The undervotes remained something of a puzzle Thursday. ES&S, which sold Broward County the $17.2 million touch-screen system, believes that some voters failed to push the ''vote'' button to record their choices. In that case, poll workers might have canceled the ballots by mistake. They are supposed to cast the ballots, creating a special electronic record.Others, including several candidates, have theorized that Democrats who reached the polls decided not to cast a vote when they realized that only Republicans were on the ballot.
Undervotes are also possible when poll workers reset the machine after a voter error, or after initially choosing the wrong language for the voter.
Whatever the reason, the electronic machines do not provide a paper record that might offer a clue to the voter's intent.
The undervotes may remain a mystery, but they did lead to a major change in future Broward County elections. Voters will have a ''none of the above'' option that allows them to vote, without selecting a candidate.It may not forestall recounts in close races, but it will help explain undervotes in the future, election officials said.
Out of the 10,845 votes in the election, 137 ballots with no candidate selected were cast on Tuesday using the touch-screen voting machinery -- all but three by Broward voters.Another two people requested absentee ballots, signed them, had someone witness their signatures, placed stamps on the envelopes and dropped them in the mailbox and yet did not choose any candidate. Three more filled out the oval next to every candidate on their absentee ballot.
The blank ballots were not concentrated in any precinct, something that Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore said would have been an indicator of a problem.