Election officials talk about new equipment
Angela Fail   PensacolaNewsJournal   16 October 2005

New voting equipment and mail-in ballots were the prominent concerns Saturday at a League of Women Voters' public forum.

More than 30 members, both men and women, attended the forum at Pensacola Junior College's Baroco Auditorium.

David Stafford, Escambia County supervisor of elections, and Ann Bodenstein, Santa Rosa County supervisor of elections, spoke about recent and upcoming changes to voting practices in the state and in the two-county area.

Stafford described a new voting machine the 110 iVotronic touch-screen system that will blend with the existing optical-scan voting system beginning with the local option sales tax special election on March 7.

He said the machine complies with new state and federal mandates. It also features a software program that tabulates election results.

"We're committed to making the process as smooth as possible," Stafford said. "The most important thing: If you don't want to use the touch screen, you won't have to."

Bodenstein addressed voter concerns with the new machines as well as with mail-in ballots. She also shared several stories about individuals who went to great lengths to claim their voting rights. She recalled one voter who had a pilot friend fly an absentee ballot from Virginia Beach, Va., to Santa Rosa County to make sure it arrived in time.

"There is a lot of fear and confusion when change is made to our voting system," she said. "But I hope, in light of all of these changes, we never forget the things voters do to vote."