What voters think Florida's voters overwhelmingly approve the idea of shifting to a costly new method of touch-screen computer voting throughout the state, results of a new Herald survey show. The statewide poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research for The Herald and other news organizations, also shows a decreasing number of voters believe the 2000 presidential election in Florida was conducted accurately or fairly, although growing numbers have come to accept President George W. Bush as the winner. The pollsters did phone interviews with 625 registered voters who say they vote regularly. It was conducted Feb. 23-26, and has a possible error margin of plus or minus 4 percent.
Political analysts say the results portray a public eager for election reform.
Her recommendation does not specify a technology, but her department is expected to focus on touch-screen computer voting. In the meantime, Harris supports a temporary move to optical scanners that read paper ballots marked in pen or pencil. Although the poll did not ask about other voting technologies, analysts say any voting system portrayed as more reliable would probably fare as well. Both the governor's task force and Florida's supervisors of elections are calling for a uniform voting method. Neither group has endorsed touch-screen technology, but South Florida's supervisors say it's the only method that makes sense for their complicated elections.