Sens urge Fla. to allow GAO to polling places

Two Democratic senators on Wednesday petitioned Florida to reverse its decision to keep Government Accountability Office (GAO) staff from its polling places on Election Day.

In a letter to Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning, Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Herb Kohl (Wis.), urged the state official to reconsider his decision to bar GAO, which is studying the access to polling places for aging and disabled voters on Election Day.

{mosads}“Florida will be crucial to the outcome of the presidential election,” said Feinstein, “It is vitally important that the GAO be allowed to study our nation’s election system, especially in Florida, where so many seniors live.”

Feinstein chairs the Committee on Rules and Administration while Kohl serves as Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. They had requested that GAO conduct the examination of state voting access.

Some states are only allowing limited access to their polls, but Florida is the only state denying complete access.

Kohl criticized the decision of Sunshine State officials.

“Given its high population of older people with disabilities, I am surprised that Florida is not welcoming the review of a small number of their polling places,” he said. “Providing full accessibility to every voter is the law, and we need Florida’s cooperation to make sure it is being upheld.”

In the 2000 general elections some Florida counties did allow the GAO access to their polling places and Feinstein and Kohl encourage Browning to make similar accommodations this time around.