Floridians still unsure all votes will count

A new poll showed John Kerry widening his lead over President Bush in Florida, while voters expressed worries about voting machines and the election process.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND GARY FINEOUT in the Miami Herald   13 August 2004

TALLAHASSEE - Nearly one-third of Florida voters have ''deep concerns'' about the new touch-screen voting machines and the state's elections process as a whole, according to a new survey that also shows negative feelings about President Bush are cresting to an all-time high.

The poll of 1,094 Florida registered voters by Quinnipiac University of Connecticut says Democrat John Kerry is leading Bush 49 percent to 42 percent. If independent candidate Ralph Nader were on the ballot, he would get about 4 percent of the vote. When Nader is included in the question, Kerry gets 47 percent to Bush's 41 percent.

This is the first major survey to measure attitudes about elections machinery after news reports detailing touch-screen software glitches, lost data and flaws with the now-discarded list identifying potential felons ineligible to vote.

The poll, conducted in English and Spanish, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CONFIDENCE LACKING

Only 21 percent of poll respondents said they were ''very confident'' that the touch-screen machines ''will solve the voting problems'' that occurred in 2000, characterized by a month's worth of acerbic partisanship and dangling chads. Another 43 percent said they were 'somewhat confident' while 30 percent said that they were ''not too confident'' or 'not confident at all' in touch-screen machines.

About 47 percent of people are ''very confident'' their vote will count. About 33 percent are somewhat confident, and 19 percent are either ''not too confident'' or ''not confident at all'' that their vote will count.

'I don't count the `somewhat confident' as a positive sign. There is deep concern out there about the system in Florida,'' said Clay F. Richards, pollster for the university in Hamden, Conn.

``You would think in the American system that you would be able to go in the voting booth without having any doubt about your vote counting.''

Nationally, news reports about the Democratic convention, the stalling economy and violence in Iraq have hurt Bush and modestly benefited Kerry.

RALLIES FOR BUSH

The poll, however, was done before the president and his younger brother held rallies in the Panhandle where they were greeted by thousands of cheering supporters.

NEGATIVE RATINGS

It shows Florida voters disapproving of the job Bush is doing 54-44 percent, compared to a 52-46 percent disapproval on June 29. Voters now believe Kerry would be far better handling healthcare and the economy, while Bush is more narrowly favored to prosecute the wars in Iraq and against terrorists.

The negative ratings have also started to rub off on the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The governor's favorability ratings fell since last month, with voters almost evenly split on whether they approve of the job he is doing.

The governor has become increasingly frustrated with news reports concerning the way his secretary of state has managed the elections' system. However, his own party recently released a flier casting doubt on touch-screen machines. It subsequently apologized for the flier.

''I'm not surprised, based on all the stuff I see in the papers,'' Gov. Bush said of the poll results. ``If you look at the facts, which I know doesn't really come into play as it relates to touch-screen voting, because if the facts were held out there then you find that the error rates are significantly lower than what the machines that were used in 2000.''

LACK OF TRUST

About 43 percent of likely absentee voters told Quinnipiac they ''don't trust the voting system.'' Forty-seven percent of likely absentee voters say they can't make it to the voting booth.

Gov. Bush downplayed the poll's significance Thursday.

''It's way too early to worrying about the near daily publication of polls,'' said Bush. ``No one is suggesting this isn't going to be a close race. It will be.''