When playwright Tom Stoppard said "It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting," he had no idea how his words would resonate in Florida and across the nation almost three decades later.

Counts, recounts, canvassing boards and lawsuits took center stage after the 2000 presidential election. As a result, Election Day 2004 is sure to be one of the most scrutinized ever.

And now, with the advent of electronic ballots for more than half of Florida's voting populace, a new controversy has surfaced - the security and verifiability of votes cast using machines that leave no paper trail.

A divided electorate

Elections officials always fear a close election, but 2004 promises to be just that. Florida remains the most partisan of the competitive large states in the nation, with its 9.4 million registered voters evenly divided as of Sept. 30 with 42 percent Democrats, 39 percent Republicans, 17 percent with no party affiliation and 3 percent minor parties.

Manufacturers of the two touch-screen systems in use in Florida - Sequoia and Election Systems and Software - contend their systems are auditable in a recount and secure from hackers.

But a recent study casting doubt on a Diebold touch-screen system led some to call for printed receipts of each ballot.

The study, by Avi Rubin, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, concluded that the system software had flaws that could allow someone to cast multiple votes for one candidate.

North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold contends the research was based on old computer code. The company said the study also didn't take into account how elections are run in a closed environment with no Internet access. Vendors point out that their machines store votes and audit trails in redundant areas within the machines to deter fraud.

"They looked at incomplete and outdated code and did not apply it to a real-world situation that has all the checks and balances of a true election process," Diebold spokesman David Bear said.

Rubin's study was somewhat discredited after it was revealed that he was a member of an inactive advisory board for a Diebold rival and held stock options with the company.

Security doubts intensify

But doubts about the security of electronic voting intensified after a memo from Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell surfaced, inviting George W. Bush supporters to a fund-raiser.

"I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," O'Dell wrote.

O'Dell - who has vowed to keep a lower profile, although he said he will continue to be one of Bush's biggest supporters - said he wasn't speaking about his company but about himself.

"I can see it now, but I never imagined that people could say that just because you've got a political favorite that you might commit this treasonous felony atrocity to try to change the outcome of an election," O'Dell said in a statement. "I wouldn't and couldn't."

The controversy spurred California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a Democrat, last month to require all electronic voting machines in that state to furnish voter-verifiable receipts by 2006. Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-New Jersey, introduced HR 2239, which would require such systems nationwide.

Just last week, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell said he's asking the federal government for a waiver to postpone deployment of electronic machines until 2006 because a study he ordered turned up 57 security flaws, not only in Diebold machines, but also those made by Sequoia and ES&S - which are used in Florida - and Hart InterCivic.

"I will not place these voting devices before Ohio's voters until identified risks are corrected and system security is bolstered," Blackwell, a Republican, said in a statement. "When Ohioans begin casting ballots on these electronic devices they will do so with the knowledge that the integrity of their voting system has been maintained."

In Florida, 30 counties use Diebold's optical-scan system, but none has purchased the touch-screen version. In all, some 56.6 percent of the state's 9.4 million registered voters will face the Sequoia or ES&S touch-screen systems when they go to the polls in November.

A spokeswoman for ES&S, which holds contracts for most of Florida's touch-screen systems, said the security flaws found in that company's systems in Ohio can easily be remedied through improved procedures. The hardware and software itself isn't at fault, she said, adding that he wasn't sure whether Florida uses the same hardware and software versions as Ohio.

"Most of those issues will not require any modification to the design of our products, but can be addressed through d procedures and training, an ES&S spokeswoman said in a statement. "We are confident in he security of our equipment."

While Democrats are leading the charge for the machines to print receipts so that voters can verify their choices, traditional Democratic supporters such as the American Association of People with Disabilities and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights oppose the measure along with the League of Women Voters.

Opportunity for fraud?

The groups think printing receipts is an unnecessary expense that could add more opportunity for fraud and put disabled voters at a disadvantage.

Florida's supervisors of elections also oppose printing receipts of every vote because it could add to security and administrative problems. Vendors say the machines have the capability, and printers could be added if that's what states want.

Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor and Bush appointee who is considered an expert on Florida's election process, said distrust of new electronic systems is nothing new.

"We have pretty high thresholds for testing these pieces of equipment before they are purchased," MacManus said. "We heard the same controversy when banks put in ATMs."

But Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, thinks traditional paper ballots just make more sense.

"They're cheap, reliable, (and) people can figure them out - as long as you guard them," he said.