Group accepts rare offer to monitor domestic election; Miami is site.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

MIAMI _ Allen Weinstein is an old hand at giving out grades.

For decades, the professor taught U.S. history at prestigious colleges and then founded a Washington group that monitors foreign elections.

But Weinstein and his Center for Democracy have never issued a report card on an election in the United States.

The center's first will be given to Miami-Dade County, which flunked its past two major elections. On Tuesday, Weinstein's nonpartisan team will grade the county's general election, with an eye on preparedness, technical know-how and voter access to the polls.

"There are no mystical secrets to election monitoring," said Weinstein, who canceled a promotional tour for his new book, "The Story of America," to accept the rare offer to monitor a domestic election. "We'll call it as we see it."

The county, despite opposition from a bloc of Cuban-American commissioners sensitive about the stigma of hiring an outside elections monitor, is paying Weinstein's group $92,188. That money will go to the center's 20-member team, which will issue reports before and after the election.

On Election Day, Weinstein said his team members would zero in on past problem precincts that failed to open on time for the Sept. 10 primary. Asked how his team would be able to cover 553 polls, Weinstein said, "We don't try to be all eyes and ears. We hope people will be calling us if they see or hear anything. This place will be cluttered with other election observers."