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Retired residents test new voting methods
By KEVIN GRAHAM
© St. Petersburg Times, SUN CITY CENTER -- Residents of this retirement community were among the first in Hillsborough County to test two new voting systems that election officials hope will make voting as easy as using an ATM or playing the lottery. By the 2002 elections, Hillsborough voters will cast their ballots with touch screens or optical scan systems, part of a statewide overhaul of election laws. Pinellas County voters have already had a chance to test both systems and an overwhelming majority chose touch screens. However, the reaction in Sun City Center was mixed. Herb Cashvan, 78, said the touch screen system was easy to use and "about as foolproof as anything we have now." "Like anything else, everything changes in our life," Cashvan said of the new system. "Change means something better. This is definitely more efficient and much easier to read than punch cards." But some were not so open to the new technology. "I hate anything that's computers," said Eddie Hancock, 81. "I'd rather go back and count the ballots myself if I had too." Hancock said prefers the system he used when voted the first time in 1934: You marked a paper ballot and handed it to poll workers, who counted the votes. "I just like the old-fashioned form of voting," he said. "Too many people get confused with machines." Bob McMahon, 80, said he has a nervous condition that causes him to shake. Filling in an oval or steadying his hand to touch the right space on his screen wasn't easy. "I'm not thrilled with this," he said of both systems. Linda Shields, 68, liked them both. "Some of the older people don't read, they don't pay attention," she said. "Either one was easy. To me it doesn't make a difference." Except for one thing: cost. She would buy the cheapest version. Touch screens cost the most, about $12-million. An optical scan system would cost about $3-million to buy, with an undetermined annual cost for the ballots. Touch screens work like the most modern automatic teller machines. With some models, voters are given a plastic card the size of a credit card which is inserted into a slot. The information contained on the card includes the voter's party affiliation. The optical system uses a paper ballot. Voters use a pencil to fill in ovals next to the names of candidates, much like the Florida lottery. The ballot is fed into a machine which records the votes. If an error is detected, the machine spits out the paper ballot for changes. Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Pam Iorio held two other demonstrations on Wednesday, and three more are scheduled today. Iorio hopes to have a recommendation to the County Commission by July. - Kevin Graham can be reached at graham@sptimes.com or (813)-226-3404.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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