Incoming elections chief eyes scanners

By Mary McLachlin

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, November 04, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH ? When Arthur Anderson takes over as supervisor of elections in January, he wants to explore trading in Palm Beach County's $14 million electronic touch-screen voting system for an optical scanner system, he said Wednesday.

Optical scanners read paper ballots and thus leave a "trail" of votes that can be recounted in close elections. Touch-screen machines currently record only summaries of the votes cast.
  

"I will consider adding printers (to the touch-screen machines)," Anderson said, "but I want to put back on the table the option of using optical scanning equipment."

He said he met recently with Tracey Graham, president, and other officials of Sequoia Voting Systems, which makes the touch-screen machines and software as well as optical scanner voting equipment.

"I told her I wanted to be able to pursue my options," Anderson said. "She told me they could provide that type of (optical scanner) system."

Sequoia representatives couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Anderson defeated incumbent Supervisor Theresa LePore in August with the backing of U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, and the Democratic party, which blamed LePore for the November 2000 election meltdown. Providing a paper trail for verification and recounting of votes was a major issue in the campaign.

Wexler has sued LePore and Secretary of State Glenda Hood to force Palm Beach County to use paper ballots or add touch-screen printers, which have yet to be certified by the state. He has lost in both state and federal courts.

Fifteen Florida counties switched to touch-screen voting machines after 2000. Wexler said Wednesday he has come to the conclusion that optical scanners, used by the other 52 counties, would be best for the whole state.

"From the statistics provided by the secretary of state and by surveys done by South Florida newspapers, the electronic machines are six times more likely to lose votes than are the optical scan machines," Wexler said. "They are more accurate, cheaper to operate and provide the ability to do a manual recount. And they are certified in Florida."

Anderson said he intends to set up a technical advisory committee to study the two systems and make recommendations. He said he believes the county could recover much of its $14 million investment by making a deal with Sequoia to exchange the 4,720 touch-screen machines for optical scanners, which he said are less expensive to buy, maintain and replace.

Anderson may have a hard time persuading the county commission, which must approve the elections office budget, to abandon the two-year-old computerized voting system that replaced punch cards. County commissioners have approved adding printers to the touch screens when they get state certification, though LePore maintains they aren't necessary.

Chairman Karen Marcus said such a change would be unnecessary and a waste of money.

"I'm not going to break even on used equipment," Marcus said during a Palm Beach County Canvassing Board break from counting absentee ballots. "And the length of time to count optical scan versus what we're doing now is double. Besides, this election showed how well the equipment worked."

Commissioner Burt Aaronson said he's willing to listen to Anderson's ideas, but wants to see an analysis of how the electronic system performed Tuesday. He still leans toward providing a paper trail by adding printers.

"I'm more inclined to do that, unless somebody can prove to me there's something better out there that's more efficient," Aaronson said. "I have to find out what's in his mind. All I'm looking for, for future elections, is a paper trail."

Commissioner Addie Greene agreed, saying she hoped Anderson wasn't thinking of switching systems anytime soon.

"I hope we have an opportunity to sit down and discuss this with him," she said, "especially the cost, when we have Scripps right on our tails." The county has agreed to spend $140 million to build a headquarters and laboratories for The Scripps Research Institute, plus investing hundreds of millions more for a research park.

Greene said an elderly voter at one precinct on Tuesday wanted to know where the "curtain" was for her voting machine, recalling the walk-in machines hung with privacy curtains once used in Florida and still used in some states.

"We've got to educate them first and teach them how to use the ones we have," she said. "Let's not be changing equipment on them."