Overseas ballots trickle into Florida counties before Friday deadline
From Charles Zewe/CNN
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- At the Miami-Dade County elections office, 1,700 ballots were mailed before Election Day to Florida voters living overseas. Requests for ballots were almost evenly split between Democratic and Republican voters, with about 400 going out to independent voters.
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The Gore campaign held a Wednesday morning news conference in which they announced their request that the Florida Supreme Court rule on hand counts (November 15)
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So far, more than 1,100 have been returned and included in vote totals already reported by the county. Another 150 untallied absentee ballots are sitting in trays under lock and key in the Miami elections office.
Election officials say another 400 ballots could arrive before the deadline of 5 p.m. EST Friday. They're taking extra steps to make sure every ballot is counted.
"We are going to have people at the post office," said Ivy Corman, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Elections Department. "The Post Office is assuring us they are going to whisk these things through Customs, because everything has to come through Customs, and from there we have a delivery guy who's going to bring them in."
About one-fourth of overseas ballots from Miami-Dade County went to military personnel, whose officers have traditionally backed Republican candidates, but enlisted members often back Democrats. In 1996, GOP nominee Bob Dole won 54 percent of the military vote in Florida.
Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore and his campaign is hoping to counter those overseas military votes with pro-Democratic votes from Israel, drawn by the inclusion of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman on the ticket. Voter records show about 4,000 Florida voters are living in Israel.
Miami Beach native and absentee voter Ron Dermer voted for Republican nominee Bush by mail. Dermer, a pollster for one of Israel's political parties, concedes Gore is likely to carry a majority of Florida voters in Israel with the exception of religious Jews.
"The more religious Jews tend to vote more with the Republican Party. In Israel, there also are a lot of expatriates who are more religious, so maybe they voted for George W. Bush," he said.
There is also a wild card in play: Another 74 so-called federal write-in ballots have arrived in Miami and will be included in the vote totals Friday. Write-in voters are Americans who show up at any U.S. Embassy, present their passport and write in their choice for president.
Statewide, a survey by the St Petersburg Times reveals that about 22,100 overseas absentee ballots were sent out prior to Election Day. Of the 12,590 received, 1,865 need to be counted and added to the results.
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