The Resolution of Election Disputes: Legal Principles that Control Election Challenges 773 So.2d 519 773 So.2d 519, 25 Fla. L. Weekly S1123, 26 Fla. L. Weekly S6 (Cite as: 773 So.2d 519) voter's name address and signature voids the ballot. There is no invalidating directive for failure to include the voter registration identification number on a request for an absentee ballot.... The statutory requirement that the requester "must" disclose the nine items in Section 101.62(b) is simply not a definitive statement by the Legislature that requests which are missing the voter's registration number are illegal or void. In contrast, Section 101.68(2)(c)1., Florida Statutes provides that an absentee ballot shall be considered illegal if it does not include the signature and the last four digits of the social security number of the elector, as shown by the registration records, and either the subscription of a notary [or] the signature, printed name, address, voter identification number, and county of registration of one attesting witness, who is a registered voter in the state. .... The second issue for the court's determination is whether the Supervisor of Elections treated the representatives of *523 the Florida Republican Party differently than she treated representatives of other political parties to the extent that the integrity of the ballots or election was compromised. The plaintiffs allege that the Supervisor of Elections "treated the interests of non-Republican voters differently from those of Republican voters" because she informed the public that she would strictly enforce the requirements of Section 101.62, Florida Statutes, including the disclosure of the voter identification number, yet she honored the request of a Republican representative to obtain access to the incomplete request forms and add the voter identification numbers and did not notify the Democratic Party or any other group of this development. The plaintiffs argued at trial that this failure to notify others and invite others to take the same actions constituted illegal disparate treatment. However, the proof offered at trial failed to show that she treated other political parties differently than she treated the Republican party.... Unlike the Republican mail-out, the Democratic mail-out did not suffer from the general omission of the voter identification numbers. Therefore, there was no need for the Democrats to request access to the request forms to correct them, and in fact, there was no evidence that such a request was made by the Democratic party or any other political subdivision. Consequently, there was no evid- 292 Page 4 ence that the request of any representative, including any Democrat, was denied by the Supervisor. Thus, there was no adequate showing that there was disparate treatment of Republicans as opposed to any other individuals or groups with regard to the ballot request forms. There was no allegation or evidence that any of the absentee votes counted were not "cast by qualified, registered voters who were entitled to vote absentee and who did so in a proper manner." Boardman v. Esteva, 323 So.2d 259 at 269 (Fla.1975). The effect the irregularities complained of could have had on the election was the prevention of voting by certain requesters for absentee ballots whose requests lacked the voter identification number and who were unwilling or unable to go to their precinct to cast their vote on election day. There was no evidence that any absentee ballot requests were excluded or denied solely because they lacked the required voter registration identification number. ... The evidence presented in this case does not support a finding of fraud, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing in connection with any absentee ballots.... That the Supervisor's judgement may be seriously questioned, and that her actions invited public and legal scrutiny, do not rise to the level of a showing of fraud, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing. Jacobs v. The Seminole County Canvassing Board, No. 00-2816, 2000 WL 1793429 at *3-5 (Fla.2d Cir.Ct. Dec. 8, 2000). [4] We find competent, substantial evidence to support the trial court's conclusion that the evidence in this case does not support a finding of fraud, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing in connection with any absentee ballots. The record in this case is clear that the application forms in question contained the name, address, signature, and the last four digits of the social security number of the applicant. This information was sufficient to establish the qualifications of the applicant. [FN2] It was also stipulated by the parties that the application forms had already been signed by the applicant when the third parties corrected the omissions on the forms. Hence, we conclude that the trial court reached a proper conclusion guided by our prior case law. FN2. While there may be questions regarding the © 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works.