Groups seek study of August primary to gauge voting systems

By Bob Mahlburg
Tallahassee Bureau
Posted June 30 2004

TALLAHASSEE · A coalition of groups Tuesday called on Gov. Jeb Bush to order a statewide study of the August primary election to make sure voting systems work for November's presidential vote.

Florida is a key battleground state, and problems have been found with a type of electronic voting machines used by 11 of the state's 67 counties, including some in Central and South Florida.

"The buck stops with Gov. Jeb. Bush," said Sandy Wayland of the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition. "He can either be a leader in election reform, or he can stick his head in the sand and do nothing. We are calling on him to lead."

Jacob DePietre, a Bush spokesman, declined to say whether Bush would call for an audit, adding: "The governor is directing the [elections] agency to deal with it."

DePietre later released a statement that Bush has "every confidence" in efforts for a smooth election.

"We are not going to engage every accusation du jour from people whose goal it is to undermine voter confidence," he said.

Some problems have been found with touch-screen voting machines made by Election Systems & Software used in 11 counties, including Lake, Broward, Miami-Dade, Martin and Sumter. A Miami-Dade elections worker found the machines failed to record 162 votes in an October local election, according to a report to county officials.

Nicole de Lara, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Glenda Hood, also expressed confidence in voting equipment Tuesday and accused the group of trying to erode voter confidence. But Hood expressed concern in a May letter to Miami-Dade officials.

The election coalition, which includes the ACLU, NAACP and League of Women Voters, said that is "the tip of the iceberg."