US Postal Service investigators on Wednesday were trying to find thousands of absentee ballots, which should have been delivered to voters in one of Florida’s most populous counties, officials said. The issue evoked memories of the polling problems that bedeviled the Florida election in 2000 and which the state has been trying to address before next Tuesday’s presidential election, which is again expected to be a very tight race.Broward deputy supervisor of elections Gisela Salas said 60,000 absentee ballots, accounting for just over 5 per cent of the electorate in the county north of Miami, were sent out between October 7 and 8 to voters who would not be in town on election day. While some had begun to be delivered, her office had been inundated with calls from anxious voters who still had not received their ballots. ‘‘It’s really inexplicable at this point in time and the matter is under investigation by law enforcement,’’ Salas said, adding, ‘‘It was basically our first major drop of the absentee ballots.’’Teresa Kerry makes waves breaking rulesYARDLEY, PASADENA: Under the unwritten rules of US election politics, candidates and campaigns never publicly doubt they will win. Not so with Teresa Heinz Kerry, who to her detractors’ delight and her supporters’ chagrin keeps making headlines by breaking the rules.‘‘If John gets there,’’ she said at a recent campaign event for her husband, the Democratic challenger to President George W. Bush, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.She was interrupted by shouts of ‘‘When! When!’’‘‘You can say ‘when’. I’m going to say ‘if,’’’ Heinz Kerry said. ‘‘I’m superstitious.’’ Heinz Kerry’s penchant for pricey Hermes scarves and Jimmy Choo shoes turns off plenty of voters. Nevertheless, Heinz Kerry has come a long way from the days when staffers would joke darkly about her speeches that talked at length about her late husband, Republican Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania, and barely mentioned Kerry.Florida race: Terror suspect dominatesMIAMI: The hotly-contested race to fill Florida’s open US Senate seat has been dominated by someone who is not running, an imprisoned former professor awaiting trial on charges of raising funds for Palestinian suicide bombers. The race for the seat held by retiring Democratic Senator Bob Graham is one of a handful that could determine whether the Republicans keep their 51-seat lead in the 100-member Senate. Democratic former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor and former Bush administration housing secretary Mel Martinez have been dead even in polls. But the raging debate has been over who could best safeguard America. It so happens that Al-Arian was a professor at Florida State University in Tampa while Castor was the school President. —Reuters
