Recently, Florida Legislators decided to change from the first introduced
1960 punch-card ballots to new computerized ballots. This change was brought
upon because of the miscount in the 2000 presidential election, and will be
put in place by the Spring of 2002.
Governor Jeb Bush made the decision that Florida should change its voting
system. Palm Beach County has already become the first county to propose the
new voting system. The new system is completely computerized with the simple
touch of a finger.
The computerized machines were proposed by the California-based Sequoia
Voting System, giving about 3,500 new touch-screen voting machines to Palm
Beach County. The cost of each machine is $3,100, roughly making the total
cost about $10.9 million. These machines have already been used in
Riverside, CA, for an election that was held in April. The voters gave good
review of the machines. "These are pretty costly systems...but we felt it
was very critical that Palm Beach County have the very best," County
Commissioner Warren Newell told the Sun-Sentinel.
These machines will make voting much easier and voters won't have to
worry about hanging chads and unpunched holes. Sequoia President, Peter
Cosgrove, explained how the new machines work. The voter will have a card
that they will insert into the computer, just like a bank teller machine, and
then they can cast their vote. The machine may also be height adjusted for
voters in wheelchairs and have special audio machines that blind voters are
able to use.
Sequoia Voting Systems say that it will be impossible to cast an
"overvote." They say that an overvote is what caused the critical
36-day post-election during the 2000 presidential election, in which
Florida's 25 electoral votes could not be given to Gore or Bush. The new
computerized voting machines will also make sure that voters do not pick more
than one candidate in a race. Although, if the voter does make a mistake and
wants to pick the other candidate, the computer can change the vote by having
the voter touch the screen where they cast their vote. The mistake is erased
and the voter may choose again.
A Country Hangs by Chads
"Chads", according to the New York Times, are "paper punch squares that
are made in a voting ballot when the punch-card system is used." Florida
wasn't the only state that used punch-card machines during the 2000 election.
Other states include Texas, California, and 14 Florida counties. The reason
why Florida received so much media attention was because the margin was
incredibly close between Gore and Bush.
What's Next?
After the country becomes equipped with computerized voting machines,
what will happen to all those punched holes? Pam Iorio, the Hillsborough
Supervisor of Elections, spoke to the Miami Herald. Iorio is forming the
Archival Committee of the Presidential Election 2000 to keep all the ballots
as historical documents for future generations.
