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Hillsborough Hires PR Firm To Explain New Voting Machines

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By MIKE SALINERO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2008

Updated: 01/29/2008 12:14 am

TAMPA - Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson has hired a public relations firm to teach voters how to use new optical scanning voting machines before they go to the polls in November.

Johnson's office will pay about $40,000 to Tampa-based Schifino Lee Advertising & Branding Inc. to develop the education and public outreach campaign. Most of the money for the short-term contract will come from a federal grant under the Help America Vote Act.

The education program could include mock elections and other public demonstrations of the new voting equipment, said Kathy Harris, general counsel for the supervisor's office.

"They will develop that plan so we can roll out the system so the public has an opportunity to use the machines before the election," Harris said.

Today's presidential primary will be the last time touch-screen voting machines are used in a countywide election. The state Legislature passed a bill in May requiring the 15 Florida counties using touch screens to convert to optical scanners by July 1. The decision to make the switch came after a disputed 2006 congressional election in which touch screens in Sarasota County recorded undervotes.

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning, harkening back to the 2000 presidential election debacle, has stressed the need to educate voters in counties switching from touch screens to optical scanners.

"You cannot assume people will know what to do with that ballot," Browning said. "We've been down that road before and will not go down it again."

Johnson has appointed a five-person committee that is evaluating proposals from four voting machine companies that want to supply the optical scanners.

The scanners read cards on which voters have marked their selections by filling in bubbles next to the candidates' names.

Johnson will present the committee's preferred vendor to the county commission for approval Feb. 20.

Harris said Schifino Lee will develop the education campaign with the help of the chosen voting machine company.

Harris said Schifino Lee has not been hired to work on Johnson's re-election campaign.

"Their contract will be over in February or March," Harris said. "The two things are absolutely not connected at all."

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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