It is amazing, one would have thought that after the national outrage about the Florida ballot shenanigans of 2000, the state’s Division of Elections would have to tread lightly in 2004. But, no fans of subtlety, getting away with it in 2000 seems to have emboldened them to even more clumsy manipulations this time around. We have already heard about the mysterious visits uniformed officers have been paying to elderly African American voters suggesting some ill-defined investigation of their right to vote, in an obvious attempt to scare them away from the polls. Now, despite a court order against putting Nader on the Florida ballot, the Republican chief of the Division of Elections is using Hurricane Ivan as a pretext to do so anyway. If the hurricane interfered, the ballots could not be prepared in time if she waited for a Wednesday hearing on the court injunction, she ruled, so Nader’s name should appear just in case he wins the right to be there. If he doesn’t belong on the ballot, any Nader votes would just have to be discarded. (The American Prospect) See also this (BBC).