Expected Outcome for South Florida’s New Voting System

The approaching due date for the general election is only six weeks away, and while some public officials are confident in their new ballot system, others are watchful of potential problems that could once again put South Florida under the watchful eye of the nation as they await the results of the presidential election.

During the first countywide primary election with the newly implemented equipment, officials hoped to test for any problems that might arise, however, even with a low turnout of voters, several of the scanning machines in various locations brought on new problems.

Due to technical difficulties in the electronic transmittal of the precincts’ scanning machines, and the rejection of ballots with perforated stubs, Broward County took a total of 21 hours to collect and tally their precinct’s results.

“Fortunately for our department we had no problems during the primary elections,” Assistant Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Christina White said. “And we should not have any problems since our ballots don’t have any perforations on them.”

Originally, all machines in South Florida consisted of the newest technology in touch screen computer equipment. Following the 2000 presidential election, however, voter confidence took a dramatic toll, when an accurate recount of votes was impossible to attain electronically.

November’s anticipated high attendance during the upcoming presidential election, will be the true test of Florida’s newly mandated optical scanning equipment.

“We have 1.1 million voters in our county,” White said. “We are expecting an 80 percent voter turnout including absentee ballots, which is about the same turnout as in the 2004 elections.”

The new ballots are based on a paper optical scanning voting system, implemented to increase voter confidence by providing a voter verifiable paper trail.

“I do think that this system will increase voter confidence, since it is a blended system in which the votes are captured on paper and then transmitted electronically,” White said. “After the elections when we have an audit or a re-count, we can go back and count the votes on the original paper ballots.”

While Broward County officials have assured the public that the various kinks in transmittal and software problems have been worked out, they did not respond for further comments. The public however, is voicing new concerns.

“I’m not worried about the new voting system, but I am worried about not getting enough quality poll workers for the general election,” Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition President Sandy Wayland said. “The new system requires twice the amount of poll workers.”

Poll workers, now have the additional duty of guiding voters through the process of feeding their ballot through the electronic scanning system. And if a vote is for some reason rejected, workers have to place the ballot in an emergency locked box and re-attempt to scan them later in the day.

The Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition went as far as to partner with the University of Miami in a project meant to alleviate this specific problem.

“The University of Miami actually partnered with us in a potential poll worker project, to give employees a paid day off of work to volunteer as poll workers,” Wayland said. “The University of Miami happens to be the biggest private employer of Miami-Dade County.”

For voters new to the updated system, the voting process, consisting of a bubble sheet-like scantron, should be nothing out of the extraordinary.

“The difference between this system is the technology…these new ballots you bubble in just like a scantron sheet,” White said

After bubbling in their selection, the voter inserts the paper ballot into the optical scanning unit, which automatically scans and tabulates the results.

“There was nothing to it,” South Miami resident David Brummer said after attending the primary election.

In order to ensure a flawless outcome of the 2008 primaries in their county, Miami-Dade has undergone various projects of re-training their poll workers and re-educating voters.

“In order to re-educate our voters we are sending out sample ballots in the mail. Every household should have a sample ballot by October 17,” White said. “The sample ballot will have all the questions that will appear on any given ballot depending on the district. This way the voter can make an informed decision.”

To avoid long lines and other potential problems, White suggests taking advantage of early voting or the possibility of requesting an absentee ballot.

“Voters should definitely attend early voting to avoid waiting for long periods of time. We have spread it out in the course of an entire week, and voters may also attend any site during early voting which does not have to be the one they registered under,” White said. “You can also request an absentee ballot. You are not required to give a reason to request an absentee ballot and this way you can do it from home.”

Despite much critique of both fearful voters and public officials, the unanimous response is the positive increase in expected voter confidence.

“Due to the fact that you have it on paper, I definitely think that the paper-based system is going to increase our trust,” Wayland said. “I am confident in the new system.”