Tribune editorial: Senator concerned about voting

July 28, 2004

Florida's U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson last week wrote letters to Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft asking for an independent audit of touch-screen voting machines being used in some of the state's counties.

According to Nelson, a study of voting from the March presidential primary found a much greater number of undervotes or "no votes recorded" in counties that use the touch-screen machines than counties using other voting equipment.

"I'd like to know why voters in touch-screen counties are eight times more likely than the rest of the state to leave the voting booth without casting a ballot, especially when there's only one race on the ticket," Nelson said "It's a troubling statistic and one that may reveal a greater problem exists."

Fifteen of the state's 67 counties now use touch-screen machines. St. Lucie is not among them.

Nelson has asked Ashcroft to intervene because the 15 counties contain about 54 percent of the state's registered black voters and they could be disproportionately denied their voting rights in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Nelson has been an outspoken critic of touch-screen machines and has repeatedly questioned their reliability. Secretary Hood, however, has expressed faith in the machines and their technology.

In his letter last week to Hood, Nelson said, "As a United States senator, elected by the citizens of Florida to serve as their representative, I believe it is my duty to protect their right to vote and ensure their continued confidence and participation in the electoral process. Floridians expect to have their votes accurately and fairly counted. The undervotes that occurred earlier this year in the relatively small presidential preference primary threaten to undermine voter confidence in the reliability of the voting machines scheduled for use in the November election."

In his letter to Ashcroft, he said, "The election debacle of four years ago is fresh in the minds of Floridians and all Americans. The refusal to take every step to audit the accuracy of the new voting machines not only erodes voter confidence but also could call into question the results of this November's election."

We share Nelson's concerns. Surely the state doesn't want to ever see again the kinds of problems experienced in the 2000 presidential election. If Nelson is denied the audit, we greatly hope his concerns do not become reality.