By
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida's days of punchcard ballots are history, Secretary of State Katherine Harris said yesterday in proposing a 21st-century solution to the state's maligned election system.
Harris wants the state to lease precinct-based optical scanners for the 2002 election. Beyond that, she wants to develop a "voter-freedom" system for 2004 that would let voters cast their ballots from anywhere in the state, using a high-tech, direct-recording system yet to be developed.
Included in Harris' $200 million, three-year plan is a centralized voter database that would automatically update registration information, identify duplicates and remove dead voters from the rolls.
"I am guided by duty and conscience to pursue a comprehensive approach to reform, not a Band-Aid elixir that gives all of us some sense of reprieve before the next problem ... the next glitch ... the next outcry about process and fairness," Harris said.
Harris is the Republican political ally of George W. Bush whose election decisions benefited him during Florida's five-week vote-recount saga last year. Possible errors in punchcard balloting in some counties, questions about voters dropped from the rolls and other problems led to widespread calls for reform.
In her proposal yesterday, Harris said she also wants county officials to have more time between the first primary, second primary and the general election, a move supported by the county supervisors of elections.
In the wake of criticism over partisan influence, Harris' proposal also removes much of the power of Florida's 67 county canvassing boards, shifting decision-making about election disputes and manual recounts to the statewide election canvassing commission.
The bill also includes a recommendation for provisional ballots which would let voters cast their ballot even if their registration is in question on busy election days. Election officials would later verify the eligibility, and strike the vote if the person was ineligible.
