Federal judge to rule on ballot standoff

By JAMES MILLER   Daytona News-Journal    July 16, 2005

ORLANDO An attorney representing blind voters compared Volusia County's refusal to buy touch-screen machines to the Alabama governor who tried in 1963 to keep black students out of an all-white school.

After a hearing Friday at the federal district court in Orlando, attorney Daniel Goldstein said Volusia's position reminded him of "George Wallace in the doorway of the University of Alabama saying, 'I don't care what this democracy has decided with respect to how this balance was struck. I stand here in the way of this law.' "

Volusia officials, though, see themselves protecting democracy by opposing machines they fear are vulnerable to undetectable breakdown or fraud.

After hearing the arguments Friday, Judge John Antoon II said he would issue a ruling soon.

The National Federation of the Blind sued almost two weeks ago to force Volusia County officials to provide 210 disabled-accessible voting machines to meet a July 1 state deadline. The County Council had rejected the only state-certified machines because they do not use paper ballots.

Only touch screens have been deemed accessible by the state, but opponents want something with a paper ballot or receipt that can be recounted later if necessary.

The council twice voted narrowly against the touch screens, which would have been paid for with federal money and used alongside the current paper-ballot system.

Some council members have expressed interest in a ballot-marking machine meant for voters with disabilities, but that machine isn't yet certified for use in Florida.

On Friday, David Kornreich, the county's lead attorney, argued that Volusia has until a federal deadline of Jan. 1 to buy disabled-accessible equipment. By then, county officials hope alternatives to touch screens will have been certified.

Goldstein, representing the federation, retorted that a top division of elections official, the state attorney general, and Volusia County Attorney Dan Eckert had acknowledged the earlier state deadline.

On June 29, Eckert told the county it had no "legally available alternative" to the touch screens. He recommended outside counsel partly because the county might need to argue that he was wrong, he has said.

Goldstein said the Americans with Disabilities Act requires the county to have facilities accessible to disabled voters regardless of the deadline.

Afterward, Councilman Art Giles pointed out that one local disability-community organization the Handicapped Adults of Volusia County has supported the council's position.

"For folks that think we don't care about the handicapped, period, that's wrong," said Giles, who was one of four council members to oppose the machines, and attended the hearing. "All we're wanting to do is not sacrifice everybody's vote for some."