Have a query? You can phone voter hot line

A central, statewide hot line is now ready to answer voters' questions about Election Day issues.

BY ERIKA BOLSTAD

ebolstad@herald.com

TALLAHASSEE - Secretary of State Glenda Hood opened a new voter hot line Friday for Florida voters who have questions about registering to vote, where to vote and other election-related issues.

The hot line will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day through the November presidential election.

The toll free number is 866-308-6739. For the hearing-impaired, the number is 1-800-955-8771.

Tuesday, when many voters go to the polls to elect city leaders across Florida, the hot line will be open to callers from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

''We're hoping it's boringly slow,'' said Ed Kast, director of the Division of Elections.

Among the first callers was a voter who wanted to know what to do about losing her voter registration card; most calls like that will be referred to local supervisors of elections, Hood said.

The hot line is a part of Hood's ongoing voter education efforts, launched in part to quiet concerns about touch-screen voting machines and restore confidence in voters who lost faith in elections after the 2000 presidential recount.

But just a few hours after Hood introduced the hot line, critics of touch-screen voting machines gathered on the steps of the Old Capitol to demand paper records of the votes cast on electronic equipment.

Activists with www.TrueMajority.com called on state lawmakers to approve legislation authorizing voter-verified paper ballots paper records that voters could look at before they cast their ballots.

''In Florida, votes have been lost and there's no longer the ability to have a recount,'' said Bill Faulkner, a Democratic activist from Escambia County.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said he will continue to fight for a paper trail of ballots. Wexler, a Democrat from Boca Raton, lost a lawsuit last month when he asked the state to order paper printouts of

ballots cast on electronic voting machines. Wexler said Friday he will file a similar federal suit next week.

Hood emphasized she is comfortable with the performance and track record of the electronic equipment and Florida's election supervisors.

''They're ready for voters to go to the polls,'' Hood said. ``I want to emphasize my confidence that Election Day will run smoothly across Florida.''