Election officials in Florida said Thursday they will send new absentee ballots to voters in one of the state's most populous counties amid outcry over disappearance of thousands of ballots.
At issue were 58,000 ballots for absentee voters in Broward County given to the Postal Service on Oct. 7-8. Some voters have returned ballots, but others have called to complain that their forms have not arrived.
Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes told The Miami Herald that she expected to have to replace no more than 20, 000 of the original 58,000 sent out.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it investigated the case and found no criminal violation.
Florida was the center of a month-long controversy over the election result in 2000. A Supreme Court decision to stop a recount ended the disputed race and granted George W. Bush the presidency.
In a related development, the US Justice Department announced Thursday that it will send more than 1,000 federal poll watchers to 25 states to monitor the election.