Loophole keeps party primaries closed in Florida

TALLAHASSEE -- Voters in a Little Havana-based district will have two choices for state senator in the November ballot: the winner of the Republican primary and a blank line for a write-in candidate's name.

It's the same case in a Tampa Bay Senate district and in 10 House races across Florida. In both Senate races, only about two-fifths of all eligible voters will choose the person to represent the entire district in the Legislature.

``This is yet another rule that protects politicians from the people,'' said Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, a staunch critic of the so-called write-in loophole. ``It's like an East German election. You've got one name and then you've got a line.''

Florida's Constitution says that if all the candidates for an office are in the same party and face no opposition in the general election, then all registered voters will be allowed to vote in the primary. After that provision was adopted in 1998, both political parties found an easy way around it -- recruiting write-in candidates to run as general election opponents.

The practice is accepted by the Division of Elections, which in 2000 issued an opinion saying the constitutionally required opposition doesn't have to be ``viable or have a realistic chance of success.'' In 2007, a judge in Lake County upheld the loophole.

Ron Meyer, a Tallahassee lawyer who argued the Lake County case, said write-ins were ``never on the radar'' of the committee that proposed the constitutional changes: ``It was very clear that they didn't intend 'opposition' to be solely a write-in candidate.''

Besides a Senate race that pits Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, against lawyer and lobbyist Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, and a similar race in the Tampa area, there are 10 House seats with similar closed primaries.

Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, is running for reelection in a seat that stretches from Sarasota to south St. Petersburg and touches a corner of Hillsborough County. His Democratic primary against April Sheffield would have been open to all voters except for the entry of a Sarasota write-in candidate named Joseph Graser.

Graser, 32, works at a Sarasota Winn-Dixie and collects Social Security payments. He also holds the distinction of being the very last candidate to qualify for the ballot, slipping in seconds before the noon deadline on June 18.

Graser seemed rushed when talking to a reporter after he submitted his paperwork. He could not be reached for this article because the phone number he gave to the state is not working.

``I wasn't afraid of an open primary,'' said Rouson, who supports Charlie Crist's campaign for U.S. Senate and endorsed Jeb Bush for reelection bid in 2002. ``I believe that I might of done stronger had Republicans been allowed to vote in my race.''

Also on the list are three South Florida seats, including an open race to replace term-limited Rep. Marcello Llorente, R-Miami, and reelection bids for Democratic Reps. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed of Deerfield Beach and Hazelle Rogers of Lauderdale Lakes. All three primaries are closed and will essentially decide the outcome of the general election.

The practice isn't new. In 2006, two young write-in candidates were linked to a staffer of Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami. The friends closed primaries against Reps. Marcelo Llorente and J.C. Planas, who accused Rivera of trying to knock them off because of key votes against a proposal from then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

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