Bush comments on Carter's Florida election statements

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Governor Jeb Bush says "conspiracy theories" about the state's voting machines are "constant haranguing of nonsense."

The governor says he's particularly disappointed in former President Jimmy Carter, who said this week that conditions for a fair election in Florida do NOT exist. In Monday's Washington Post, Carter wrote "the disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely."

Touchscreen machines were introduced in Florida after the 2000 election, when punch-cards were responsible for delaying the outcome of the race between George Bush and Al Gore. Carter says "some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida."

Most significantly, Carter says there are NO requirements that a nonpartisan electoral commission or official organize and conduct the electoral process. He says Secretary of State Katherine Harris was "highly partisan" in 2000 and her successor, Glenda Hood, has shown "the same strong bias."

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