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'We Fought For The Right To Vote"

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2008

5:10 p.m.: Deborah Cabrera of Palm River got up Tuesday morning, excited to vote.

She and her parents, Juliana and Nilo, arrived at their voting precinct, St. Cecilia's Episcopal Church on Maydell Drive, about 2 p.m. Juliana and Nilo Cabrera voted without problem.

But precinct officials told Deborah Cabrera that she was not registered to vote there.

Deborah Cabrera said the precinct officials next told her she was inactive and unable to vote. They did not offer her a provisional ballot, she said. And, she said, about six other people also were turned away.

Mia McCormick, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office, said she had not heard of problems at St. Cecilia's, which is Precinct No. 971. McCormick said no one should be turned away. Voters who do not appear on precinct rolls should be directed to the correct precinct, she said. McCormick said she did not know if Deborah Cabrera should have been given a provisional ballot.

As of late Tuesday, the Supervisor's office was receiving as many as 10,000 calls an hour - from voters, precinct workers and journalists. Some calls were not getting through, McCormick said.

Deborah Cabrera, 45, said she spoke to two lawyers at her precinct who offered her a phone number to call to report the problem. They also directed her to the election supervisor's office on Falkenburg Road in Brandon. After 45 minutes at the supervisor's office, officials confirmed that she was registered to vote and had attended the correct precinct. They gave Deborah Cabrera an absentee ballot so she could vote.

Why did she go to so much trouble?

"Especially being a female, we fought for the right to vote," she said. "It was important for me to vote."

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