Vote tabulating machines pass test as absentee ballot count awaits  (FL)

JANE MUSGRAVE   Palm Beach Post    23 October 2008

Vote tabulating machines that malfunctioned during a test conducted as part of the problem-fraught recount of an August judicial race performed flawlessly Wednesday.

With a record number of absentee ballots to be cast in the Nov. 4 presidential election, the results brought smiles to the faces of election officials who have repeatedly said they don't want to be center stage in yet another election meltdown.
But they said they still don't know what caused the machines to misread ballots during a test conducted last month by attorneys representing Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Wennet.

Assistant County Administrator Brad Merriman said a variety of factors could have caused one machine to count votes on ballots that another machine rejected. The eight high-speed machines are used to count absentee ballots and in the event a recount is needed.

The roughly 102,700 ballots cast in the primary were sent through the machines multiple times before election officials finally determined that attorney William Abramson beat Wennet by 61 votes.

"Volume is always an issue with these machines," said Merriman, who was tapped to oversee the office after the first recount came up roughly 3,500 ballots short.

Poor maintenance also could have been an issue, he said.

Michelle Shafer, a spokeswoman for machine manufacturer Sequoia Voting Systems Inc., said annual maintenance was done in April.

Last week, in light of problems that occurred during the recount, Sequoia technicians examined each of the eight high-speed scanners. Some scanner heads and other parts were replaced, Merriman said.

The maintenance could have resolved whatever problems existed, he said.

Further, only one machine was tested before the primary. On Wednesday, all eight machines were tested and all produced identical results when asked to read 100 test ballots.

Merriman said he is expecting a report from Sequoia next week, including advice on maintenance that should be done while votes are being counted to keep the machines operating properly.

Even if no recount is needed as part of the Nov. 4 election, the machines will have to process at least 100,000 ballots, he said. As of Wednesday morning, 112,436 absentee ballots had been requested. Of those, 109,044 had been mailed out and 27,767 returned.

By Wednesday, the last day to request absentee ballots, he expects a total of at least 150,000 will have been requested.