11/21/00 10:05 a.m.
Felons for Gore
A key Florida constituency.

By John J. Miller, NR’s national political reporter

f Al Gore winds up winning Florida, he may have ex-cons to thank for it. "At least 39 felons — mostly Democrats — illegally cast absentee ballots in Broward and Miami-Dade counties in the Nov. 7 elections," reported the Miami Herald over the weekend. "Their convictions range from murder and rape to drunk driving and passing bad checks. One is on the state's registry of sexual offenders. Three were registered under Social Security numbers different from those on their criminal records. One is even a poll worker." The Herald's David Kidwell and Lisa Arthur did the math: "Although [these felons] make up only a tiny number of the 104,865 absentee ballots cast in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if felons cast illegal votes in the same percentages at the polls it could amount to more than 470 illegal ballots locally and more than 2,000 statewide."

Last spring, NR's John J. Miller wrote on how Democrats across the country are behind "an embryonic nationwide campaign to liberalize the voting rights of people enmeshed in the criminal-justice system…. Republicans may have their neo-cons and paleo-cons; now Democrats are trying to organize a voting bloc of their own, the ex-cons."

The full Miami Herald article may be read here.