Residents protest voting that leaves no paper trail
About 60 turned out for a demonstration against Volusia's plan to buy touch-screen machines.  
By Kevin Connolly | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 20, 2005

DELAND Julie Powell draped herself in green fabric and donned a plush "crown" as Lady Liberty for a protest Thursday against paperless voting machines.

Others adorned themselves with pieces of toilet paper and carried signs bearing such messages as: "Without the paper, all you have is gas." Some held placards declaring: "Paper not vapor."

About 60 people turned out for the demonstration in downtown DeLand against the county's expected purchase of about 210 touch-screen, paperless voting machines from Diebold Election Systems.

Powell, 24, of New Smyrna Beach said she hoped her get-up would help draw attention to the coalition's message that nothing short of paper ballots is acceptable.

"Well, we're actually hoping to get the attention of our county councilmen and show them that we want our voter verifiable paper trail because we believe that's the most important thing towards making votes count," Powell said in front of the county's historic courthouse.

County Council members, meeting nearby Thursday on the second floor of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, have heard the concerns of paperless voting foes during previous meetings held during the last few months.

And, in some cases, council members share protesters' concerns about buying devices that do not produce paper ballots that can be double-checked in the event of recounts or close elections.

But, as council members said during a key meeting last month, they simply have no choice because of new laws that require them to provide disability-accessible voting devices for elections after July 1.

Touch-screens, which can be equipped with "audio ballots" for visually disabled voters, are the only devices certified by the state for people with disabilities to vote independently as required by the new laws.

Election Supervisor Ann McFall's plan is to retain the existing optical-scan machines, which use paper ballots, and supplement the system with the touch-screens.

She is scheduled to bring a contract to County Council members June 2 to approve the grant-funded purchase agreement, expected to cost about $1 million, for the touch-screens and related equipment and software.

McFall has said the county earmarked another $100,000 for add-on printers for the touch-screens as soon as Diebold makes them available, and they are certified for use in Florida.

McFall said she only had one problem with the protesters. About five of them stood in a narrow entranceway at the Elections Department for about a half-hour until they were asked to leave. "So they left," she said.

Representatives from about 20 organizations including Florida Fair Elections Coalition took part in Thursday's event, dubbed Save America's Verified Elections, said event spokesman Jack Wrightington, a retired teacher from Edgewater.

He said protesters will return in two weeks in hopes of derailing the contract for touch-screens during the June 2 meeting.

"It's important because the ability to be sure that your vote was counted is the basis of our democracy," he said. "The Diebold machines don't permit that because they don't leave a paper trail."