Nelson: Vote machines in doubt

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson joined critics of new touch-screen voting machines by appealing for an independent review of the devices.

BY GARY FINEOUT

TALLAHASSEE - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, seizing upon recent news reports questioning the accuracy of touch-screen voting machines, joined those asking for an independent statewide review to make sure the machines will work properly on Election Day.

The Melbourne Democrat sent letters on Monday to both U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood asking for an audit of the voting systems that will be in place in 15 Florida counties, including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade.

Nelson's request follows a similar one made several weeks ago by the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition that was quickly turned down by Hood.

But Nelson cited published reports that showed a much higher level of undervotes where a voter makes no choice in a particular race in counties that use touch-screen machines versus those counties that use older scanning machines.

''There has been sufficiently new information that has come up that casts doubt on the accuracy of the recording of votes,'' said Nelson, who was in his Tallahassee office Monday. ``The discrepancy between two kinds of machines raises a serious question: Is there some miscalculation, is there some chink in the recording device of these electronic voting machines?''

Nelson said he sent a letter to Ashcroft because any problems with touch-screen machines would greatly affect black voters more than half of black voters reside in counties using the new touch-screen machines and could be a potential violation of federal civil rights laws passed in the 1960s.

Hood responded quickly on Monday, sending Nelson a letter saying she was willing to have experts and elections supervisors demonstrate the touch-screen machines to the senator, but that ``I am disappointed that you have declined these offers to date.''

Hood's letter did not address Nelson's request for an independent statewide audit.

The Justice Department on Monday did not respond to a request for comment on Nelson's letter.

Gov. Jeb Bush, who appointed Hood to her job, said earlier this month that those who repeatedly raise questions about the touch-screen machines were doing it to motivate their voters in the upcoming presidential election, where Florida will once again be a battleground state.

''It should be discounted deeply because it is purely politics,'' Bush said at the time.

Nelson said Monday he had talked with representatives of the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John Kerry about voting issues but that he had not discussed his plan to send letters to Ashcroft and Hood. Nelson said his push for the audit was to ensure credibility in the touch-screen voting systems and not a move to motivate Democratic voters.