Miami Herald.com – New system no easy touch for 134 voters in Broward.
Today's recount in the House District 91 race is likely to raise questions about electronic voting, including whether paper records are necessary.
Three years after helping render punch-card voting systems obsolete, Broward County voters have proven that no election system is foolproof.
In Tuesday's special election to fill state House seat 91, 134 Broward voters managed to use the 2-year-old touch-screen equipment without casting votes for any candidate.
How so many happened to cast nonvotes remains a riddle. Unlike with punch cards or paper ballots, there's no paper record with electronic voting that might offer a clue to the voter's intent.
The percentage of nonvotes — 1.3 percent — is modest compared to the days of ''hanging'' and ''pregnant chads.'' But in Tuesday's race, every vote was crucial. In a seven-candidate field, Ellyn Bogdanoff beat Oliver Parker by just 12 votes.
''These were the new machines,'' said Chas Brady, a spokesman for Parker's campaign. “This was not supposed to happen.'' [Privacy Digest]