Florida should have electronic voting systems statewide, Secretary of State Katherine Harris says. The only question is what do we do with the potentially bigger problem of trying to make this big of a change all at once. I don't think the state should have a role in it. No county wants to bite the bullet and pay for these things, but some counties already have spent the money to do this. House Speaker Tom Feeney said it is unfair for counties to foot the bill for new equipment and suggested the state loan money to those that want to make changes.
Counties normally pay for election equipment without state assistance.
Jim Smith, chairman of the governor's task force, said there should be a subsidy for the counties. Even if optical-scanning units were approved and financed, he questions whether the manufacturers could have them in place by the 2002 election and have enough support staff on hand to aid county election officials. Moreover, because the county prints ballots in Spanish and Creole, he foresees possible complaints of discrimination. Someone could claim that they asked for a Creole ballot, for example, and didn't receive it. In a touch-screen system, voters choose the language they want with the push of a button.