Florida Still Producing Voting Mix-Ups
Special to the NNPA from the Westside Gazette
Arguments against paperless touch screen voting machines took on greater urgency earlier this month, following a disputed special election involving Florida House District 91, which extends along the coast from Boca Raton to Dania Beach.

Now many state election officials are left wondering if another election debacle rivaling the 2000 presidential election could be just around the corner.

In a shocking repeat of the March 2002 Wellington run-off election in which 78 voters supposedly failed to cast their ballots, a similar situation arose in early January when 137 voters were said to have cast blank ballots in that election race as well.

By a 12-vote margin – out of a total of 10,844 votes cast Fort Lauderdale-based political consultant Ellyn Bogdanoff narrowly squeaked by opponent Oliver Parker, Mayor of Lauderdale-by-the Sea.

According to state law, races as close as the Bogdanoff/Parker race, mandate a manual recount. The only problem is that paperless Sequoia touch screen voting machines leave no trail, making that impossible.

Parker contested Bogdanoff’s narrow victory, claiming the blank votes were actually floating somewhere out in cyberspace, never to be reclaimed, thereby rendering the voting equipment illegal and the election results non-binding

Over Parker’s objections, the Broward County elections canvassing board certified the election results. The Palm Beach County elections canvassing board followed suit.

Since then, a number of state and local politicians have begun taking actions to prevent the Bogdanoff/Parker race from becoming a harbinger of the upcoming 2004 presidential elections.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Boca Raton), a strong proponent of using paper printouts to supplement electronic voting machines, has filed a lawsuit in state court against Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood and Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore. In his suit, Wexler charged both election officials with abrogating their duties by not ensuring that every vote was accurately counted.

State Rep. Anne Gannon (D-Delray), is in the process of introducing legislation requiring electronic voting machines to be outfitted with a printer in order to verify each individual’s vote. In addition, she is examining ways that a printer might print out a duplicate copy for the voter to take with them.

County Commissioner Burt Aaronson said he would like to see the federal government step in and foot some of the bill for printers. In the government’s absence, Aaronson noted, it would be incumbent upon taxpayers to cover the cost of paper printers accompanying electronic voting machines regardless. “The only way that it’s not a worthwhile expenditure is if you don’t care whether you get an honest count.” he stated.

Not everyone is convinced that something positive will come out of the highly charged civic debate currently raging over this explosive issue, however. Expressing doubts, State Senate Minority Leader Ron Klein, (a strong advocate of requiring paper printouts), said he didn’t feel the Legislature was ready or willing “to do anything about it.”