Nov 4, 2008 7:44 pm US/Eastern
Miami-Dade Voting Runs Smoothly At Precincts
All Of Florida's 67 Counties Now Use Optical Scan Machines
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
In the Miami-Dade area, wait times ran from less than an hour to as much as three hours, where some technical problems arose in Tuesday's presidential election. There were reports of some issues such as a power outage at a voting location at Morningside Park, but voting was not interrupted because the vote machines have backup power.
George Burgess, Miami Dade County Manager told
CBS4 Reporter Marybel Rodriguez, "Lines are manageable, and there are poll workers who are there to make the voting experience enjoyable."
Some optical scan machines malfunctioned in Hialeah, according to voting advocates from Election Protection, a national organization monitoring several precincts in Florida. However, workers managed to resolve the problems.
Community groups such as LIFT (Low Income Families Fighting Together) reported only minor glitches at the polls, according to their team of monitors.
Click Here to read more about them.
Elsewhere in the state, such as in Pasco County, north of Tampa, electronic signature machines malfunctioned at five precincts in the morning, forcing elections workers to register people on paper while waiting for technicians.
In Hollywood, 40 ballots at the David Park Community Center had the question concerning Amendment 3 printed twice. This caused machines to not accept any of the ballots. The "rejected" ballots were to be counted by hand, and workers were able to fix the problem.
In Clearwater, some ballot scanners didn't work for about 45 minutes because of a paper jam. The problem was fixed.
Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning blamed a clerk for not opening a Palm Beach County polling place until 8 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. as required by law. He said the clerk was trying to do paperwork before opening up the polls. Browning said that it is likely that some voters were unable to vote because of the mistake.
A few optical scanners in Duval County malfunctioned but were repaired quickly.
Michael Baccich, 57, of Tampa, said he was told he'd already requested and returned an absentee ballot when he went to vote Tuesday morning. He said he hadn't even requested one. He was sent to an affirmation desk where he said poll workers tried to clear up the discrepancy over the phone but couldn't get through to headquarters. Baccich finally cast a provisional ballot for Republican John McCain.
"I'm worried that it isn't gonna count," he said. "Somebody voted for me, that's what I think. The way the operation is in there right now, and the confusion and the backups, they won't get to my ballot until four years from now."
At a Tallahassee church, poll workers couldn't wake up the pastor who lives behind it. A sheriff's deputy drove his car up to his house and blasted the siren and lights and woke him up. The poll opened about 20 minutes late.
Browning also noted a polling place in Leon County failed to open on time as well because the locks on the building were changed, but that county Supervisor of Elections had a backup plan that enabled him to still take ballots from voters until the doors were opened.
"Overall, it's been a relatively quiet morning and we are very, very pleased," Browning said.
Florida's voters and elections officials are trying to avoid another election meltdown during this historic election. During the 2000 presidential election, ballot design and vote counting problems led to a contentious, 36-day recount resulted in George Bush winning the state (and, therefore, the White House) by 537 votes over Al Gore.
Since 2000, voting equipment has been standardized; all of Florida's 67 counties now use optical scan machines. Also, early voting was introduced. This year, some 4.2 million of the state's 11.2 million registered voters cast early or absentee ballots.
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