Opinion: Harris right on voter technology

Fending off the national media and Al Gore's lawyers may have been easier for Secretary of State Katherine Harris than persuading the Legislature to enact her chad-free, "voter freedom" proposals for future elections.

Its leaders don't want to spend the money. They also pretend that it's not the government's problem if some voters make mistakes that most manage to avoid.

They're wrong. Harris is right. The issue is, as she put it, whether Florida will recognize or ignore "every person's inalienable right to vote," a right that cannot be guaranteed "if we're shackled by outdated technology."

The world is watching, and so is the Supreme Court. In halting the presidential recount, the court hinted unmistakably that Florida's patchwork voting technology may be just as unconstitutional as its vague provisions for recounting votes. "It's only a short step," warns Clay Roberts, director of the division of elections.

Harris' proposals track those of the governor's task force in calling for a ban on punch cards before the 2002 election, for which the state would lease precinct-based optical scanners for all counties still needing them. For 2004 and beyond, Harris envisions advanced technology, probably similar to the touch-screen voting stations already in use in other states, that would enable a registered voter to vote anywhere in the state. These systems are not totally error-free, but they do offer such additional capabilities as larger type and audio programs for the vision-impaired. It's an exciting opportunity to stimulate voter participation without relying more heavily on absentee ballots that lend themselves too easily to manipulation or fraud.

But Harris may need to force the technology issue more aggressively than she plans. Though she said twice for emphasis that "the days of the punch-card ballots are over forever," she doesn't plan to prohibit their use until the optical scanners are in place. That takes the pressure off legislators to act. She should turn up the heat and let mossback lawmakers explain to Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and other punch-card counties why the state won't help them.

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