By IPS Correspondents
MIAMI, Nov 2 2004 (IPS)

Election Day 2004 here dawned sunny with scattered clouds and widespread apprehension as polls opened at 7 am. But voting skies appear to have remained mostly clear all day.

‘El Nuevo Herald’, the Spanish edition of the ‘Miami Herald’ newspaper, predicted: "Florida will embark today on a frenetic Election Day, with anticipated long lines, polemical legal challenges and a tense vote count that will probably decide the next president of the country."

The Herald in English, a bit more sanguine, noted: "One in five registered voters in the state have already cast ballots, arousing hope that today’s election will run smoothly."

But at four polling places spread across the northern part of Miami, while early-bird voters faced waits of up to two hours, lines were cut to less than 30 minutes by 9 or 10 am.

At all of the polling places visited as of early afternoon, election officials said voting was proceeding smoothly, as partisan and non-partisan poll-watchers monitored balloting without visible conflict.

Signs in English, Spanish and Kreyol instructed voters and officials, and volunteers offered assistance.

They distributed bi-lingual leaflets to voters explaining what to do if their vote was challenged, and offering a toll-free hotline to call in case of problems.

John Young, an attorney from New York volunteering for the Democratic Party, called county election workers "fabulous," saying he found both Republican and Democratic polling officials very non-partisan.

A couple of Republican monitors watched the poll in what seemed to be a strongly Democratic precinct. "We’re just here to make sure everyone gets to vote, and nobody is intimidated and nobody’s rights are violated. Also that nobody votes twice," said one of them, an attorney for the Republican mayoral candidate.

An elderly African American man bringing his disabled daughter to vote said: "I suffered greatly for this opportunity, I suffered many beatings and jailhouses. I’m not going to give it up now."

For people with limited mobility like the man’s daughter, battery-operated curbside voting machines were provided so they could vote without having to leave the car.

Florida, along with seven other states, continues to disenfranchise ex-felons, which seemed wrong to Sandra Gow, a middle-aged Haitian-American woman. "If you’ve served your time and you’ve been crime free, you’ve paid your debt to society and you should get the right to vote and your other rights back."

"If God was like that, never forgiving people, we’d all be in Hell," she added.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drove many voters’ choices.

A tall African American man said he was voting to get Bush out of office and stop the war in Iraq. "It’s not right, man, I got friends over in Iraq, and they’ve been waiting to come home from Day One. I don’t even know if they’re dead or alive. This (voting) is a way to get them home."

A middle aged Haitian-American woman carrying a Kerry sign was angry. "Some of the things the Republicans are doing are wrong. They do things to disenfranchise people, but it won’t work. My God is a good God."

"People are being sent over to Iraq with no armour and dying in a war that isn’t called for; they’re leaving their children fatherless. And 100,000 Iraqis have died. That’s wrong."

For a few voters, though, domestic issues were decisive. An elderly Dominican man, in line with his wife, said: "It’s the economy and immigration, to be able to get papers for ourselves."

For some members of the Haitian-American community, their perspectives were coloured by the experiences of their homeland.

A Haitian-American woman carrying two Kerry signs was angry: "Bush does a lot of things for the rich. And he’s unfair on immigration: when Cuban people come over from Cuba they have everything ready for them, but when Haitians come on a little boat, the put them in prison and then send them back to Haiti."

"They say the Cubans are political exiles, but that the Haitians are economic refugees. That’s not fair, that’s racist. But (Florida Governor) Jeb Bush’s wife is Cuban," she said.

At two polling places in Haitian-American communities, people with Bush-Cheney signs were apparently being paid to carry them.

Outside the Sunkist Grove Community Centre, four Haitian-Americans were holding up such signs, including one that said, "Sportsmen for Bush." Asked why she supported Bush, one woman grinned and turned away. A nearby woman said they were being paid to carry the placards.

One of the men carrying a sign for the president said, "Bush has done a few good things, he’s not all evil." But when he talked about Iraq the man said he believed people in that country are really suffering and he is against the war.

Not far away, a young black man with a Van Dyke beard leaned against a car, holding a Bush-Cheney sign without a stick under his chin.

Why was he supporting the president? "I don’t know." What is it you like about Bush? Under his breath: "I’d like to get him out of office." So you want to get him out of office, but you’re carrying a Bush-Cheney sign? In a soft voice: "Man’s gotta eat, you know."

The young man said he wanted Bush out because he started the war. "A lot of Iraqis have been killed in the bombing, thousands of them. That’s not right."

At Little River Elementary School, a young Haitian-American woman was wearing a Bush T-shirt and holding a sheaf of Bush literature. When asked if she supported the incumbent, she smiled and wagged her finger in the air, looking embarrassed. "Would you rather I didn’t ask?" She nodded.

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