Florida Activists Urge Manual Recount Possibility
Tue Jul 27, 2004 05:24 PM ET
By Michael Peltier

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Political activists asked a judge on Tuesday to invalidate a Florida election rule barring manual recounts on touch-screen voting machines that will be used by half the state's registered voters.

In a case with echoes of the disputed 2000 presidential election, a coalition of groups is suing Florida's Department of State over a rule preventing local elections supervisors in 15 counties from setting up manual recount procedures for touch-screen voting systems put in place since then.

Republican President Bush beat Democratic rival Al Gore in the presidential election in 2000 after clinching the state of Florida by just 537 votes following a five-week political and legal battle over vote recounts.

The debacle, centered on arguments over results from punch card voting systems and eventually settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, led to a revamping of the state's voting system. Fifteen of Florida's 67 counties, including populous Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, opted for touch-screen technology.

Led by the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause and People for the American Way, critics argue the technology is fallible and machines should be programed to conduct manual recounts in extremely tight races.

The state division of elections has ruled that manual recounts of ballots will not be allowed on touch-screen machines.

VOTER CONFIDENCE

"Our concern here is voter confidence by assuring the voter that the election systems that are used in these 15 counties are accurate, reliable, re-countable and auditable," testified Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida, on Tuesday. "The administrative rule seems to bar supervisors of elections from being able to do that."

Election officials said Tuesday no such a record is needed for two reasons touch-screens eliminate the possibility of casting ballots for two candidates in the same race and the machines alert voters who skip a particular contest before accepting the completed ballot.

The machines used in Florida do not produce print-outs.

"You have presumptively established the intent of the voter at the time the vote is cast," said George Waas, an attorney representing the Department of State. "That is the salient purpose of touch-screen (voting.)"

Touch-screen voting systems have been criticized in other states that have revamped their voting systems since 2000 because of worries over the lack of a paper trail, and the possibility of hacking. Nevada said 10 days ago it would be the first U.S. state to use touch-screen voting machines equipped with printers.

In Florida, administrative Judge Susan Kirkland did not rule on Tuesday. Once a transcript of the hearing is filed, she will have 30 days to rule. Meanwhile, state primaries are scheduled for Aug. 31, ahead of Election Day on Nov. 2.