Florida's conduct of the 2000 presidential election was marked by "injustice, ineptitude and inefficiency" that unfairly penalized minority voters, The Washington Postreported today, quoting a US government report.
The
Post
said the US Commission on Civil Rights criticised top state officials - particularly Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Ms Katherine Harris - for allowing disparate treatment of voters.
It said the commission - composed of four Democrats, three independents and one Republican - planned to ask the US Justice Department and the Florida attorney general's office to investigate whether federal or state civil rights laws were violated.
The commission's six-month investigation found no "conclusive evidence" that officials "conspired" to disenfranchise minority and disabled voters.
But it said 54 per cent of votes rejected during the Florida election were cast by black voters, although African Americans comprised only 11 per cent of voters statewide.
A spokeswoman for Governor Bush, the younger brother of the president, took issue with the report, noting that its preliminary report several months ago had failed to find "any evidence of intentional discrimination," the Postsaid.
A bipartisan task force appointed by Governor Bush concluded the November election was marred by systemic inconsistencies, citing unreliable voting machines, improper counting of absentee ballots and inaccurate databases.
The commission's report is the broadest, and most narrowly focused on minorities, to date. The panel held three days of hearings, interviewed 100 witnesses and reviewed 118,000 documents.
Among the key findings:
African Americans were nearly 10 times as likely as whites to have their ballots rejected.
Some Hispanic and Haitian voters were not provided ballots in their native languages, and physical barriers sometimes kept disabled voters from entering polling sites.
The Florida Division of Elections failed to educate Florida's residents on the mechanics of voting.