State: Panel: Chad-free ballot is winner

Those little pieces of cardboard that rose to fame during last year's controversial presidential recount should be among the missing when Florida voters go to the polls in 2002.

Although a final decision will be up to legislators and Gov. Jeb Bush, a 21-member bipartisan task force appointed by the governor to look at voting problems clearly sees a future without the punchcard technology that caused so much trouble.

Instead the task force sees a temporary system, leased or purchased by the 2002 general election, and a stepped-up look at new technology that could give Florida state of the art touchscreen voting by the next presidential election in 2004.

Along with moving toward new voting technology, the task force will recommend that Florida mount a big voter education program and that state lawmakers look at making it easier for felons to regain their right to vote.

The task force didn't declare the punchcard systems unreliable. They still must be used for several local elections, including St. Petersburg's municipal contests starting later this month.

"We don't want to tell the public this system is unreliable. We still have elections," said Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg.

Many of the problems experienced in counties that used punchcards stemmed from confusing ballots and the failure of some voters to follow instructions, noted former Broward County Elections Supervisor Jane Carroll. "Maybe voters will be more careful now."

Only Pinellas County Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark defended punchcard voting systems. She told the task force that Pinellas had lower error rates than many of the counties that used optical scan systems.

"I think we were all so eager for an answer we ran to the most obvious solution," Clark said. "I'm not sure it's the right one."

In the short term, Floridians are likely to vote on an optical-scan system now in use in some counties. Voters fill in bubbles similar to those used on standardized tests and lottery tickets before feeding ballots into a machine that will reject erroneous votes and give the voter a chance to get a new ballot.

State officials think it might cost as much as $20-million to rent a system for 2002 and $100-million to buy an entirely new system for 2004. The task force is urging legislators to help counties pay for the necessary equipment and hope to get federal money as well.

The task force also called on legislators to clear up contradictions in state law and extend the deadline for counting and recounting ballots in statewide and federal elections from seven days to at least 11 days. That would allow overseas and military ballots to be received and counted before the final vote is certified.

In addition, the task force wants to end the partisan election of county election supervisors, a suggestion the supervisors have repeatedly made to legislators during the past 20 years, and require state and county canvassing board members to stay out of campaigns in years when they are presiding over election returns.

The task force also wants all counties to do a manual recount when one county recounts in a statewide or federal race. The recounts would follow a uniform standard to be established by the state Division of Elections.

The group also recommends the creation of an online list of all of the state's registered voters available to elections officials so they can be sure the same voter is not casting ballots in more than one place and easily determine who is entitled to vote.

The task force considered, but rejected proposals to:

Include "none of the above" or "abstain" as one choice in each race on the ballot. Some members wanted to find a way to determine when voters were deliberately not voting in a race, but others were fearful of what might happen if "none of the above" were to win the most votes.

Change the traditional Tuesday election days. Some suggested it might improve voter turnout to move the election to Saturdays.

Extend the time that polls are open.

Abolish Florida's second primary.

The task force report will be completed and turned over to Bush and the Legislature by March 1 so some of its recommendations can be considered during this year's legislative session, which begins March 6.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk