Partisan rancor absent in picking vote system

Some commissioners find touch-screen balloting better, but questions remain.

By KATHRYN WEXLER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 31, 2001

TAMPA -- Florida's presidential elections imbroglio last year cleaved Republicans and Democrats faster than the time it took many voters to mess up their punch cards.

But now Hillsborough Republicans and Democrats appear poised to come together on how to bury the 2000 election altogether.

When Supervisor of Elections Pam Iorio urges commissioners today to approve the spending of $12-million for new computerized touch-screen voting machines, she will find support in both camps.

Democratic commissioners Jan Platt and Thomas Scott think the investment is worth it.

So do commissioners Stacey Easterling and Jim Norman, both Republicans.

"Can you really put a price tag on what happened in 2000?" Easterling said Monday.

Under state law, Hillsborough and 40 other counties must upgrade their voting systems before the 2002 primary. The counties are considering the touch-screen machines or a paper ballot system, in which voters fill in ovals or arrows and the ballots are then read by optical scanners.

Optical scanners for Hillsborough would cost only $3-million. But according to Iorio's calculations, the county would have to spend an additional $180,000 in paper ballots for every major election. After 10 years, she says, the paper ballots would have cost as much as the touch-screen system.

The state will chip in $1.2-million for either system, Iorio said.

County commissioners have tried out both systems and most agreed the touch-screen computers were the better option, Iorio said. "I know from meeting privately with each member, the majority were in support of touch screens."

Said Easterling, "It works like a charm."

But some of the commissioners say they do want to question Iorio on the reliability of the touch-screen system. Commissioner Pat Frank said she had some serious reservations about the system. The Florida Division of Elections must approve the system before the county can purchase it.

"That's a hunk of money, and it's not certified yet," Frank said.

Norman, while inclined to vote for the touch screens, said he was concerned about their reliability.

"This will hold . . . large ballots, but then a lot of people make a good point too that there's not a hard record," Norman said. "I just want explanations on how, if you are ever second-guessed, how do you produce a record?"

Iorio said the computers capture the images of the cast ballots and store the results. The hard drives can spit out copies.

-- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3383.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright