With the election only a few months away and Florida expected to play an important role again in 2004 it is not surprising that a state that couldn't count votes right is still having problems. Despite spending millions to improve the process, voters may still go to the polls in November without confidence that their vote will count, or be counted.
As the New York Times said in an editorial today - "Millions of Florida voters will cast ballots this November on electronic voting machines that do not produce paper records. State election officials have insisted that the machines have safeguards to ensure that votes are accurately recorded and counted, including a computerized audit function. Recently, however, Miami-Dade County officials admitted that almost all of the audit records from a disputed 2002 primary had been accidentally destroyed. This is disturbing news and casts serious doubt on Florida's ability to run a fair election this fall."
Much like the pundits and GOP told the public to "get over it" regarding the 2000 voting count disaster, state officials are saying the problems are no big deal. Perhaps they should listen to the Times.
"Florida's secretary of state, Glenda Hood, has insisted that the voting technology is thoroughly reliable and that the critics are simply stirring up trouble. Ms. Hood should drop this head-in-the-sand approach and quickly provide the protections the voters need. The most urgent would be a review by a team that includes independent computer experts. Florida's election system was a national disgrace in 2000, and it is well on its way to becoming one again."
Perhaps Florida voters will actually get to tell the nation who they voted for this year rather than having the Supreme Court and the GOP tell them who they voted for. But for too many people there is a concern that Florida will return to the days of 2000 where, as a one comedian commentator put it, "for a brief shining moment we were Guatemala."
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