FL: Crist's paper trail plan draws raves

By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 02, 2007

for original article

Gov. Charlie Crist said Thursday that he wants a paper trail for all ballots in Florida in time for the 2008 presidential election.

Appearing at a bipartisan lovefest in suburban Delray Beach with Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler and an array of Republican and Democratic elected officials, Crist proposed spending $32.5 million to replace the paperless electronic voting machines used in 15 counties with optical scan machines that read paper ballots.

Palm Beach and Martin counties now use paperless touch-screen systems. Critics say the lack of tangible ballots creates uncertainty.

Crist's proposal would allow counties to continue using touch screens for early voting and to accommodate voters with disabilities. But Crist, a Republican, wants those machines to be outfitted with printers - at state expense - to create a paper record of every electronic vote.

"You should, when you go vote, be able to have a record of it," Crist told a crowd of about 400 at an event organized by the nonpartisan Voters Coalition at the South County Civic Center. "That's all we're proposing today. It's not very complicated. It is, in fact, common sense."

The spending side of Crist's plan will be included in an overall state budget that Crist will propose to state legislators today. Changes to the election system also will require legislative approval.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Coral Gables, said there is "some reluctance" among House members to having the state pay for county voting equipment. The Senate is taking a wait-and-see approach, said a spokeswoman for Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie.

Congress is also considering national paper trail legislation. Wexler said Crist's proposal is "consistent entirely with what Washington is likely to do."

Wexler has been a vocal paper trail advocate who unsuccessfully sued the state in 2004 to outlaw paperless voting. Crist is a former attorney general whose office argued against Wexler's suit in state and federal court.

But Wexler and Crist also have been friends since their days in the Florida Senate in the 1990s. They formed a mutual admiration society Thursday.

"I support this plan 100 percent. One hundred percent. This is a plan that's extremely well thought-out," Wexler said.

"If the first 30 days of this gentleman's administration is any indication, then this will be, in my estimation, the most extraordinary administration that Florida has seen in many, many years," Wexler told the heavily Democratic audience.

Crist credited Wexler's dogged pursuit of a paper trail.

"Congressman Wexler is what brought me to this position. That, and common sense," the governor told reporters.

Crist also said the controversy over a close Sarasota-area congressional race last fall was "a contributing factor" in forming his proposal. In that race, Republican Vern Buchanan beat Democrat Christine Jennings by 369 votes, with touch screens recording more than 18,000 blank votes.

Crist's new secretary of state, Kurt Browning, said the governor's paper trail plan marks "a great day for Florida."

Browning was elections chief in Pasco County for 26 years and was probably the state's most passionate defender of paperless voting. But he said a paper trail requirement would add to voter confidence.

"We want to ensure that every ballot cast in Florida will be able to be counted and verified. That is important," Browning said.

Browning, whose office oversees the Division of Elections, said he has asked the division to establish standards by June 1 for approving printers to accompany touch screens. Such printers are used in other states, but none have been certified in Florida.

A spokeswoman for Sequoia Voting Systems, the manufacturer of Palm Beach County's touch screens, said submitting a printer for certification is "something we're going to be moving on very quickly."

Browning said Crist's paper trail proposal can be implemented in time for the September primaries and November general election in 2008.

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson, Martin County Supervisor Vicki Davis and Broward County Supervisor Brenda Snipes attended Thursday's announcement, along with three Palm Beach County commissioners and several Republican and Democratic state legislators from Palm Beach and Broward counties.

"I am elated that the governor's assuming leadership in this area, and I applaud him and Congressman Wexler," Anderson said.

Davis said she was already weighing a similar paper trail proposal for Martin County.

"I'm excited about the plan," Davis said.

Democratic activist Allen Mergaman, a critic of Palm Beach County's paperless voting system, called Crist's proposal "fantastic. ... I don't think a Democrat could have done a better job."

Bruce Serell, a paperless voting foe who served on an elections advisory committee last year, said he's pleased that Crist wants optical scanners to be Florida's main voting method but disappointed that Crist still would allow some touch screens.

"We're halfway there," Serell said.