Reply #17: FL: Committee hears appeal for voting-system accountability

[rumpel]

02/09/07

A newly formed citizens oversight committee on voting systems heard an appeal Wednesday for more accountability in the voting process.

Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections was instrumental in the passage of a charter amendment in last November's election, which mandates a so-called "paper trail" for electronic voting.

Ironically, the passage of that amendment came on the same night there were more than 18,000 undervotes -- votes for neither candidate -- in Sarasota County in the District 13 Congressional race between Rep. Vernon Buchanan, a Republican, and Christine Jennings, a Democrat.

The amendment requires the county use voter-verified paper ballots and mandatory audits for any discrepancies between machine and hand counts by Jan. 1, 2008.

To better understand the language and intent of the amendment, the committee Wednesday asked SAFE Chair Kindra Muntz to speak.

"The intent is to have a ballot, a hard-copy ballot, a permanent record," Muntz said. "It's not the touch-screen that's the issue. It's the direct recording electronic feature of the touchscreen machines used in Sarasota County that's of concern."


http://www.venicegondolier.com/Newsstory.cfm?pubdate=02...