Battleground States: Florida

Reporters covering Florida as well as party officials and activists will discuss the state, which is one of the battlegrounds in this year’s presidential election. Guests will join the discussion via telephone and responded to audience telephone calls, faxes, and electronic mail.

Some of the discussion will center around what the major party candidates are doing to attract voters in the state and the issues being stressed, what regional areas and voting blocs of the state they’re focusing on, changes to voting technology in the state since 2000 and the overall effect of the 2000 election on this year’s contest.

Adam Smith, political reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, will talk by video uplink from Tampa about why Florida is considered a “battleground” state. Kurt Browning, Supervisor of Elections for Pasco County, Florida, will talk by telephone about the voting technology that will be used on November 2nd and how localities within the state plan to ensure that all votes ar close