County scurries for ballot system

The county will pick a company by early October to supply voting machines. How much? Good question. Who will choose them? Ditto.

By LISA GREENE

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 1, 2001

With a state-imposed deadline fast approaching, Pinellas County will ask voting machine companies today to submit proposals to supply the county with new voting machines.

A speedier time line that commissioners approved Tuesday calls for the county to make a final decision on what machines to use in early October.

But county commissioners remain worried about whether companies will have enough time to bid, when the state will say which companies' machines meet state election standards and how the purchase will affect the county's budget.

"I'm still fearful about how many counties are out there getting bids," said Commissioner Karen Seel after the meeting. "Will we get bids back in time? Will we have companies who are overwhelmed by orders?"

After last year's election fiasco, state lawmakers told Pinellas and 40 other Florida counties to buy new machines before the September 2002 primary election. Under the new schedule, by Dec. 1, Pinellas wants the company it chooses to deliver enough machines to use for city elections in March.

Also Tuesday, commissioners said they will pick a seven-member evaluation committee with each member representing a different category, from poll workers to disabled voters to technology experts. The committee will also include a member of the supervisor of elections staff.

Some commissioners said Tuesday that they would like Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark to be on the committee, even though she recused herself from the decision after the St. Petersburg Times revealed her husband's ties to one of the machine companies, ES&S.

"It would be very awkward to select a form and turn it over to her" without knowing what kind of machine Clark wants to use, Stewart said.

Stewart said later that he is more concerned about getting Clark's input on which machine is best than about her having any bias toward ES&S.

"She's made a very good-faith effort to try to remove herself," he said.

Commissioner Barbara Sheen Todd first suggested that the commission should consider putting another county's election supervisor on the committee so that the county would have that expertise. Both Todd and Commissioner Ken Welch said they would like to have Clark on the committee.

"I trust her and believe in her," Todd said.

But Commissioner Susan Latvala said Clark already has made her decision.

"I think we have to respect her wishes," she said. "My expectation is that she will be there," offering advice and answering questions for the committee but not having a vote on what to recommend to the commission.

Commissioners also discussed whether to name Sen. Jim Sebesta, a former elections supervisor, to the committee. But Welch said that if they name the St. Petersburg Republican to the board in such a controversial issue, they also need to name a Democrat.

In the end, commissioners didn't name anyone to the board but said elected officials would not be on the committee.

Across the bay, Hillsborough County delayed a decision Tuesday on buying its voting machines because one commissioner was absent. Elections Supervisor Pam Iorio has recommended touch-screen machines.

In Pinellas, the county has set aside $15-million to buy the machines in its budget for next year but will pass the budget without knowing what the machines will cost or whether to buy touch-screen machines or less expensive optical-scan machines.

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