[Peace-discuss] Touchscreen voter records lost in Florida

[Ricky Baldwin]

Just in case the election isn't called off on account
of terrorist threats...

Touchscreen Vote Records Lost in Florida
7-28-04
By HILARY ROXE, Associated Press Writer 

MIAMI - A computer crash erased detailed records from
Miami-Dade County's first widespread use of
touchscreen voting machines, raising again the specter
of elections troubles in Florida, where the new
technology was supposed to put an end to such
problems.

The crashes occurred in May and November of 2003,
erasing information from the September 2002
gubernatorial primaries and other elections, elections
officials said Tuesday. 
The malfunction was made public after the Miami-Dade
Election Reform Coalition, a citizen's group,
requested all data from the 2002 gubernatorial primary
between Democratic candidates Janet Reno and Bill
McBride. 

In December, officials began backing up the data
daily, to help avoid similar data wipeouts in the
future, said Seth Kaplan, spokesman for the county's
elections supervisor, Constance Kaplan. 
The loss of data underscores problems with the
touchscreen voting machines, the citizen's group said.
"This is a disaster waiting to happen," said Lida
Rodriguez-Taseff, chairwoman of the Miami-Dade
Election Reform Coalition. "Of course it's worrisome."


The group is concerned about the machines'
effectiveness, following revelations about other
problems with the system. Last month, state officials
said the touchscreen systems used by 11 counties had a
bug that would make a manual recount impossible.
Earlier this month, a newspaper study indicated
touchscreen machines did not perform as well as those
that scanned paper ballots. 

Also Tuesday, election reform groups asked a judge to
strike down a state rule preventing counties that use
the machines from conducting manual recounts from
them.
 
State election officers say manual recounts are not
needed since the machines tell each voter if they are
skipping a race, known as an undervote, and will not
let them vote twice for the same race, known as an
overvote. The officials also maintain that the
computer systems running the machines can be trusted
to count the votes accurately as they're cast, and
give the final numbers when needed. 

But lawyers representing the ACLU and other groups
said the state should require a paper trail in case a
physical recount is needed, as it was in the 2000
presidential race in Florida. 
"I have concern about votes that are cast but not
recorded," said Howard Simon, executive director for
ACLU of Florida. 

Election supervisors from some of the 15 counties
using touchscreens had asked the state if they would
need to go through the laborious process of printing
screen images of each ballot during a recount. 

The Division of Elections then ruled that state law
only requires a recount to determine voters' intent,
and that it is impossible to question voter intent
with touchscreen ballots. 

Florida counties without the touchscreen machines use
optiscan technology, in which computers read voters'
pencil marks on paper ballots, and would be able to do
physical recounts in tight races. 

Administrative Law Judge Susan B. Kirkland has 30 days
to make her decision after receiving the hearing
transcript, which is due back in 10 working days. 

Florida's voting system has been under scrutiny since
the 2000 debacle, when it took five weeks of legal
maneuvering and some recounting before Republican
George W. Bush was declared president. 




	
		
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