Broward short on poll help

With the state's largest voter roll, the county has about half of its required precinct workers.

©Associated Press
August 14, 2002

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Less than a month before Florida's primary, Broward County election officials are short thousands of poll workers and more than a hundred polling places.

Officials in Broward and several other Florida counties say the recent switch from cardboard ballots to computer screen voting has scared away many poll workers who are unwilling to go through additional training.

Broward must have at least 6,200 poll workers to operate the approximately 800 voting precincts in the Sept. 10 primary. So far, only 3,200 have been trained on the new machines.

"It could be trouble, but I'm confident everything will work out fine," Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

In Miami-Dade County, election officials said they had recruited the 6,000 poll workers needed for the elections but were still waiting for everyone to complete training.

"Whether or not we'll be able to train enough poll workers and assign them to precincts remains to be seen," Supervisor of Elections David Leahy said.

Palm Beach and Hillsborough counties also are reporting poll worker shortages.

"The new machines changed things. We have a percentage of our old work force that doesn't want to continue with us because of that change," said Pam Iorio, Hillsborough elections supervisor.

In Broward, hundreds of poll workers dropped out of training after attending three-hour classes on using the touch screen machines, Oliphant said.

"Many of our older workers didn't want to learn something new, so we have to hustle to find replacements," she said.

Until polling places are found, new-voter cards can't be mailed out, she said.

Oliphant will this week ask officials in every city hall in the county to identify buildings that could become potential polling places on election days, she said.

Broward County has the most registered voters in Florida -- about 955,000 -- and was on the front lines of the contested 2000 presidential election.

Other counties contacted Tuesday by the Associated Press reported few problems in assembling the necessary poll workers.

Bill Cowles, election supervisor in Orange County, said Orlando-area businesses and school groups have responded to programs allowing them to staff a polling site and devote their daily fees toward fundraisers.

In Duval County, election supervisor John Stafford said the Jacksonville-area precincts have exceeded expectations in attracting more than 2,500 poll workers needed on Election Day.

"We've actually got more than we can use," Stafford said.

In Volusia County, local officials said they are more concerned about the changes of polling places for thousands of voters due to redistricting. About 40 percent will have to travel to a new site to cast their ballot.

Supervisor of Elections Deanie Lowe said the county is reaching out to voters through local media and by mailing information to every registered voter. But the concerns still persist.

"We're worried that there's going to be a lot of lost souls on Election Day," Lowe said.

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