Michael Moore to tackle voting rights issues in Florida

Ken Thomas - AP - July 28, 2004

BOSTON - Coming soon to Florida: Filmmaker Michael Moore

Moore, the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," said Wednesday he would make stops throughout Florida in October to focus attention on voting rights issues and try to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election debacle.

"I am going to be in Florida," Moore said to cheers at a delegation breakfast, "and together - together, we will guarantee to every Floridian that their vote will be counted this year.

"I will have my cameras. We will put a huge spotlight on them. They will not get away with it this time."

[...] He promised to donate money to bring "an army of lawyers" who will serve as poll watchers in November.

"The second anyone tries to prevent a voter from voting, we will go down to the courthouse, we will get the judge immediately and we will stop it at that moment," Moore said.

His speech followed news of more voting problems in Florida: officials in Miami-Dade County said Tuesday a computer crash erased detailed records from the 2002 primary, the county's first widespread use of touchscreen voting machines.

Earlier this month, the state's top elections official ordered a review of the state's voter database after the discovery that a list of 48,000 potential felons was flawed and scrapped. The list held thousands of people who are eligible to vote and was flawed by a technical glitch that excluded many possible Hispanic felons.

[...] The filmmaker was mobbed by supporters after his speech and led a crowded pack of reporters and delegates down the hotel hallway. About a half dozen Boston police officers responded to the scene to maintain order.

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