The lessons of Florida learned?

Time magazine, in what is sure to become a commemorative issue, has a brief article about the purging of the voting rolls in Florida. You remember that from 2000, right? 19,000 people unable to vote, possibly illegally, in an election that was decided by 547. Probably wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Well, here we go again:

Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood has now told county supervisors that 47,000 more names are likely to be purged from the voter rolls this year, and election watchdogs fear that Florida is poised to repeat the mistakes of 2000 on a much larger scale.

Hood argues that the criteria for removing people from the rolls are more stringent than they were in 2000 and that supervisors are now required by law to inform those named. "New safeguards assure that error rates will be kept to a minimum," Hood's spokeswoman says. But critics say the state is using the same flawed database that misidentified so many voters in 2000 and has done little to improve its accuracy. Hood staunchly denies that politics is at play, but her critics point out that almost a third of those listed reside in the heavily Democratic South Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Polls show that Democratic contender John Kerry and President Bush are running neck and neck in the state, where the President's brother Jeb is Governor.

The chads may hit the fan this week when Florida's 67 county elections supervisors meet in Key West and debate how to handle Hood's purge list of 47,000. Confirming the list's accuracy is now their responsibility, and some elections supervisors are eager to avoid a replay of 2000. "We already found one person [on the list] whose [criminal] charges had later been reduced to a misdemeanor," says a G.O.P. supervisor. Given what happened in 2000, he adds, "I'm going to err on the side of the voter this time."

What an excellent idea. THIS time. I can only imagine what would have happened if you had thought to put the voter first last time, too. Sheesh.