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Wednesday, September 11, 2002 </MCC DATE>

Last modified at 2:23 a.m. on Wednesday, September 11, 2002

Results delayed by voting chaos</MCC HEAD>
Bush: Bungles shameful after overhaul costs </MCC SUBHEAD>

See also: McBride leads amid vote woes

For complete campaign coverage visit our Election 2002 site </MCC LINK>

By Binyamin Appelbaum and Rachel Davis </MCC BYLINE1>
Times-Union staff writers </MCC BYLINE2>

Election officials across the state scrambled to keep precincts open until 9 p.m. yesterday, delaying vote tallies in an attempt to salvage the integrity of another Florida election jeopardized by equipment failures and poorly trained poll workers.

Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the two-hour extension shortly after 2 p.m. in response to a petition from Secretary of State Jim Smith, the state's top election official. Smith cited problems in precincts from Miami to Jacksonville, including a polling station at Springfield's Mary Singleton Senior Center on First Street where voting did not begin until 8:20 a.m. because workers didn't realize they were supposed to turn on the machines.

Bush, who said he extended the election ''out of fairness," had sharp words for elections officials statewide.

"It's shameful," the governor said. "The state put up money -- significant sums of money -- for training, for machines. ... There's no excuse for not having precinct workers in a precinct for voting, no excuse for not turning on the machines.''

Duval County could not locate the voting equipment, ballots and results for the last of its 285 precincts. Police and election officials said the precinct clerk could not be located at her home, and nothing was found at other government offices. They were checking accident reports because the clerk is considered reliable. The elections office shut down its counting operation until 9 a.m. Wednesday. They hoped to have found the results by then, and canvass an estimated 500 provisional ballots. They anticipated little impact on county election results. They were uncertain early Wednesday what would be done if the results were not located. John Stafford, supervisor of elections for Duval County, said staff would be replaced at precincts where particular problems were reported.

"We had some clerks not following directions and we're eliminating these people," Stafford said. "You can't prevent what's happened but you can make a change."

Florida changed its voting laws after the 2000 presidential election, forcing most counties to purchase new voting equipment. Yesterday's primary was the first large-scale test of that equipment. While most voters cast ballots without incident, problems began cropping up statewide promptly at 7 a.m., when precincts were supposed to open.

The widespread problems were different from those experienced in 2000. But once again, despite two years of preparation and plenty of notice, Florida bumbled its way through the most basic of democratic processes. And once again, residents were left fuming while the nation watched and shook its head.

"We're still at square one," said Carlton Howard, who was turned away from his Miami-Dade precinct three times before it opened. "If they took out something that wasn't working, why did they put in something that works even worse?"

Broward County saw the worst of the difficulties. Dozens of poll workers failed to show up yesterday morning, machines broke in many precincts, and some Democrats were given Republican ballots.

In Miami-Dade, 68 poll stations were closed at 9 a.m., two hours after they were supposed to open, Mayor Alex Penelas said. One precinct did not open until 1 p.m.

Election workers in Orlando said 42 percent of Orange County's ballots would have to be counted by hand because they were tearing as they were fed through optical scanning machines.

Jacksonville precincts experienced similar problems on a smaller scale. At least five reported broken machines or insufficient ballots. Some people said they were turned away when they failed to show proper identification or attempted to carry non-partisan materials into the polls. And a few precincts distributed the wrong ballots to some voters.

"The names [on the ballot] were slightly familiar, but I didn't find most of the people I was looking for," said Stephen Bowen, among those who brought ballot problems at East Pointe Baptist Church in Arlington to the attention of election officials.

The accumulating problems statewide led Bush to issue his executive order. Word of the extended hours, however, reached precincts in patchwork fashion or not at all. Workers at St. Mark's Lutheran Church on Hendricks Avenue were notified of the extended hours by the Times-Union. Other precincts received calls from familywatching news reports.

The instructions bemused many poll workers. Most arrived at 6 a.m. yesterday to set up equipment and the majority encountered no problems during the day. By evening, they were tired of standing and wondering whether the governor was planning to pay for dinner.

Nonetheless, only a few precincts statewide reportedly closed early. Most were in South Florida but one Jacksonville precinct, Darnell-Cookman, was among them.

Voters generally welcomed the extended hours. Those voting in Jacksonville between 7 and 9 p.m. said they were taking advantage of the added time because they got caught up in other things or simply made a late decision to participate.

"I was working in Georgia and I had hoped I would get a chance," said Cole Strickland, who walked into his precinct at 7:01 p.m.

The general happiness late in the day contrasted with angry reactions among voters subjected to various problems earlier yesterday. Jack Anderson, whose ballot was placed in a box after a machine broke at Guardian Lutheran Church on Haley Road in Mandarin, said he was struggling with deja vu.

"I didn't know whether my vote was counted in 2000, and I don't know whether or not my vote was counted today," he said.

Also yesterday, a half-dozen disabled residents of Duval County gathered outside the Supervisor of Elections Office to protest the lack of audio balloting machines for visually impaired voters.

Elections Office senior official Robert Phillips said the machines are on hand, and should be certified in time for the general election in November.

Times-Union staff writer David DeCamp contributed to this report.

Material from The Associated Press was included in this report.

Staff writer Binyamin Appelbaum can be reached at (904) 278-9431 or bappelbaumjacksonville.com.

Staff writer Rachel Davis can be reached at (904) 359-4614 or rdavisjacksonville.com.

</MCC STORY>

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