Broward voters fearful of new screens

Politics in the Broward elections office may have subsided, but many questions remain about touch-screen voting as thousands of voters head to the polls March 9.

BY ERIKA BOLSTAD

ebolstad@herald.com

Last year, Broward voters tiptoed to city elections, anxious about what they might find after well-publicized confusion and missteps at the elections office.

This year, there's more confidence in their step. But many people still have questions about modern, post-2000 elections, especially with touch-screen machines.

Broward's recent state House election, with its 12-vote margin and 134 blank ballots, only increased the skepticism and drew attention to what some see as the biggest problem with electronic voting: There's no way to recount the undervotes.

That contest, which sent Republican Ellyn Bogdanoff to the state House, also kept the spotlight on Broward County as the epicenter of problem voting and a continued easy punch line. The tiny special election has been the subject of national television news reports and magazine articles, and has been cited by lawmakers and advocacy groups in search of changes to state and federal election law.

There's little Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes can do about the undervotes, except hope there aren't too many. But she has been working to remedy the other problems of substance and image left by her predecessor, Miriam Oliphant.

''It does appear to be going more smoothly right now,'' said H.K. ''Petey'' Kaletta, president of the Broward League of Women Voters.

CONFIDENCE UP

Faith in the county's elections office has come a long way toward being restored since Gov. Jeb Bush suspended Oliphant and replaced her with Snipes in November, said Broward County Commissioner Ben Graber.

''We know she's a novice, but we also know she'll follow up on a problem and correct it,'' Graber said.

Even with new leadership, many voters say they lack confidence in the voting process, especially with electronic machines.

Voters in Broward have joined the clamor for what are known as voter-verifiable ballots a paper record of the votes cast on touch-screen equipment.

''They didn't go the last step,'' said Janet Friesecke of Fort Lauderdale, an advocate of the paper trail. ``It's so simple. They do it at the ATM. They do it at the grocery store.''

Broward County commissioners, led by Mayor Ilene Lieberman, have fought to add a paper record to the county's touch-screen machines, purchased in 2001 for $17.2 million.

NO PAPER

A paper trail would have illuminated what happened when 134 voters left the poll Jan. 6 without making a choice in District 91. Lieberman, a member of the county canvassing board that oversees voting, said it seems odd that anyone would go to the polls in a single-issue election and then choose not to vote.

Election officials worry that some voters may have left the polls without pressing the ''vote'' button. Poll workers may have canceled the votes, thinking they were completed. They've since been trained to cast the vote if a voter walks away without pushing the vote button.

Undervotes are a part of every election; some voters just don't cast votes in all races, said Gisela Salas, the deputy supervisor of elections. Typically, though, people pay attention to undervotes only in elections with close margins.

The paper tape now generated at the end of the day shows only totals for each machine. Those pushing better paper records advocate installing a tape similar to that on a cash register, which voters could see through a screen. If the tape accurately reflected their choices, they could finalize the vote. No paper receipt would leave the machine.

Salas downplayed the undervotes and emphasized her confidence in electronic voting.

''I understand what people are saying, that they want to see something visual,'' Salas said. But ``whatever you put into the system is what the system is going to give you out.''

TOUCHY SUBJECT

Legislation to introduce paper printouts has stalled nearly everywhere. The only large state with plans to add printers to its touch-screen machines is California. Florida lawmakers have expressed no interest in tackling the issue this legislative session.

Salas said that she and Snipes are confident their preparations are in place for March 9. Some 721,000 voters are eligible to vote in 15 city elections and for a Democratic presidential nominee.

''So far we're feeling good about it,'' Salas said. ``We think everything is falling in place.''

And she echoed the well-known sentiment of Theresa LePore, the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections at the center of the 2000 recount. Said Salas:

``We always pray for large margins.''