Florida voting gets off to problem-free start Tuesday

JILL BARTON

Associated Press

 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Florida took a successful step away from its infamous role in the 2000 presidential election on Tuesday as primary voting appeared to get off to a relatively problem-free start.

Many voters across Florida have already tried out the state's new touchscreen voting machines, which allow voters to cast an electronic ballot by pressing buttons much like those on ATM machines.

The computerized machines replaced the state's infamous punchcard ballots, which produced the dimpled, hanging and pregnant chads at the heart of the 2000 presidential election controversy. The confusion over vote counting led to 36 days of recounts and legal wrangling which ultimately awarded George W. Bush the presidency.

"If they can figure out how to play 50 bingo cards at once, I think they all can handle this," said retiree Michael Thomas who voted on the new machines for the first time Tuesday. "It was easy enough."

Palm Beach elections supervisor Theresa LePore said the investment in new machines and education for poll workers and voters appears to have been successful.

"I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from voters," LePore said after making several stops at polls throughout the county. "Voters will say, 'Well, I don't understand what all the fuss is about.'"

That's not to say there weren't glitches elsewhere. In Clearwater, voting on touch-screen machines was twice interrupted at one polling place when the electricity went out. And in Polk County, a volunteer at one polling place mistakenly gave out the Democratic nomination ballot to about 12 non-party members who showed up to vote on the county's tax increase for indigent health care. The mistaken votes couldn't be retrieved.

But still, no problems approached the flaws of the 2000 election. LePore was criticized during then for the county's confusing ballot design, dubbed the butterfly ballot, which some voters said caused them to vote for conservative Pat Buchanan when they meant to vote for Democrat Al Gore

In recent election, voters in Palm Beach seemed to have gotten it right, while voters to the south faced new problems.

Gov. Jeb Bush suspended Broward elections supervisor Miriam Oliphant for misfeasance and neglect of duty, including opening polls late for the 2002 primary, never counting 258 absentee ballots and failing to maintain accurate voting rolls.

On Tuesday, though, Fort Lauderdale voter Eileen Hesler called her experience at the polls "extremely easy."

"It says if you want to vote in English or in Spanish. You press the button and vote who you want to vote for. Then you press a button to review what you've done. And vote," she said.

Despite the apparent ease of voting during Tuesday's primary election, criticisms arose a day earlier over when Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler sued state election supervisors alleging that the machines lack a paper trail needed for recounts.

He said voters need to be assured that every vote is counted, particularly in close races where a manual recount is required by law. Others question whether they are susceptible to errors and fraud and want a paper record to verify votes.

"We need everything and anything that will make people feel comfortable that their votes will be counted," said Palm Beach Commissioner Addie Greene. "I don't think the public has much confidence in the system the way it is now."

The Department of State has assured people the machines are accurate and notified elections supervisors last month that manual recounts don't have to include ballots from Florida's new touchscreen voting machines because there is no question about how voters intended to vote.

Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem said the paper receipts are unnecessary because the machines already can print out an audit at the end of an election day.

Clem, who is president of the Florida State Association of Elections Supervisors, also said security measures are in place to ensure that votes won't be tampered with or lost.

"Our machines don't have modems. They're not networked," Clem said. "Somebody would have to go into each polling place and go from machine to machine and tamper with them while the polling workers are there."

Previous punchcard ballots had to be reviewed by hand because voters who intended to vote for a candidate might not have punched their card accurately.

Other complaints from the past presidential election included claims that voters weren't allowed to cast ballots because they were mistaken for convicted felons, were omitted from voter rolls, didn't provide identification even though it wasn't necessary or didn't understand English.

But some voters - even Democrats who were the most angry after the 2000 loss - say Florida learned from its embarrassing role.

"I think the problems have been taken care of, and if there are new problems, I feel confident they will address those issues," said 62-year-old Barbara Korshin of West Palm Beach.