Mistakes in voting plunge, state report says

By George Bennett

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Florida voters made far fewer errors in November than in the mistake-plagued 2000 election, a new report shows, with those who used paper ballots slightly more likely to record votes for president than those using electronic touch screens.

Whether by accident or choice, only 0.4 percent of Florida voters did not register a vote in the 2004 presidential race, compared with 2.9 percent in 2000.

The 2004 figures come from a report issued late Tuesday by Secretary of State Glenda Hood's office.

After 2000, when nearly 180,000 voters didn't record a vote for president in a race decided by 537 votes, Florida banned punch-card ballots and required all precincts to include equipment that warns voters if they have skipped a race and prevents them from invalidating their ballots by choosing too many candidates.

Legislators also ordered reports after every general election on how many votes went uncounted on each type of voting system.

Some highlights of the 2004 report:

? Of the 3.4 million Florida voters who used touch screens, 0.4 percent did not record a vote in the presidential race.

? Of the 2.9 million voters who marked paper ballots and fed them through optical scanners in their precincts, fewer than 0.3 percent did not record a vote for president.

? The highest statewide incidence of not voting in the presidential race, 0.6 percent, was among voters who cast paper absentee and provisional ballots. These voters didn't have precinct scanners to warn them if they skipped the race or ed too many candidates.

? In Palm Beach County, where 6.4 percent of punch-card ballots went uncounted in the 2000 presidential race, 0.4 percent of touch-screen voters didn't record a vote for president in 2004.

? Among the 92,843 Palm Beach County voters who cast paper absentee or provisional ballots, 0.9 percent went uncounted in the presidential race, either because voters skipped it or made errors.

? Although statewide turnout increased from 6.1 million in 2000 to 7.6 million in 2004, the number of blank and spoiled presidential ballots ped from about 179,855 to 31,453.

? In Martin County, fewer than 0.4 percent of touch-screen voters skipped the presidential race. Slightly more than 0.5 percent of absentee ballots didn't record a vote for president.

? St. Lucie County, which uses optical-scan ballots, 0.3 percent of ballots didn't have a valid vote for president. Among absentee voters, nearly 0.8 percent cast blank or spoiled ballots for president.