From The Associated Press, 8/1/04:
http://www.wftv.com/news/3603111/detail.html
Fla. Election Officials Knew About Database Problems For Months
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --
Secretary of State Glenda Hood held out two months before scrapping a
database of felons barred from voting despite knowing about problems
with the list and the vendor responsible for compiling it.
A May 2 internal memo requested by Hood details missed deadlines,
failed software programs, personnel problems and a long list of
mistakes, The Miami Herald reported Sunday.
The memo obtained through a public-records request underscored
problems the state faced as it rushed out a list of 48,000 people who
could be kept off voter rolls and documented problems over a two-year
period with a $2.7 million contract with Accenture, an international
technology consulting firm.
A call for comment to a spokeswoman for Hood's office was not
immediately returned Sunday.
Jim McAvoy, spokesman for Accenture, told the newspaper that the
company was unaware of the memo.
However, he acknowledged some "technical and staffing issues, which
resulted in a delay of approximately five months," but said the state
asked for many changes that contributed to the delays.
Hood's office announced July 10 that it was abandoning the list, two
days after acknowledging 2,500 ex-felons were on the list even though
their voting rights had been restored through the state's clemency
process.
Most were Democrats, and many were black.
Hispanics, who often vote Republican in Florida, were largely absent
from the list due to a technical error when two databases were merged.
Florida is one of only a handful of states that does not automatically
restore voting rights to convicted felons when they complete their
sentence.
The purge of felons by election officials has been a hot-button issue
since the 2000 presidential election.
In a separate report last week, Gov. Jeb Bush's technology office was
criticized in a scathing audit for the way it awards contracts to
companies, including Accenture.
Among the problems Hood's office had with Accenture:
-- Three project managers were assigned by Accenture in the final
year.
-- One database administrator sent in February "had no prior
experience with this application," the memo said.
-- As late as April, state overseers found a series of yet "more
errors" by Accenture.
-- Deadlines were missed starting June 30, 2003. In one instance, a
technical representative left the company without transferring her
work to anyone, the memo said.
"Of course we were frustrated, said former state elections boss Ed
Kast, who retired in June.
"We all wanted to know why it couldn't get done faster."
Dawn Roberts, who replaced Kast, said the memo was ordered by Hood.
"I think she was getting a lot of questions from reporters and from
critics," Roberts told the Herald.
"She asked for the answers in writing."
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It case you didn't already know, this is the crooked nature of the
right wing opposition, folks. Prepare for the worst.
Harry
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