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Wellswood Scanner Scrapped; Ballots To Be Counted Later

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By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2008

2:06 p.m.:An optical scanner had to be replaced soon after polls opened at the Wellswood Baptist Church in Tampa, according to a poll worker.

He said about 200 ballots had to be put in an "emergency bin." He said those ballots will be put through a working scanner tonight and will be counted.

About 900 people had voted by 11 a.m. at the church on Rome Avenue near the Hillsborough River. There are about 2,900 voters registered at the precinct: 1,400 Democrats, 900 Republicans, and 600 independents, third party or nonaffiliated.

Javier Reyna could hardly contain his excitement. Reyna, a Cuban refugee, became an American citizen in August. Today, he voted for the first time.

"It's a very exciting experience because I come from a country with no freedom," said Reyna, a 37-year-old barber at Fiesta Plaza in West Tampa. "This is the first time in my life that my vote is going to count."

Reyna said he voted for Barak Obama because he thinks economic changes must be made.

"I'm doing well, but I think other people are having a hard time," he said.

Walleska Varela, another barber at Fiesta Plaza, said she also voted for the first time today at age 36. A native of Puerto Rico, a U.S. possession, Varela said she voted because "this is a very important election."

She said she voted for Obama.

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