Carey-Shuler calls for immediate improvements in the Miami-Dade election department

BY CHARLES RABIN

Miami Herald

Miami-Dade Commission Chairwoman Barbara Carey-Shuler sent a strongly-worded memo to County Manager George Burgess this week, calling the county's election department ''the laughingstock of the nation,'' and telling him to address the problems by Aug. 16 two weeks before the primary election.

''At this point, with less than 30 days before the 2004 primary, I find it unacceptable that our ability to conduct a proper election is being questioned locally and nationwide,'' Carey-Shuler wrote.

She listed four steps she wants by Aug. 16:

• New procedures to prevent loss or misplacement of data.

• An analysis of the audit reports from the touch-screen machines.

• A plan to inform voters whether they can use paper and/or provisional ballots.

• A report on the feasibility of conducting ''parallel testing'' on election day that verifies whether votes that are cast are counted.

''In addition, I am calling for a complete and independent assessment of our electoral process to be conducted immediately by the Audit and Management Department and the Office of Inspector General,'' Carey-Shuler said.