Rep. Wexler sues in push for ballot printouts

By Anthony Man and Kathy Bushouse
Staff writers
Posted January 17 2004

Arguing that he's exhausted other options and that time is running out to ensure an accurate 2004 election, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, turned to the courts Friday in his quest to require paper printouts from electronic voting machines.

In a lawsuit against Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood and Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore, Wexler asked a judge to conclude that both officials are violating their duties to ensure votes are counted accurately.

Wexler's desired fix is a printed duplicate of all ballots cast on electronic voting machines used in Broward, Palm Beach and other Florida counties. He said such a paper trail is the only way to guarantee fair elections because it's the only way to conduct an accurate recount in a close race.

Wexler said he's long been concerned about the lack of a paper record for touch-screen machines, and his fears were confirmed by last week's special election for Florida House District 91 in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Ellyn Bogdanoff was declared the winner by 12 votes. Voting machines showed that 137 people who went to the polls that day cast no ballot even though it was the day's only election.

The outcome prompted him to go to court because he's been writing letters to Hood and LePore for months and nothing has happened.

"It is mind-boggling to me because there is nothing partisan about this issue. There is nothing Democratic about it, and there is nothing Republican about it. This is as American as apple pie," he said.

Actually, there is a partisan edge to the debate. The push for ballot printers has largely come from Democrats, with Republicans and election officials offering resistance or raising questions.

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Sequoia Voting Systems, which supplied the voting machines used in Palm Beach County, plans to seek federal certification for a printer by the end of March. Federal certification is required before state certification, Nash said. No manufacturer has sought state certification, she said.

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"I don't know why it is so incredibly difficult for these people to understand that you had 137 people go to the polls on Election Day, and for whatever reason -- and we'll never know because it is a secret ballot -- decide that they didn't want to vote," he said. "I must be living under a rock, [but] I cannot believe that there is a congressman, a relatively intelligent congressman, that believes that when voters go into the voting booth that every last one of them is going to cast the ballot," he said.

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