When Florida Legislators voted to move up their primary, they were also voting for a Paper Trail

[Emit]

Were they willing to sacrifice their state's delegates to get a paper trail?

Here's the explanation from the Florida Democratic Party:

~snip~
The Rules say you had to try to stop the primary move, but Democrats voted for the law. What gives?
Initially, before a specific date had been decided upon by the Republicans, some Democrats did actively support the idea of moving earlier in the calendar year. That changed when Speaker Rubio announced he wanted to break the Rules of the Democratic and Republican National Committees. Following this announcement, DNC and Florida Democratic Party staff talked about the possibility that our primary date would move up in violation of Rule 11.A.

Party leaders, Chairwoman Thurman and members of Congress then lobbied Democratic members of the Legislature through a variety of means to prevent the primary from moving earlier than February 5th. Party leadership and staff spent countless hours discussing our opposition to and the ramifications of a pre-February 5th primary with legislators, former and current Congressional members, DNC members, DNC staff, donors, activists, county leaders, media, legislative staff, Congressional staff, municipal elected officials, constituency leaders, labor leaders and counterparts in other state parties. In response to the Party’s efforts, Senate Democratic Leaders Geller and Wilson and House Democratic Leaders Gelber and Cusack introduced amendments to CS/HB 537 to hold the Presidential Preference Primary on the first Tuesday in February, instead of January 29th. These were both defeated by the overwhelming Republican majority in each house.

The primary bill, which at this point had been rolled into a larger legislation train, went to a vote in both houses. It passed almost unanimously. The final bill contained a whole host of elections legislation, much of which Democrats did not support. However, in legislative bodies, the majority party can shove bad omnibus legislation down the minority’s throats by attaching a couple of things that made the whole bill very difficult, if not impossible, to vote against. This is what the Republicans did in Florida, including a vital provision to require a paper trail for Florida elections. There was no way that any Florida Democratic Party official or Democratic legislative leader could ask our Democratic members, especially those in the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, to vote against a paper trail for our elections. It would have been embarrassing, futile, and, moreover, against Democratic principles.

Who cares about the paper trail?
Floridians do. Our state has had far too many election controversies. A verifiable paper trail for elections is something Democrats have fought for since the election debacle of 2000. It is a groundbreaking change in a state that has no standardized voting and a long record of disastrous elections. In fact, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to investigate Florida’s District 13 Congressional election in which touch-screen voting machines lost 18,000 ballots in the most Democratic part of the district - putting a Republican in Congress by less than 400 votes, instead of an accomplished Democratic woman who worked her way from bank teller to bank president before running for Congress.~snip~

http://www.makeitcountflorida.com/page/content/makeitcount-faqs/

May 21, 2007, News Report

Governor Charlie Crist today signed House Bill 537 that will establish a paper trail for all votes cast in Florida elections. The election-reform legislation will provide optical scan machines for counties that do not already have them for Election Day voting and early voting sites. The legislation also changes the date of Florida's presidential primary to the last Tuesday in January.

~snip~

"Every two years millions of Americans express their opinion without fear of consequence," Crist said. "People around the world yearn for this freedom, and now Floridians will enjoy this freedom with confidence that their vote is counted."

Touch-screen machines will still be used to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

The bill will provide changes to Florida's elections law, including the following:

* Changes Florida's Presidential Primary to the last Tuesday in January, increasing the state's visibility in the primary process. It also provides local governments the option to change local elections to the same date.

* Requires all votes cast in the state on Election Day to be cast using optical scan equipment that provide a paper trail. Votes cast by persons with disabilities are exempt from this requirement.

* Appropriates $27.8 million to the Department of State to purchase optical scan equipment to replace touch screen technology for Election Day voting. It also provides ballot-on-demand technology during early voting.

* Allows candidates seeking federal office to retain their existing public office at the time of qualifying for the federal office.

* Clarifies that complaints filed with the Florida Elections Commission must be based on "personal information other than hearsay." And provides that complaints relating to expense items will not be investigated if reimbursement occurred before the filing of the sworn complaint.

"Today is an example of how government is supposed to function. Without partisanship and without political advantage," said U.S. Representative Robert Wexler. "Governor Crist and the State Legislature have come together and delivered an election system that is a model for the nation. One person, one vote -- guaranteed -- with a paper record to prove it."~snip~

http://www.govtech.com/tt/articles/120761

Florida Dumps Touch-Screen Voting Machines
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 5, 2007 (AP) With one large bill passed in the state Legislature, Florida tried to slam the door on a rocky electoral past and bared itself for more elections scrutiny.

Touch-screen voting machines used in 15 counties will soon be discarded for a verifiable paper-trail system, a move borne out of both the political climate and real concerns that the machines are unreliable.

And, ignoring national party threats and angering other states, Florida will likely be the fourth state to choose the presidential nominees next January.

Voters in 15 counties — comprising about 50 percent of the Florida electorate — will make that choice on touch-screen machines because there won't be enough time to make the changeover before the Jan. 29 vote. Supervisors of elections in those counties will be gearing up for the changeover to optical-scan systems while conducting the election using technology on the way out.

"For the general election it all should be in place," Gov. Charlie Crist said Saturday. He is expected to sign the bill (HB 537) in the next month or so. "Would I rather it be sooner than later? Sure I would. But I'm darn glad it's going to happen now."

Before Florida reaches what Secretary of State Kurt Browning called the "end of the line" of elections evolution — a verifiable paper trail — it has decided to brighten the national spotlight that was first cast on it in 2000, and switched back on in November in a still-disputed congressional race.

"Hopefully the presidential primary won't be a repeat of our election but if we get our investigation completed in time that will help us not only find out what happened in November but hopefully prevent it from happening in January," said David Kochman, a spokesman for Democrat Christine Jennings, who is still contesting her 369-vote defeat to Republican Vern Buchanan in District 13.

~snip~

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/05/politics/main2763769.shtml