Florida Republicans Criticize Early Voting Extension

First it was paper ballots. Then it was automatic rights restoration for felons, including the right to vote.

Repeatedly, Gov. Charlie Crist has embraced elections reforms on the Democratic agenda. This week, he did it again. After all nine of Florida's Congressional Democrats urged Crist to expand early-voting hours, that's exactly what he did.

Both parties officially commended Crist for his decision on Tuesday, which expanded early voting from eight to 12 hours on weekdays to alleviate long lines at the polls. But there was immediate - if mostly off-the-record - grousing among some Republicans, given Sen. Barack Obama's perceived advantage with early voters.

Thursday, Florida Democrats claimed a lead of 384,676 early-voters over Republicans. Republicans were still compiling their report but did not dispute the Democrats' tally. The state Division of Elections did not have a breakdown by party.

Even as he endorsed Crist's decision, Christian Coalition of Florida Director Dennis Baxley said he worries it will rake in more Obama votes.

"It apparently is, because of the way campaigns are being operated," Baxley said. "The format we have seen in the Obama campaign has been to rile up emotions and get everybody to the polls to vote before they change their mind."

Politico blogger Ben Smith, who declared Crist's decision to be "a very big deal," went on to quote an unnamed but "plugged-in Florida Republican" as saying that Crist "just blew Florida for John McCain."

All this, when media and political observers had already accused Crist of backing away from Sen. John McCain, who snubbed Florida's governor in favor of Alaska's for vice president and has sunk in the Florida polls.

"Clearly the governor wanted that V.P. nomination, and he didn't get it," said Lance deHaven-Smith, political scientist at Florida State University. "He's got to be disappointed."

But how much does Crist's early voting order harm McCain, really? An Allstate-National Journal Florida poll found 57 percent of Florida's early- and absentee voters chose Obama. But in a Los Angeles Times-Bloomberg poll, McCain led 49 to 45 among early voters.

"You don't really know what the impact is," David Johnson, former director of the state GOP, said of Crist's early-voting order. Quite possibly, he said, it will boost turnout of Republicans as much as Democrats.

"The question is, were those people going to vote on Election Day?" he said. "Will early voting help people vote who already wouldn't be voting?"

Statistically, early voting has not been shown to increase voter turnout.

Meanwhile, Crist has recently stepped up his campaigning for McCain, complete with a television ad for McCain that began airing statewide Thursday.

That does Crist no favors with the independents and conservative Democrats who were critical to his 2006 election and will be equally important to him in 2010, said deHaven-Smith, who thinks that Crist is "doing what he can for McCain" and credited the governor with making the right decision on early voting "in spite of the political implications."

Whichever party ultimately benefits from the extra voting hours, Crist's decision remains consistent with an approach to election reform that resonates with average voters regardless of party, said Darryl Paulson, a conservative political scientist at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. "I think it clearly reflects his personal philosophy of being 'the People's Governor.'"

The more interesting issue, Paulson said, is Crist's willingness to test his executive authority. Both supervisors and lawmakers have questioned whether it was appropriate for Crist to call a "state of emergency" to override the state's election law.

"If there wasn't an emergency, the governor exceeded his authority," said Volusia County Elections Supervisor Ann McFall, a Republican. "I did not see an emergency in Volusia County."

GOP fundraiser Sam Rashid said election issues like early voting give Crist an easy way to pander to Democrats. But Rashid, a frequent critic of Crist, said he would not blame the governor if McCain loses Florida.

"It was McCain's race to lose," Rashid said. "I don't think you can put the blame for Florida at the governor's door."

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