It plans to survey supervisors about which voting systems are best, whether punch card ballots should be outlawed and whether the association should recommend a statewide voting system that would ensure a citizen in the Panhandle votes the same way as a citizen in Key West. Clay Roberts, the director of Florida's Division of Elections, said Wednesday that major reforms likely to be considered by the Legislature, such as the statewide voting system, could probably not be in place until the next presidential election in 2004. He favors legislation, already filed, that would set up a task force to examine the newest technologies and voting methods, as well as the costs of those systems statewide. Other lawmakers are likely to feel the same way, particularly in a budget year when money is expected to be tighter because of rising Medicaid costs and other issues. I think they're going to back away .
Counties are responsible for financing their own voting systems.
But Browning is hopeful that the state could at least share the cost of installing a statewide voting system over a period of several years. What is clear is that reforming Florida's voting system will be a politically dicey proposition. In the past, reforms have been bogged down by lawmakers worried about how changes could affect their political parties. After the turmoil over the close presidential election, pressure is already building to fix problems. But Republican lawmakers, who control both the House and Senate and are happy about a victory for Texas Gov. George Bush, seem less willing than Democrats to push quickly for major changes.