Topic: Florida
Lynann's photo
Mon 11/03/08 08:12 AM
Does it again!

Really makes you wonder about all the places your personal info might be. I bet the folks on these surveys never guessed it would be laying beside the road.

November 03, 2008
Election surveys found at junction of I-4, I-275

The intersection known for years as "malfunction junction" might have another notch on its belt.

Highway workers early Monday morning discovered hundreds of election-related questionnaires on the shoulder of the westbound I-4 ramp just before the entrance to southbound I-275 in Tampa.

About 4:15 a.m., documents scattered along the shoulder carried an alphabetical listing of Tampa residents, their party affiliations, age, sex, home address and sometimes phone numbers.

Each entry includes check boxes to mark whether each person supports John McCain or Barack Obama, whether they voted and whether they need a ride to the polls on Election Day.

"It was apparently boxes of surveys that fell off a truck," said Kris Carson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, adding that she had not seen the documents and was unsure what they were.

Carson said the papers were first spotted by a traffic camera. The next call went to a private firm that contracts with the state to clean debris from roads. Carson said that company, VMS, recovered nine large garbage bags full of the documents.

"It was a big mess," said Michael Newton, a foreman with VMS in Tampa, said in a phone interview. Newton said he was unsure what the documents were, and that the bagged documents were all picked up and taken to a VMS center in Tampa.

By 6 a.m., the documents had been retrieved from the road.

Carson said the bagged documents would be handed over to the office of Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson for inspection.

Jennifer Martin, a spokeswoman for Johnson's office, said she had not heard of the spill but would look into the situation.

Luis Perez, Times staff writer

no photo
Mon 11/03/08 08:32 AM
Another fine mess. mad