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Polls Face Only Minor Snags, Mostly Voter Confusion

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

TAMPA - Elections officials in Hillsborough County and across Florida reported only minor complaints about voting problems Tuesday.

The biggest issue Hillsborough poll workers faced was voters who didn't understand the rules of primary elections. Some tried unsuccessfully to vote for candidates not affiliated with their political parties.

"The biggest complaint we're hearing is, 'Why can't I vote for a Republican, or why can't I vote for a Democrat?'" said Jim Reed, assistant supervisor of elections.

In a few instances, the touch-screen machines reported errors when voters inserted their cards. Elections workers told the voters to withdraw the cards and try again, or they provided new vote cards.

Walter Carr of Odessa said the elections office got it wrong when poll workers told him he couldn't vote for a Republican.

Carr, 64, said he wanted to vote for Sen. John McCain but was told by elections workers at the Ed Radice Sports Complex in northwest Hillsborough that he is registered as a Democrat.

Carr, who thought he was registered with the GOP, had to abstain from voting in the presidential race.

In another instance, a voter at precinct 213 in central Tampa complained the name Tom Tancredo displayed on the screen when he tried to cast a ballot for Mitt Romney.

Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson said the touch-screen technology relies on machines being properly calibrated. The office did that before the election, but every now and then a machine slips out of sync, he said.

That happened at only one machine at St. James House of Prayer Episcopal Church, he said, and the problem was quickly resolved.

The machines soon will be replaced. For November's election, voters will fill in bubbles on paper ballots, which will create a paper record.

"It's there, and you can't have the argument that the system can be compromised because it's right there in front of you," Johnson said.

Although no widespread polling problems were reported in Florida, some isolated complaints surfaced.

In Delray Beach, voting was delayed about an hour and a half at a precinct after a poll worker turned off electronic machines, which deprogrammed them. In Orange County, officials disputed reports that voters at precincts near Orlando were being told there was no Democratic primary. However, a worker at one precinct acknowledged turning away a Democrat by mistake.

Duval County Elections Supervisor Jerry Holland said a few ballots jammed the optical scanners in voting machines, but officials re-scanned the ballots to ensure the number of cast ballots matched the number of votes counted.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Editor Todd Pratt and photographer Jay Nolan also contributed. Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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