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American Morning
America Votes 2002: The Heat is On
Aired November 05, 2002 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A Republican Governor has never been re-elected here in the Sunshine State. Jeb Bush hopes to change that today. His race against the Democratic challenger Bill McBride hotly contested, one of the most closely watched contests in the country. Now we also want to gauge today voters' moods as they head into the box here in Florida, and John Zarrella is watching that. He's in the county of Miami-Dade, Liberty City rather.
John, good morning to you.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. You know, a lot of people out there want to see us mess up again down here, and they're probably going to be disappointed, because so far, things look really, really good here in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County. In Broward County this morning, there were some long lines, but not the kind of lines that everybody expected, the crowd moving smoothly through in Hallendale, where we got some pictures first thing this morning of people voting.
A long, long ballot in Broward County, 11-pages long, but people are paying attention. They've read the ballot ahead of time, getting in and out of there smoothly. That was a big issue of concern in Broward, that those huge lines might be a problem. So far, although it's early not an issue.
Here at Theodore Crowder (ph) Elementary School, this is the elementary school, where there were terrible problems in the September 10th primary. They opened up. They had problems with the machines, closed down, didn't open again until 4:30 in the afternoon. This morning no problems, 1,210 people on the rolls here to vote, 150 through the first hour. Everything very, very smooth, Bill. The candidates expected to vote this morning. Jeb Bush for governor, voting down in Coral Gables, and Bill McBride, the Democratic challenger, up in Bona Saxa (ph), just north of Tampa. So, so far, Bill, everything going well -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hey, John, a bit of a surprise. You and I were talking yesterday afternoon that it could be a long line, a long wait, because, essentially, the ballots are long in Miami-Dade, they're long in Broward, but that's not your perception so far, is it?
ZARRELLA: Not so far. And there are so many people out here watching what's going on, so many additional workers, poll workers, thousands of extras here in Miami-Dade to make things go smoothly. That may be one issue. One thing that might be a concern, Bill, that we ought to watch later in the day are the numbers of people who are voting. Hopefully all the concern over these huge lines hasn't scared people away who are saying, forget about it, I'm not going to bother. That may be something interesting to watch as the numbers of people who actually go to the polls, expected 62 percent in Florida, huge numbers. I don't know that that's going to hold.
HEMMER: And you got to think, too, the early voting may have helped alleviate the crush as well. We shall see.
Thank you, John. John Zarrella watching that from Miami-Dade for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 5, 2002 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A Republican Governor has never been re-elected here in the Sunshine State. Jeb Bush hopes to change that today. His race against the Democratic challenger Bill McBride hotly contested, one of the most closely watched contests in the country. Now we also want to gauge today voters' moods as they head into the box here in Florida, and John Zarrella is watching that. He's in the county of Miami-Dade, Liberty City rather.
John, good morning to you.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. You know, a lot of people out there want to see us mess up again down here, and they're probably going to be disappointed, because so far, things look really, really good here in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County. In Broward County this morning, there were some long lines, but not the kind of lines that everybody expected, the crowd moving smoothly through in Hallendale, where we got some pictures first thing this morning of people voting.
A long, long ballot in Broward County, 11-pages long, but people are paying attention. They've read the ballot ahead of time, getting in and out of there smoothly. That was a big issue of concern in Broward, that those huge lines might be a problem. So far, although it's early not an issue.
Here at Theodore Crowder (ph) Elementary School, this is the elementary school, where there were terrible problems in the September 10th primary. They opened up. They had problems with the machines, closed down, didn't open again until 4:30 in the afternoon. This morning no problems, 1,210 people on the rolls here to vote, 150 through the first hour. Everything very, very smooth, Bill. The candidates expected to vote this morning. Jeb Bush for governor, voting down in Coral Gables, and Bill McBride, the Democratic challenger, up in Bona Saxa (ph), just north of Tampa. So, so far, Bill, everything going well -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hey, John, a bit of a surprise. You and I were talking yesterday afternoon that it could be a long line, a long wait, because, essentially, the ballots are long in Miami-Dade, they're long in Broward, but that's not your perception so far, is it?
ZARRELLA: Not so far. And there are so many people out here watching what's going on, so many additional workers, poll workers, thousands of extras here in Miami-Dade to make things go smoothly. That may be one issue. One thing that might be a concern, Bill, that we ought to watch later in the day are the numbers of people who are voting. Hopefully all the concern over these huge lines hasn't scared people away who are saying, forget about it, I'm not going to bother. That may be something interesting to watch as the numbers of people who actually go to the polls, expected 62 percent in Florida, huge numbers. I don't know that that's going to hold.
HEMMER: And you got to think, too, the early voting may have helped alleviate the crush as well. We shall see.
Thank you, John. John Zarrella watching that from Miami-Dade for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
