Slots measure for S. Fla. tracks wins approval

November 4 2004

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A proposal that opens the door to slot machines at race tracks and jai alai frontons in South Florida won approval Thursday, avoiding a possible recount after elections officials in Broward County discovered thousands of absentee votes that were ignored by a programming error.

The glitch had affected about 79,000 absentee ballots, which included more than 74,000 votes for the gambling amendment that lets voters in South Florida hold a referendum on slot machines. Before that, the measure seemed headed for an automatic recount as opponents held a slight lead.

``We are declaring victory,'' slots campaign spokesman Jim Horne, a former state Education Commissioner, said at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale.

Opponents had held a lead of about 1,000 votes until the batch of votes from Broward ``fell out of the sky,'' said Rep. Randy Johnson, a central Florida Republican who chairs No Casinos.

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