All eyes are on Campaign '08!
Oct 20, 2008 12:14 am US/Eastern
Possible Voting Woes In Palm Beach County
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) ―
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Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
South Florida made election history eight years ago, when a meltdown happened in our back yard. Who can forget the infamous "butterfly ballot" and hanging chads? Palm Beach County became "ground zero" for the Presidential recount process. Now, the county is in the glare of the national spotlight again because of missing ballots. Will history repeat itself?
When 3,500 ballots turned up missing during an election recount in September, it created chaos. "Missing ballots" are two words that rocked Palm Beach County.
"I was quite concerned for the November election. If we got into a recount situation, would this happen again?" asked Mark Hoch, the Political Director for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County.
Other voters share Hoch's concerns. "I'm hoping they got everything worked out and everything will be fine," Patricia Mankin told
CBS4 Reporter Joan Murray.
But Lida Gonzalez isn't so sure. She voted eight years ago, and doesn't have much confidence in the system. "Nothing's changed. I feel nothing has changed in voting."
"If most businesses ran the way the government ran, they'd be bankrupt," voter Felicia Espinoza said.
Of course, the poll of potential voters is unscientific at best, but it's telling of the lingering doubt. When Palm Beach County voters fill out their ballots and put them in the scanner, will their vote count?
The Supervisor of Elections has been absent lately due to health problems. He brought in Brad Merriman to handle day-to-day operations. "We learned a lot in the recount," Merriman said, "Some of the lessons are procedural and some are public information. For example, the paper ballots can be prone to error on the part of the voter."
The Assistant County Administrator showed Murray the problems with paper ballots. They require a voter to draw an arrow next to a candidate's name. But some people are circling or checking their choices. "When you have 800,000 voters, you are going to have issues and concerns. But we are doing the best we can to work through them," Merriman insisted.
The Republican Party Director is satisfied that adequate controls are now in place to keep track of the ballots. "…In the event there was a recount and a discrepancy was determined, then it would be easy to do reconciliation and find out what happened immediately."
"We think we are better prepared," Merriman responded when Murray asked if Palm Beach would be Ground Zero, much like eight years ago. We'll find out on November 4th.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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