State still hasn't resolved confusion over recounts

Palm Beach Post Editorial
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Webster's New World Dictionary defines manual as "having to do with a hand or the hands; without electrical or other power." What part of that definition does Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood fail to understand?

State law says that in extremely close elections, some ballots are subject to a manual recount. Ms. Hood and the Division of Elections say that all ballots are not created equal, and that some the kind cast on electronic touch-screen systems do not have to be recounted by hand.

Unless the Legislature follows Ms. Hood's administrative lead and fixes the law, the state has handed U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, and whatever group wants to join with him convincing grounds for a federal lawsuit. If touch-screen ballots used in 15 counties are not subject to a manual recount, but optical-scan ballots used in the rest of the state are, some voters are getting more protection than others. Palm Beach County has both types of ballots: touch screens for the majority of voters and optical-scan ballots for absentee voters. Under Ms. Hood's ruling, only those cast on paper can be recounted by hand.

Ms. Hood counters that there's no reason for manual recounts because touch screens eliminate over-votes when voters more than one candidate and offer no insight into the intent of voters who cast under-votes picking no candidate. Printing the image of under-votes results in a blank page. "It is impossible for a voter to make any stray marks on the ballot that might provide guidance to the canvassing board in determining a clear indication (of voter intent)," the Division of Elections has determined. The division has told counties gearing up for the March presidential primary and municipal elections to accept the word of the machine.

As Rep. Wexler sees it, that's not equal protection as envisioned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gore vs. Bush, the ruling that ended the presidential recount four years ago. "What the secretary of state is saying is that these machines are infallible," Rep. Wexler said. "Apparently, the electronic machines are the first machines devised by mankind in the history of the world that will never, ever make an error."

Rep. Wexler wants voters to check the machines against a paper record before leaving the voting booth. He wants that paper trail available for manual recounts. The state is putting itself in the position where its next move altering the law to reflect Ms. Hood's administrative rule will drain off any remaining confidence in the system.

Academic reports questioning the security of touch-screen systems, coupled with hard feelings from 2000, create a climate of mistrust. A paper trail introduces problems of handling and counting that could prove hauntingly familiar. But the state is forcing voters to demand assurances, and Ms. Hood is caught between them and the Legislature. Lawmakers need to help her. If they think that "trust our machines" will be enough, they're wrong.