Florida's motor-voter database snafus changes political party

[flashl]

One error cost them their voice at the polls

Disenfranchised by a simple gaffe? It's all thanks to their driver's licenses

Andrew Yochum, a lifelong Republican, went to the polls Jan. 29 to vote for John McCain..

But when he arrived, poll workers told him could not vote in the GOP primary because, they insisted, he was a member of the Reform Party, which Yochum jokes "I did not even know existed until I Googled it to find out what I believe."

The same day in Orange County, Mallie T. Williams took off work to "vote for change," only to have his ballot for Barack Obama thrown out because poll workers said the Democrat was listed as a Republican.

They are among hundreds of Floridians from Miami-Dade to Tampa and Okaloosa who either could not vote or had their ballots rejected.

The reason: their political party had been mistakenly changed during the simple act of updating a driver's license.

Elections officials say Florida's system for updating voter records has caused political party mistakes for years, but more errors may have been noticed recently because high interest in the presidential race brought out thousands who usually do not vote in primaries.

Herald Tribune