[EM] Fla. Holds 1st Touchscreen Election

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

D- One result of Bush v. Gore, ___  U.S. ____ (2000).

Crank up your favorite computerized voting methods NOW.

When was the first computerized voting system used anywhere ???

How many decades/centuries before more accurate election methods are used on 
such computerized systems ???
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Fla. Holds 1st Touchscreen Election

By AMANDA RIDDLE
  
OCEAN RIDGE, Fla. (AP) - Residents of this seaside community on Tuesday 
became the first in Palm Beach County to use touchscreen machines instead of 
the butterfly ballots and punch cards that caused a fiasco in the 2000 
presidential election. 

Instead of using a tool to punch chads out of punch card ballots, voters 
touched their fingers to computer screens to mark their choices from five 
candidates vying for two commission seats. 

Many voters in the community of about 1,600 said the system was simple to use 
and faster than punch cards or lever-operated machines. Ocean Ridge has 1,378 
registered voters, nearly half of whom are over age 65. 

``You don't even need a full brain to operate these machines,'' said 
83-year-old voter Laura Woodrich. 

Palm Beach was the first county in Florida to sign a contract to replace its 
outdated punch card ballots with a $14 million ATM-style voting system. 

``We're the testing ground,'' said 79-year-old Walter Trenschel, a retired 
engineer. ``I just hope the rest of the state conforms with Ocean Ridge and 
follows our example. To me this is foolproof.'' 

However, in Broward County, which got its touchscreen machines from a 
different supplier, more than two-thirds of the first shipment had defects 
and will have to be repaired, officials said Tuesday. 

During the 2000 election, some voters complained that Palm Beach County's 
butterfly ballot was so confusing they inadvertently voted for Pat Buchanan 
instead of Al Gore. 

That ballot was spread across two pages to accommodate a larger typeface. 
However, that placed the names of 10 presidential candidates on facing pages 
with a single column of punch holes between them. Gore was the second name on 
the ballot, but the second hole corresponded to Buchanan's name on the facing 
page. 

The vote counting was further complicated by questions of how to count 
ballots with hanging, dimpled or pregnant chads - the little tabs punched out 
to record a vote. 

Following the recount debacle that delayed completion of the presidential 
election results, Florida lawmakers banned punch card systems, saying 
counties could use touchscreens or optical-scan systems, in which voters fill 
in bubbles next to a candidate's name. 

In Ocean Ridge, about 15 miles south of West Palm Beach, voters inserted a 
key card to activate the machine, then selected up to two candidates by 
pressing on the screen next to a candidate's name and recorded their vote 
with a final touch of the screen. 

The key card went to the next voter after poll workers reset the machine. 

The system is programmed to prevent voters from casting too many votes. It 
also will alert voters if they fail to select a candidate in a given race. 

Other municipal elections in Palm Beach County will be held in March. 
Countywide elections, which include the race for governor, will be held this 
fall. 

Voters in the north Florida town of Callahan were the first in the state to 
use touchscreens, casting ballots on borrowed machines for a city council 
election last fall.