TOUCH-SCREEN ELECTIONS - State to shun voting backup

Lawmakers say there's no need to add paper to touch-screen voting machines since they're confident the state's election reforms are satisfactory.

BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
Feb. 06, 2004

Lawmakers: Paper not needed

Touch-screen voting technology, on the cutting edge of election innovation just a few years ago, now is regarded with growing unease by voters who worry their choices won't be correctly counted.

Despite mounting pressure for change, Florida lawmakers are unlikely to require the paper receipts that some experts insist are the only way to ensure voting security.

Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach county leaders agreed last week to press the Legislature to let them add printers that would create a paper record of each ballot. Voters could review the record before they press the ''vote'' button on touch-screen machines.

But Gov. Jeb Bush and lawmakers who have the authority to back such legislation say they're not interested.

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