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Machines step into spotlight
By LISA GREENE and CHRISTINA HEADRICK CLEARWATER -- Clearwater voters will usher Pinellas County into the electronic age today when they become the first county residents to cast their ballots on touch screen voting machines. "Tomorrow is a historic day here in Pinellas County," said Deborah Clark, elections supervisor, amid final preparations Monday. It will be a big day for electronic voting in Florida, as well. Clearwater will be among 16 Florida municipalities using machines made by Sequoia Voting Systems. Palm Beach County already has tested the Sequoia machines in three small elections during the past month, but today will be the first sizeable test. The largest of those towns cast only 556 ballots, while almost 12,000 Clearwater voters went to the polls in last year's commission elections. Clark has made elaborate preparations for today's race. More than 4,200 city voters have tried demonstration machines displayed at nearly 100 events around Clearwater. The machines have been everywhere from hospitals to tanning salons, from churches to civic group lunches. Instruction brochures have been mailed to all the city's registered voters. Extra poll workers and troubleshooters will be posted in the precincts. Sequoia technicians and elections staffers will carry radios and check different polling places. The computerized system can tally votes more quickly than the old punch-card tabulators. But Clark refused Monday to estimate when results would be complete tonight, saying that accuracy rather than speed is most important for the system's first use. But Clark said the longest part of tallying the votes tonight won't be actually counting them but waiting for poll workers to bring the precinct results to the Election Service Center. Although elections officials are hoping for an uncontroversial election day, the two commission races that will be decided by voters have grown contentious. In the race for Seat 2, bank investment officer Frank Hibbard is trying to unseat incumbent Ed Hart, who owns a Tampa employment agency. A central theme in this contest has been credibility. Hibbard has pointed to Hart's rocky past relationships with other city officials and flip-flops on issues. Hart sent out a final campaign ad suggesting Hibbard is beholden to developers, a charge Hibbard says isn't true. In the race for Seat 3, political newcomer Patricia Bates-Smith, a longtime city resident active in various civic groups, is challenging incumbent Hoyt Hamilton, who manages his family's Palm Pavilion Inn on Clearwater Beach and works as a sports agent. Hamilton has touted his year of experience on the commission, which involved making decisions such as the hiring of City Manager Bill Horne. Bates-Smith has argued she will listen better than Hamilton to residents and create a "new majority" vote. Hibbard raised the most money of any candidate -- about $39,500, he said -- although his last campaign finance report was unavailable for review Monday. Hart raised $35,250, according to his final report at City Hall. Hamilton raised $30,820, while Bates-Smith only raised $13,112, the reports stated.
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
