Supervisor Theresa LePore is preparing to auction Palm Beach County's notorious punch-card voting machines on the Internet, perhaps with butterfly ballots included. The proceeds will help defray the switch to touch-screens. But, as the Votomatics are shipped away, the county finds itself with neither the approved machinery nor the approved law to hold next year's election. The U.S. Justice Department is requesting more information about the election reforms the Legislature passed last spring. The federal government's intervention raises new concerns about how well the state has fixed the many things that broke down in November.
Federal curiosity is understandable.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Florida Equal Voting Rights Project, among other groups, have filed lawsuits alleging that the law discriminates against minorities, and the South's history of exclusion invites suspicion of anything termed election reform. Yet, these questions are hardly insurmountable, and answering them quickly also would clear up confusion that exists in the minds of the state's officials and voters. Constructing an accurate statewide voter database may be the most problematic issue. The Division of Elections was unable to agree with the counties on how to do it and now intends to assemble the voter rolls itself. The performance of the state office before, during and after the last election inspires no confidence about its fitness for the task.