Florida e-vote conspiracy theories grow
There's been a good deal of Internet chatter about the possibility that the Florida vote was rigged, although optical scan machines, not touch-screen systems, are suspected. A pair of charts provided by Kathy Dopp breaks down the county vote in relation to registration rolls.
Before the election, everyone in the tech press (El Reg included) assumed that touch-screen machines were destined lead us all to months of confusion, doubt and frustration. Ironically, the Florida counties using touch-screen machines showed the fewest surprises, as reflected in the first chart.
The real puzzles come in the counties using paper ballots read by optical scanners, as shown in the second chart. It is a dramatic difference, one has got to admit. And it is odd that Kerry lost Florida precincts in which he polled high, and in which Al Gore previously did well, then lost them decisively.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/12/florida_e-vote_... /