We've seen the worst of a weak voting system, so now lawmakers are faced with deciding what they'll do to improve it. Inertia is strong here.
Money is unusually tight.
Where there's a way, there may not be the will. In some respects, there is no choice. For fear that courts will compel it if they don't act, legislators and other policymakers are likely to see to the prompt replacement of the outmoded voting equipment used in 41 of Florida's 67 counties. Collectively, they accounted for 90 percent of the state's 179,855 blank or spoiled ballots Nov. 7, setting off the 36-day presidential recount drama that gave George W. Bush the presidency by just 537 certified votes, a margin of .009 percent. That election is history, and so too, surely, are the punch cards for which it will be remembered.