

The full text of Congressman Wexler’s letter to Secretary of State Kurt Browning is available below.

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September 9, 2008

The Honorable Kurt S. Browning
Florida Secretary of State
400 S Monroe St
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Dear Secretary Browning:

I am writing to express my grave concerns and those of my constituents in South Florida regarding the preparedness of Palm Beach County for the November elections. With the spotlight of another close national election likely to fall once again on Florida, it is even more critical that every precinct in the State is adequately prepared for the election.

As a long-standing advocate of voter verified paper ballots, I share your belief that the system you and Governor Crist have put in place is fundamentally sound and is indeed the best possible ballot option for Florida. Of course, the election system is much more than simply the ballots and the machines alone, and it is in this regard that I have concerns about Palm Beach County.

I would like to thank you for your willingness to discuss these issues with me at some length.  As we discussed, ballot accountability is of paramount importance and must be greatly improved as Palm Beach County adjusts to its new systems. The processes to fully track ballots from the time they are cast, leave the polling places, and are moved to the tabulation sites must be improved so that Palm Beach County can confidently maintain full account of every ballot cast especially during the hectic hours when the ballots are being collected and counted. I trust that your recommendations regarding improving election night processes would also benefit this process greatly.

Your advice and the assistance of your staff, to the extent Florida law permits, with regard to training and augmentation of Palm Beach County Election office staff is essential to help ensure that this election is conducted in the most organized and professional way possible.

I believe that this is the most prudent course of action and know that your assistance in implementing these recommendations would be greatly appreciated by the County.

Furthermore, I look forward to continuing a dialogue with you in the coming weeks and after the election regarding additional improvements to Florida’s voting system, particularly restoring our strong manual recount laws as you have recommended.

Thank you for all your earnest work on behalf of Florida’s voters.

With warmest regards,

Robert Wexler

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Congressman Wexler is Chairman of the Europe Subcommittee and a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Judiciary Committee; and he also sits on the Financial Services Committee.

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