"By law, humans can't look at that paper record," said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho. "The system is sort of bass-ackwards."
That's our state- Ian Sancho put's it perfectly-- "Bass-Ackwards". If anyone from the Obama team is reading this, please get the legal team ready for action- we're going to need them down here in November.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-papervote2808jul28,0,7510487.story New voting machines: Paper trail to nowhere?
Jim Stratton, Sentinel Staff Writer July 28, 2008
After Sarasota's 2006 voting debacle, which featured huge undervotes and bitter accusations of technical failures, the state outlawed touch-screen voting. That made optical-scan systems the election technology of choice in Florida. The move was hailed by reformers, who said the hard-copy ballots of optical systems provided a crucial backstop -- a paper trail -- if the results of an election were decided by just a few votes.
"What we're talking about here is democracy, and it is precious," Gov. Charlie Crist said when he proposed the 2007 overhaul. "You should, when you go vote, be able to have a record of it."
But it hasn't worked out that way.
When legislators passed the new law, they made no provision for a full hand recount, rendering the paper trail of optical-scan systems virtually useless. The law requires that only ballots with too many or too few marks -- so-called overvotes and undervotes -- be reviewed by hand. The rest won't be checked.
"By law, humans can't look at that paper record," said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho. "The system is sort of bass-ackwards."
Proof is in primary
This year, Lake County and 14 others representing about half the state's electorate will use optical-scan systems for the first time. Though the machines have a 30-year track record, voting advocates worry that a flood of new voters, crowded ballots and the new technology could lead to problems at the polls.
The first test will come during the Aug. 26 primary.
It's the second major change of voting machines in Florida this decade. The 2000 presidential election -- which made Florida famous for hanging chads, butterfly ballots and mangled punch cards -- prompted many counties to switch to touch-screen-voting machines.
Snip
Because there were no paper ballots, it was impossible to verify the claims or conduct a meaningful recount. Auditors said the machines worked fine and that the ballot design probably resulted in some voters overlooking the race.
But politically, touch-screen systems were finished. No provision for recount
The state moved to optical-scan systems less than a year later -- but without any provision for a full hand recount of the paper ballots.
Instead, state law requires that any race decided by less than half a percentage point be subject to a machine recount. That means all the optical-scan ballots -- on which voters fill in a bubble or connect a broken arrow -- are run back through scanners to verify the totals.
If the margin then drops to one-quarter of a percent, a hand recount is ordered -- but only for ballots showing undervotes or overvotes.
The rest of the ballots can't be reviewed unless a candidate sues. And activists say that's a huge hole.
"It's a good start to have that paper trail," said Dan McCrea, president of the Florida Voters Coalition, an elections-watchdog group. "But essentially, we have a trail to nowhere."
Florida's secretary of state, Kurt Browning, agrees.
"If you have given voters the ability to cast ballots in all 67 counties on paper, then you need to have some ability to recount those ballots," he said. "People have got to have confidence in their system."
Browning had wanted a provision for a full hand recount but relented when he saw some lawmakers and local election supervisors resisting the move, said his spokeswoman, Jennifer Krell Davis.
Not enough time?
Opponents argued that a state law requiring election results to be finalized within 12 days of the vote doesn't leave enough time for a complete recount. Browning disagreed but didn't push the issue because he did not want to jeopardize the rest of the election-reform bill.
"He didn't want any hiccups on it," Krell Davis said. "He just said, 'Pull it.' "
McCrea said if supervisors need more time to recount votes, they should get it. He said Florida has one of the shortest certification periods in the nation. New York, for example, gives officials 25 days to finalize results; Oregon, 31.
Random auditing
Advocates also have complained about the auditing procedures mandated to verify machine accuracy. Officials are required to randomly select one race in each county and examine the machines and results in no more than 2 percent of the precincts that voted in that race. The audit occurs only after election results have been certified.
Sancho, McCrea and others said those audits should be more comprehensive and need to be done before vote tallies are made official.
"We don't have an effective audit system," McCrea said. "It's like losing your keys in your house, looking in only one room and deciding, 'Well, they're not in there.' "
Optical scanning: All 67 Florida counties will use optical-scan-voting systems, beginning with the Aug. 26 primary. In seven counties, voters mark a paper ballot by filling in the middle of a broken arrow to designate their choices. In all other counties -- including Central Florida -- they fill in an oval.
The completed ballots are fed into a scanner, which reads and records the votes. If a ballot is improperly marked -- a voter has made too many selections (an overvote) or failed to properly fill in bubbles or complete the arrows -- it's spit back. The voter can request a new ballot or resubmit it as is.
Making switch
Counties changing to optical-scan machines this year: Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota and Sumter
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