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Sarasota County Is Testing Its New Voting System

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By DOUG SWORD

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: July 8, 2008

SARASOTA COUNTY - Children, uncleared felons, British vacationers and just about anybody else will be able to vote today in what will be an unusual election, even by Florida standards.

Polls open at 7 a.m. today in a mock election to test a new $3 million voting system -- Sarasota County's third one this decade.

The outcome of this election will not be judged by who wins or loses, but whether the votes, including those all-important undervotes and overvotes, are counted and handled correctly.

The actual voting results, though, may be interesting to some, including night owls and beach bums. Voters will be asked to pick their favorite late-night TV hosts and their favorite beaches.

The value of the exercise is as a tune-up for the primary Aug. 26, when voters will choose candidates for sheriff and other county offices, the state Legislature and Congress.

The county switched from its controversial touch-screen system more than a year and seven elections ago, but it has been using a borrowed optical scan system from Diebold Inc., the maker of the system that will be used for the first time today.

Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent decided to hold the daylong test after concerns were raised by county commissioners and a computer expert appointed by Democrats to observe county elections.

The worry was that private testing of the equipment by Dent's staff might not be enough to assuage voters whose confidence had been shaken by election controversies in 2000 and 2006.

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