FLORIDA ELECTIONS... Paper ballot switch gets federal aid!!!

[Rainscents]

WASHINGTON --
U.S. election officials gave Florida the go-ahead Tuesday to use federal money to pay for voting machines with a paper trail, easing the way for the state Legislature to scrap touch-screen machines in Miami-Dade, Broward and 13 other counties.
The agreement capped a two-hour meeting before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which rejected the bid to tap one federal pot, then told the state how to get the $28 million it asked for anyway: Use the federal funds to reimburse itself for the millions Florida spent on new voting machines after the ''hanging chads and butterfly ballots'' debacle of the 2000 presidential election.

The initial rejection prompted an impassioned plea from Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who told the commission that without federal money, the state would be unable to move to paper ballots in time for the 2008 presidential election.

More... http://www.miamiherald.com/569/story/93406.html
















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[kansasblue]

1. Really? That's a very big surprise to me. nt

[Rainscents]

2. I know... I was shocked!

[madfloridian]

3. This article about the ballot changes worrying supervisors.."ballot on demand".

has some weird stuff in it called "ballot-on-demand".

I am not sure I understand if it is good or bad thing, or something else to gum up the voting works.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070501/NEWS/705010372&SearchID=73279884705980

TALLAHASSEE - The next evolution in Florida's ever-changing system of voting will feature something called "ballot on demand."

A citizen at any early voting site would receive a custom optical scan ballot, matching the voter's residence, language and party affiliation. A voter's choices would be marked on an optical scan ballot by filling in an oval next to each ballot question.

"The benefits of the ballot-on-demand system, from an election management standpoint, are numerous," Gov. Charlie Crist told a congressional committee on March 23.

But the change worries a lot of local election supervisors, who run Florida elections.

They warn that it's risky to implement an untried system in Florida in a closely watched and high-turnout 2008 presidential election.

[Rainscents]

4. That is interesting.

I didn't see that article.

[madfloridian]

6. Looks like it would slow things down.

:shrug:

First I had seen about it as well.

You can't trust Florida when it omes to voting.

[Wilms]

5. Eh. So what.

OpScans are pretty hackable.

And please, no one go on and on about how the paper ballot can be recounted. For all practical purposes, they can't.

If Holt's HR811 passes, the recount rules for a really tight race are that of the state.

Can you say OH, or FL?

[madfloridian]

7. Hey, I know better than to argue about voting stuff now.

We will never get it right, no matter what we do. A paper trail, a paper audit...just when I think I understand the meanings change and I am lost again.

Why don't some voter activists investigate the new ballot-on-demand Florida is starting.

I don't understand that either. :shrug:

I posted about it above. But no matter, I won't argue.