An effort involving hundreds of county employees and detailed in the national media resulted in a complete recount completed before the 5 p.m. deadline Nov. 14. It was the only county to finish by that initial deadline. The single biggest reform being talked about for the session will make a huge difference in some counties and none at all in others. It is a uniform election system for the state, a proposal backed by elections supervisors, the task force and many individual state senators and representatives. Officials are all but unanimous in saying they want to see the punch ballots disappear, and the alternative most mentioned is the optical scan system, which both Volusia and Flagler counties have in place.
Voters fill in an oval or other shape on the ballot, which electronic sensors read.
Where Palm Beach and the other counties had thousands of questionable ballots, Volusia had less than 1,000 and Flagler fewer than 100. Another huge plus for the optical scan technology is that it is already certified by the Florida Secretary of State's office. Two vendors have standing approval for their systems to be used in the state, making upgrades easier and faster, officials said. But lawmakers caution that a truly uniform system is likely too expensive and inefficient to implement. There is not enough money for the state to buy all the equipment for all counties, as estimates range into the hundreds of millions, King said.