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Pasco Machine Glitches Prove Minor

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By GEOFF FOX | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2008

6:00 p.m.: Sometimes "big problems" at the voting precincts aren't really big problems at all. But that's how issues are often characterized by the time they reach a reporter's ears.

That's one reason Pasco County Elections Supervisor Brian Corley got a call late this afternoon. Information about problems with ballot-scanning equipment at Precincts 22 and 114 in Zephyrhills had reached at least one newsroom.

"I haven't heard of any problems in those areas, but hang on," Corley said.

There were sounds of Corley questioning workers and someone typing.

"Nope," Corley said, after a minute or so. "We replaced a machine in Precinct 121 and another at Precinct 49. It was because of ballot jams, but we couldn't ascertain if it was a voter issue or a machine issue. It was just sporadic, but we determined that, since we have spare machines, we'd just replace them."

Precinct 121 is in Bayonet Point; Precinct 49 is in Moon Lake. Neither is anywhere near Zephyrhills.

"Those were just judgment calls," Corley said. "We didn't need to replace them but with some of the voters, I'm not claiming it was all just voter issues, but if a ballot gets perforated in the front, the scanner is sensitive and it will pick up the jam. We just erred on the side of caution."

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