Junior Florida senator says he's worried about voting technology

BRENT KALLESTAD

Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson asked the federal government Monday to audit touchscreen voting machines that are to be used in 15 Florida counties in statewide elections next month and in November.

In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Democrat asked for an independent Department of Justice audit of the touchscreen machines.

"We need to act now while there's still time to ensure this fall's ballots will be counted accurately and fairly," he said.

"The public clearly has doubt that their votes are gonna be accurately recorded by these touch screen machines," he said.

Nelson also sent a letter to Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, asking her to reconsider an earlier decision rejecting a request to re-examine the voting technology being used in the 15 counties, including Florida's most populous.

One of the main complaints is that the state hasn't certified printers that can leave a paper trail of the voting. The other counties use paper ballots on which votes are penciled in and then read by a computer.

In a terse response, the Republican secretary of state suggested the Democratic senator no grandstand on the issue and take a firsthand look at the voting machines.

"I believe it is crucially important that our senior elected officials understand vital elections issues," Hood responded, noting Nelson has declined several offers from her to personally examine the equipment in question.

Hood and Gov. Jeb Bush have consistently stated their confidence in the new voting equipment.

Meanwhile, the Florida chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference called on Bush to replace Hood with a nonpartisan election chief and said the secretary of state seems determined to prevent blacks from voting by targeting felons.

Sevell Brown III, president of the SCLC's Florida chapter, said Bush should eliminate all obstacles to blacks' opportunity to vote.

Brown also said the state should provide "reliable paper backup" for all voting machines.

There were scores of complaints during the 2000 presidential election of blacks being harassed or intimidated in the area of their voting precincts.