After repeated embarrassing glitches at the polls, elections officials in Miami-Dade County have recommended scrapping the county's $24.5 million electronic voting system in favor of paper ballots with optical scanners.

Prompting cries of political paybacks and betrayal, Gov. Jeb Bush has vetoed nearly $1.5 million for spinal-cord research -- even though he asked lawmakers six months ago to put the money into the state budget.

Bush's decision to veto the allocation, including $926,000 for the University of Miami, has confounded and outraged the head of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UM and fed speculation that the governor wanted revenge against Miami Sen. Alex Villalobos, a fellow Republican who championed the use of the money. ...

But on Thursday, Bush slashed the $1.42 million that legislators had placed in the budget for spinal-cord research at both UM and the University of Florida. Instead, the two schools will each receive $500,000, the lowest amount that UM has received for its spinal-cord research efforts since Bush became governor.

When asked why he thought Bush vetoed the money, Villalobos called it "inexplicable," but he agreed that it might be because he was one of three South Florida Republicans who helped scuttle Bush's plan to take the class-size amendment back to voters.

logic behind Gov. Bush's vetoes isn't clear, especially his reason for killing a relatively inexpensive program giving legal advice to poor people.

Was it was the governor's prominent disdain for lawyers who don't represent corporations? Was this collateral damage of his animosity toward the plaintiff's bar?

will attend the Organization of American States General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale next month, the White House announced Friday, while in federal court protesters won a permit to protest near the Broward County Convention Center during the gathering.

Bush slashed millions from the state budget destined for his home county, but denied he was retaliating against lawmakers who may have thwarted his agenda.

Attorney General Charlie Crist raised more than $1.1-million this week at his first Florida fundraiser in Tampa.

That's almost double the amount Gov. Jeb Bush raised when he began his successful run for governor in 1997, and it's just shy of the $1.2-million Bush raised in his first quarter of fundraising in 2001.

Crist is the early front-runner in what is expected to be a hard-fought Republican primary for governor in 2006. Bush is term-limited after eight years in office; he cannot seek re-election.

Arthur Anderson won election to the decidedly apolitical supervisor of elections job after one of the most politically charged campaigns in memory. Democrats who blamed former Supervisor Theresa LePore for Al Gore's defeat in 2000 energized Dr. Anderson's campaign. Now, Dr. Anderson is considering changes that could turn the office into a politically charged social-service agency. He — and voters — would be better off if he concentrated on elections.

Dr. Anderson has cut his budget request three times in a month but still is seeking a 30 percent increase that calls for too many new employees to take on tasks that don't fall under the office's purview. He told The Post that he saw the office as a "change agent" for society, educating voters on such issues as universal health care and the debate over The Scripps Research Institute. As supervisor of elections, however, he is not supposed to be the county's social-service czar. Nor is the office supposed to take sides on political issues. Is he planning, for example, to advocate a position on abortion? As Ms. LePore's tenure made clear, it's hard enough to teach poll workers, train voters on touch-screen systems and deliver noncontroversial elections results.

Bush downplayed his efforts to help the GOP win legislative seats in a state that favored Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry by more than 10 points.

"I'm trying to help Arnold Schwarzenegger," was Bush's testy response when asked whether he was helping the GOP. "Republicans, too. I hope Republicans are supporting him," he went on when pressed on whether the measure would help his party.

"He wants his power and the power of the Republican tier to remain unassailable (in Florida) but he wants the Democrats' check and balance on a Republican governor changed (in California)," said Dexter Douglass, chairman of commission in 1996 that recommended a bipartisan legislative apportionment commission. That proposed initiative failed to pass the commission by one vote.

The state would score a final win in its 15-year battle to prohibit oil drilling off Florida's shores under a $12.5 million deal to be considered by Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet next week.

The money would go to Coastal Petroleum, the Apalachicola-based company that bought the right to drill within a few miles of most of Florida's west coast in the late 1940s. Coastal has fought to be compensated — or allowed to drill — since 1990, the year the state banned offshore drilling.

another reason for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to doggedly pursue efforts to free the state from insane federal rules and regulations that govern spending on the mammoth program. The sooner those reforms are adopted statewide -- and not just limited to two counties, as state lawmakers recently decreed -- the better.

Miami-Dade County's election results in last fall's general election were called into question Wednesday by a voter advocacy group that cited a litany of problems, among them malfunctioning voting machines and errors by election personnel.

voter's rights group said Wednesday that its audit of November's presidential election ballots in Miami-Dade County showed counting problems during the voting and an unintentional but worrisome instance of ballot stuffing.

A report released by the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition said that during the elections there were "serious problems with policies and procedures that are supposed to protect the integrity of the ballot."

A group of high-powered Floridians who successfully derailed a proposed bullet train in 2004 could face hefty fines after a recent ruling by the Florida Elections Commission.

The commission found that enough evidence exists to charge the group Derail the Bullet Train with violating state laws in its attempts to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to repeal the bullet train amendment.

It is unclear who is named in the complaint and the elections commission's meetings are closed to the public. But the group's membership includes some of Florida's most powerful politicians.

Gov. Jeb Bush and Tom Gallagher, Florida's chief financial officer who recently announced his gubernatorial campaign, teamed up to kick off the group's campaign last year. Other supporters included Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach, who is preparing for a run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat held by U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson.

When the Clean Water Fund, a nonprofit environmental group in Florida, formally requested records for its statewide report on raw sewage spills, it received incomplete or inaccurate data or no data at all, according to a Fund spokesman. In too many instances, Florida counties lacked a mechanism to provide timely and easy access to information about spills and deliberate discharges. And state regulators didn't satisfy Fund researchers that the state can readily ascertain the accuracy of utilities' reports. In other words, if the public wants to know when and how much sewage is overflowing into its lakes and streams, good luck finding out.

Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River, has declined to say whether she supports Bush's controversial plan to create private investment accounts for Social Security recipients.

One of the nation's most powerful lobbying groups fighting President Bush's plan to revamp Social Security has locked a local congresswoman in its cross hairs, trying to force her to take a stance in the escalating debate. ...

But AARP Florida's targeting of Brown-Waite is more than a desire to push her off the fence: It's about sending a message to the one in four voters in her district 65 and older.

Other AARP sessions this week zero in on U.S. Reps. Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota, and Mark Foley, R-Jupiter. Their districts, respectively, are 29 percent and 26 percent senior citizens, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 1,300 pages of e-mails and documents received by The Associated Press, the effort the governor and Republican lawmakers made to keep Schiavo alive against the wishes of her husband reflects some hope, some frustration, but mostly a businesslike approach to finding a legal means to stop Michael Schiavo and the courts from letting the woman die.

Absent from the documents were signs that the efforts were based on political motives.

A self-described maverick lawmaker who fiercely opposed the introduction of slot-machine gambling into Florida entered the chief financial officer race Tuesday.

Portraying himself as a friend of Florida's hurricane victims, Republican Rep. Randy Johnson on Tuesday joined the 2006 race for chief financial officer.

Martinez has had a terrible start in Washington, fumbling an oil drilling deal and leading the misguided effort to intervene in the Terri Schiavo controversy. He missed an opportunity to redeem himself and demonstrate that his proclaimed interest in changing the atmosphere in Washington is more than empty rhetoric.

offers hope for the future of the institution. It's unfortunate that neither of our senators was a part of it.

Gov. Jeb Bush signed a series of bills that ease the financial burden on military personnel and their families.

is reviewing a nearly $100,000 contract given to a friend of former chairman Scott Maddox in his last days in the position.

Karen Thurman said the contract to provide event planning will "generally be the same," but will be signed by her this time and refine a more specific clause to end the contract within two months. She said the amount of the contract concerned her, but added that it will make it easier for the party to hold its largest annual fund-raiser next month.

Maddox gave the contract to The Big Production Inc. in late April as he prepared to leave the party position for a 2006 run for governor. ["Big Production is owned by Allie Merzer, a longtime Democratic consultant who was the party's spokeswoman during Maddox's two-year tenure. She resigned on May 15."] Thurman officially took over the position on May 7.

Two days after state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher launched a bid to become Florida's next governor, a political group he helped lead last year was accused of breaking election laws. ["C.C. Dockery, a Lakeland Republican and businessman who led the drive to get the bullet train amendment adopted by voters in 2000, filed complaints last year alleging that Derail the Bullet Train had not followed state laws requiring that the name and address of each petition gatherer be included on any petition form signed by voters."]

The Florida Elections Commission found that enough evidence exists to charge the group Derail the Bullet Train with violating state laws that cover organizations trying to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Both Gov. Jeb Bush and Gallagher kicked off the group's campaign last year to repeal the constitutional amendment that required taxpayers to pay for a bullet train that would crisscross Florida. Voters overwhelmingly agreed last fall to remove the bullet train amendment from the state Constitution.

Gov. Jeb Bush was in daily contact with congressional leaders in March as court efforts to intervene on behalf of Terri Schiavo faltered, according to e-mails obtained Monday from the governor's office.

The e-mails, released to The Palm Beach Post in response to a public records request, also show that state lawmakers persevered with legislative maneuvering to keep the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube intact, despite advice from Bush's top Schiavo attorney that such an effort was hopeless.

Throughout the first two weeks of March, Bush's executive staff exchanged dozens of e-mails with attorneys for Sen. Bill Frist and Rep. Tom DeLay, the respective majority leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, drafting and revising legislation that legal and political teams in Florida and Washington hoped would halt the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. ...

Also included in the e-mails was Brian Darling, Martinez's assistant who resigned last month over a memorandum he authored citing the Schiavo cause as one that would "excite" the conservative right-to-life base.

Other Republicans already in the chief financial officer's race include Sen. Charlie Clary, R-Destin, and Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland. Ross, however, has said he may drop out of the race rather than abandon his law practice.

Among Democrats considering the race are state Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, of Fort Lauderdale, Sen. Al Lawson, of Tallahassee, and Alex Sink, from the Tampa area, who is the wife of the Democrats' 2002 candidate for governor, Bill McBride.

Two of Gov. Jeb Bush's top South Florida fund-raisers have joined Chief Financial Official Tom Gallagher's campaign for governor.

Delray Beach developer Mark Guzzetta is Gallagher's state finance chairman and Boca Raton developer Ned Siegel was named vice chairman, the campaign announced Monday.

Making an early bid for attention among political leaders Monday, state Sen. Ron Klein was in Washington for meetings with Democratic Party officials, members of Congress and organized labor.

Klein, a Democrat from Boca Raton, hopes to challenge 13-term Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr., a Republican from Fort Lauderdale, in next year's election.

Atleast one bill adopted in the waning hours of the legislative session deserves a veto by Gov. Jeb Bush because of its careless wording and lack of need. Senate Bill 152 amends Florida's alimony law by giving judges authority to reduce or stop alimony if the recipient lives with another person in a conjugal or nonconjugal relationship.

So while this bill apparently was aimed at ex-spouses in romantic relationships, it also targets an ex-spouse who moves in with a friend or who takes in a roommate to save money. Under its broad wording, that person's former spouse could ask a judge to stop alimony -- a far too rigid standard.

Dr. James C. Dobson, head of the Focus on the Family, one of the conservative groups that had made an end to judicial filibusters a top priority, said the agreement "represents a complete bailout and a betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats."

The Rev. O'Neal Dozier, pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, is one of the Bush Administration's "go-to" African-Americans.

He's at the White House today, the second time this year, where he'll speak with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Africa, stop by Jim Towey's office to discuss faith-based initiatives and counsel an assistant attorney general on civil rights. ...

Dozier belongs to a growing trend of black ministers who promote conservative values on such issues as same-sex marriage and abortion. President Bush and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, made an effort to reach out to ministers like Dozier during the last presidential campaign, but Dozier's political relationship with the family began four years ago.

Jeb Bush appointed Dozier to the 17th Judicial Nominating Commission in 2001. Gov. Bush reappointed him in 2003 and spoke at Dozier's church on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that same year.

Mental health experts across the state are watching closely to see what will happen to impoverished psychiatric patients under the new system. Many states exempt mental health drugs from cost restrictions, but a handful don't. Florida lawmakers say the new policy will help rein in Medicaid costs, which swallow a quarter of the state budget. Prescription drugs alone cost the state more than $2.5-billion. ...

The new restrictions are part of Gov. Jeb Bush's larger plan to redesign Medicaid into a managed care program run by HMOs and other private health networks. Lawmakers approved pilot projects this year to study the impacts of such a transformation. ...

Florida's system is anything but comprehensive, according to the council overseeing it. The Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation, created by the Legislature two years ago, calls the system extremely "fragmented." ...

Florida ranks 47th in the nation for per-capita mental health spending, according to NAMI.

The Democrats have pretty much shunned Duncan.

Some Democratic legislators have even endorsed Coley - just to finish her husband's term, not for future elections.

Democrats say privately that raises for state workers and other Big Bend issues might have suffered during the legislative session if the local delegation had angered House Speaker Allan Bense, a close friend of the Coleys, by fielding a strong candidate.

Others wonder whether conceding a district to the GOP - which had held the seat since 1998 - is smart for a party that needs the rural counties and small towns of North Florida if it's ever to rebuild statewide strength.

Bush was helping Arnold Schwarzenegger raise money in Florida this weekend for initiatives that take a broom to some of California's political cobwebs. One of them calls for a nonpartisan commission of retired judges to redistrict the Legislature. That would put an end to gerrymandering schemes that have made California's elections as pointless as, say, Florida's.

But as nearly everyone knows, Bush has opposed any such reform here, where his political party is the one waxing fat on rigged districts. Bush was hoping, in fact, to sign legislation that would have crippled initiative campaigns such as the drive led by Common Cause to abolish gerrymandering in Florida.

In 592 days, Florida gets a new governor.

Just thinking about that will put you in a good mood. Consider the possibility -- a governor who wants to help not only businesses, but also citizens. A governor who would save the state's natural beauty, not pave it. A governor who wants to fill the Capitol with good public servants, not empty out government buildings.

Don't get me wrong. Gov. Jeb Bush isn't all bad. He's bright, witty and dedicated. But Bush runs state government as though it's a conservative think tank, every action taken to comply with a hide-bound Republican ideology.

He breaks a long-standing Florida tradition of governors more concerned

Tom Gallagher backed a tax increase to build prisons, supported abortion rights and opposed tuition vouchers the last time he ran for the Republican nomination for governor. Apparently a lot has changed since 1994. Gallagher kicked off his campaign for the 2006 GOP nomination this week by declaring he favors more tax cuts, opposes abortion rights and supports expanding vouchers. Politicians often evolve over time, but this is a metamorphosis.

Gallagher's makeover says a lot about the transformation of the Florida Republican Party over the last decade. Led by Gov. Jeb Bush, conservatives now dominate the party and marginalize moderates. Social issues that were own the list of priorities have become litmus tests, which is why Gallagher spoke at a Terri Schiavo rally and has embraced an unneeded constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Assistant State Attorney James Martz filed court papers Friday asking a judge to return Rush Limbaugh's medical records after appellate rulings upheld the legality of the seizures.

Prosecutors want to use the medical records in pursuing a criminal investigation into allegations that the Palm Beach resident illegally stocked up on prescription painkillers. Limbaugh, 54, maintains his innocence.

A court hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. Monday in front of Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Winikoff.

Though Gov. Bush takes credit for the rising scores, the FCAT wasn't his idea. It was in the works for a decade before he became governor. Gov. Bush then imposed grades, shame and punishment. Those factors motivated districts to channel resources to needy schools. But there were less destructive ways to achieve the same result. Providing adequate budgets would have helped — and still would. Even as districts sent more teachers to low-performing schools, they could not afford to reduce classes in other areas because Tallahassee hasn't paid for the class-size amendment.

Too many students still need more. Statewide, 33 percent of third-graders scored below grade level in 2005, down just 1 percentage point from last year. Also striking is that 60 percent of the 17,446 students who repeated the third grade after failing last year's FCAT still didn't score on grade level. That is disappointing evidence that Gov. Bush and the Education Department implemented a pass-or-repeat policy before developing an effective plan to teach students who didn't make it to fourth grade. Chronically low high-school scores reflect an inability to find solutions and indicate that the pass-or-don't-graduate policy should have been phased in over more time.

The state should wonder whether some of the 40 percent of third-graders who perform better the second time around might have scored well enough to pass the FCAT if they'd been allowed to take the test in May instead of March. The goal should be to test all students later — it's supposed to measure a year's worth of teaching, after all — but it could be particularly helpful in schools where students have struggled.

Gov. Bush's fixation on school grades and stingy budgets heightens the worst aspects of high-stakes tests, in that a well-rounded education goes by the wayside.

got a glimpse of two candidates for governor Saturday night who promised to bring the party back to its past glory when Florida Democrats ruled the state for more than 100 years.

Democrats see a glimmer of hope in the fact that Gov. Jeb Bush, who helped end the Democrats' dominance, will not be on the ticket next year because by law he cannot seek a third term. But without an established party leader, Democrats are shopping for a candidate who might be the state's next governor.

Two candidates, state Sen. Rod Smith of Gainesville and former state party Chairman Scott Maddox spoke to more than 400 county Democrats at their annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.