Fewer machines may mean longer lines at polls
More poll workers may not offset a long ballot, high interest and new technology. Voters should expect a wait.
By MICHAEL SANDLER and DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
Published St. Petersburgh Times   October 26, 2004

 The record number of Tampa Bay voters expected to flood the polls on Election Day will find two significant changes:

Fewer machines, more poll workers.

That concerns some people who say a long ballot with complicated constitutional amendments, combined with new voters unfamiliar with voting technology, could mean long waits at the polls.

"I am worried if the lines are long, people will be discouraged," said Peter Wallace, who is leading the legal team for Democrat John Kerry in Pinellas County. "If long lines develop on Election Day, it runs the risk of people not exercising their right to vote."

Pinellas has 1,200 more poll workers than in 2000, a nearly 50 percent increase. Hillsborough has 700 more, a 25 percent increase, and Pasco has 450 more, a 25 percent increase.

Elections officials said they need more poll workers because they have more precincts. The touch screen machines also require a newly created position of machine manager.

But while elections officials in the three counties have added poll workers, they plan to have fewer machines.

In Hillsborough, elections officials will have one touch screen machine for every 242 registered voters. That's almost twice the number of voters per machine than in 2000.

Pinellas will have one for every 178 registered voters, 33 percent more voters per machine. Pasco will have one for every 193 voters, 21 percent more voters per machine.

Elections officials say they don't need as many machines, because the touch screen machines are quicker and easier to use than the punch card systems they replaced.

"You can go through it much more quickly," said Dan Nolan, chief of staff at the Hillsborough elections office. "The old machines, you had to get up there, line up the card, make sure all the chads were knocked off ..."

Pinellas estimates it will take an average voter about 51/2 minutes to cast a ballot.

But it took voters in Miami-Dade County an average of nine minutes to vote on touch screen machines last week, according to an unscientific study by the Miami Herald. Broward's shorter ballot took about eight minutes. Pinellas' ballot is about the same length as Miami-Dade's.

Pinellas Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark said her staff timed voters, too, and found it took them less time because her staff hands copies of constitutional amendments to voters while they wait in line. They also give them a card with the amendments and a pencil so they can mark their choice while they wait. Clark began doing this during the 2002 election.

"That may be one reason our average voting time is lower," Clark said. "It really had an impact in 2002."

Elections officials also say early voting will relieve pressure on Election Day.

"I think maybe 25 percent of our total will be early voting and absentee voting," Clark said.

Clark estimates a record turnout in Pinellas of more than 85 percent of the 590,989 registered voters.

"I just think the level of interest this year is so much higher than we have ever seen," Clark said. "Everywhere you go, people are talking about this election."

In 2000, 359,660 Pinellas voters cast ballots on 4,277 machines, or one machine for every 84 voters.

If Clark's projections are accurate, and 60 percent of registered voters cast ballots on Election Day, she will have one machine for every 107 voters.

Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson said it is misleading to compare the number of touch screen machines today to the punch card machines in 2000.

"The whole landscape has changed," Johnson said, adding that he is confident that he will have sufficient machines for Election Day.

Lawyers for the Kerry legal team were concerned about long lines for early voting, Wallace said. Election workers are doing their best but could use more machines, he said.

"The biggest bottleneck is the time it takes for someone to cast a complete ballot," Wallace said. "If I had any advice to offer the supervisor, in some locations more machines would have been helpful."

In Pinellas, machines cost $3,656.31 each, and it would have cost $3.5-million to have as many machines next week as in 2000.

Clark said price wasn't a factor in reducing the number of machines. She said her staff consulted with officials in Riverside County, Calif., where the more than 1-million registered voters used touch screen machines in 2000.

"They told us that it took their voters a lot less time to vote," Clark said.

George Jirotka, regional chairman for the Bush legal team in Pinellas and Pasco, said he's satisfied with what he's seen so far.

"It looks to me like they are pretty well prepared," Jirotka said. "We sort of had a dry run in 2002. We voted on touch screens. Sure, we had the minor glitches. But I think they are doing a fine job."

One point every elections supervisor makes: Expect lines on Election Day.

"I can't believe anybody would say there will not be lines," said Joan Brock, Clark's chief deputy. "That's not a bad thing. It shows people are voting."