Florida Senate proposal would rule out ballot recounts

[Judi Lynn]

Florida Senate proposal would rule out ballot recounts

By Jennifer Peltz
Tallahassee Bureau
Posted April 1 2004

TALLAHASSEE · South Floridians pushing for a touch-screen voting paper trail are steamed about a state Senate proposal that they say runs counter to their cause.

Tucked into the 90-page proposal (SB 3004) is a decree that "a manual recount may not be conducted of undervotes on touch-screen machines," which are used in South Florida's three big counties.

There's really nothing to hand-count, since the machines don't use or produce paper ballots, explained sponsor Anna Cowin, R-Leesburg.

That's exactly the problem, say Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county leaders and activists who want to require touch-screen machines to spit out and secure paper versions of each vote as it is cast. They say the printouts would make manual recounts meaningful and reassure voters leery of the machines.
(snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-fvote01apr01,0,4544242.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

On edit: adding photo.

[leftchick]

1. unfriggin believable....

Don't think the fix is in folks?... :grr:

[DRoseDARs]

2. Can the panhandle fall off now...

...this is getting old.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Miami Herald's version of the story:Bill could torpedo video-voting printo

Posted on Thu, Apr. 01, 2004




HAND RECOUNTS


Bill could torpedo video-voting printouts

An elections bill says that hand recounts of votes are only for ballots marked with pencil. That makes skeptics of touch-screen voting upset.

BY STEVE HARRISON

[email protected]


TALLAHASSEE - The push to equip electronic voting machines with paper printers suffered a blow Wednesday when a Senate committee passed a bill forbidding manual recounts on touch-screen equipment.

A hand count of votes would only be allowed on ''marked ballots,'' where a canvassing board could determine voter intent through stray pencil marks.

But the bill could have unintended consequences, thwarting a drive to use paper printers as a backup to touch-screen voting.

''Even if you had it, you wouldn't be able to use it,'' noted Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho. ``An opponent could say the canvassing board is forbidden to do it.''
snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/8325298.htm

[DavidFL]

4. As jaded as it sounds...

...for Florida, this honestly doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, I've come to expect it down here and that most people really could care less that this kind of thing is happening. And Cowin's circular logic is typical for a Florida politician. There's just no other way to put it: this state is, and has been, totally screwed.

BTW, love the picture you included. The irony it exudes...

[Judi Lynn]

5. Really bad news, DavidFl, for Democrats!

Florida has had a history of strange voting, hasn't it? Doesn't look as if they intend to clean it up as long as _{Jeb Bush} or his _brother still find Florida useful.

Thanks for noting the photo. It is wry!

Welcome to DU! :hi: :hi: :hi:

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Dade is about as bad as it gets.

They've had problems that were accentuated about the same time that Jeb Bush won his first election here. And he's done nothing to fix the problem.

[salin]

9. Why should he (when he can exacerbate it instead)

since it (election problems - at least elsewhere in the state) has worked to his and his brother's advantage so well...

[DavidFL]

21. Thanx for the welcome

I'm neither a D or an R, but from what I have observed, one place the FL Democratic Party could also start, besides pushing for paper trails, is to get the Secretary of State and the county clerks to re-register the 97,000+ voters that were wrongly purged from the voter rolls by Kathrine, Jeb and Choicepoint. Although I realize our Secretary of State is worthless, publicly embarass her into action if the Ds have to, just do something. In the 2 1/2 years since the NAACP settled its suit against Harris, not enough has been done on this. Many people here in FL are already suspicious of the touchscreen machines after the way the punchcard fiasco in 2000 was handled and the fiasco with the touchscreens in the Democratic gubanitorial primary in 2002. There were still problems with the Diebold optical scanners in Bay County in last month's Democratic presidential primary. However, the Rs in FL's government will keep pulling this stuff as long as the FL D's keep letting them get away with it or are silent about it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. More information here:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/thursday/news_04b62879e47101b81001.html

[salin]

10. Go Representative Wexler!!!!!!!!!!

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, who has filed two lawsuits challenging paperless voting, called the proposed change "blatantly unconstitutional." Wexler claims it's a violation of the Constitution's equal-protection clause if voters in 52 counties can have their votes manually recounted while voters in 15 touch-screen counties cannot.

Florida law requires a manual recount when an election is decided by 0.25 percent or less. In counties that use paper optical-scan ballots, a canvassing board conducts a manual recount by looking at "undervotes" and "overvotes." Undervotes are ballots in which tabulating machines did not detect a choice for any candidate. Overvotes are ballots rejected because voters chose more than one candidate.

[Paradise]

8. How can we possibly fight fraudulent elections

in 'the tortoise'-controlled Florida! 'They' have a plan, working on California, now. 'Latinos, fastest growing population./Latinos, fastest growing population in Florida, California.' There's a story here, but who's playing 'the hare'? Tom Daschle and Nancy Pelosi recently emphasized that 'we' have a plan, the Democrats 'now' have a plan. What is it, where is it? I'd like to know. :shrug: :mad:

[AndyTiedye]

11. The Plan is to Concede Florida and Try to Win Without It

A "Northern-Eastern-and-Western" Strategy, as it were.

[Paradise]

13. You're so smart,

and in more ways than one (complimentary). :thumbsup: :hi: thanks.

[DavidFL]

22. I really hope this is not true...

If I were a political consultant to the DNC and the FL Democratic Party, my advice would be write off South Florida if you have to, but don't give up on the rest of Florida yet; just don't pander, tell the truth and keep hammering Bush on it. I don't know if one of the purposes of Kerry's statement against Chavez (which I personally disagree with entirely) was to appeal to Miami's Cuban community, but if so, it would be foolish for the Dems to pursue this constituentcy because they are going to vote for Bush anyway.

I live at one end of the I-4 corridor with its fabled "swing voters" that supposedly could move this state either way and I can tell you there are many people who are not happy with (p)Res. Bush's policies, especially in terms of the economy and jobs because they're living with the results. They're also aware he's lied about so many things, including the Iraq war, he can't be trusted. Senior citizens are still in a furor over Bush's Medicare plan and the AARP shilling for it. There's a lot of underlying anger out there, it just needs to be harnessed and utilized productively.

[meow2u3]

18. It's for them to know and for the GOP to find out

Does this answer your question?

All sarcasm aside, if we know Daschle's and Pelosi's plan, chances are the Bushies, DeLays, and the GOP Mafia will find out, too. It's best for them to keep it a secret; after all, it's bound to work in our favor.

[Paradise]

20. Thanks, sounds good to me :) n/t

[loudsue]

12. This is simply an outrage...

So where's Mr. Jimmy Carter NOW??? How could the Florida legislature be any more blatant about their intentions to thwart Democracy in this country?

:tinfoilhat: And where are all those trolls who said we were just a bunch of tinfoilhatters? I never trusted that bunch. :tinfoilhat:

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[dryan]

14. This bill must be stopped

I tried to send this to DU this morning but my computer was giving me problems. State Sen. anna cowin a puppet of jeb's (small letters used intentionally) is sponsoring this bill. It will among other things make the machine totals be the final word if there is a recount -- just recently there was a horrible municipal election in South Florida but that's another story. Please DUers, don't paint all of Florida as a bunch of idiots. We still use good ole' optiscan machines here in Orlando!

[jpak]

15. Glenda Hood (FL Sec. of State) sez

there will be NO recounts of touchscreen votes in the upcoming presidential election.

Her logic???

"THEY MAKE NO MISTAKES"

Vote absentee
Vote absentee
Vote absentee
Vote absentee
Vote absentee
Vote absentee

etc....

[dryan]

16. Glenda Goodwitch

Used to be mayor of Orlando -- after she left the new mayor Democrat Buddy Dyer found out the city was 25 million dollars in debt! Hood is a Republican.

[TroglodyteScholar]

19. Not a fix.....

"Vote absentee"

...sounds good, and may be a fix for this specific problem, but there are all kinds of ways they can fudge the absentee votes too.

Republican CEO of touchscreen voting cocorporation------>:spank:<------ me

[MidwestTransplant]

17. WHY CAN'T WE GET SOROS INTERESTED IN THIS?