Once again, reporting of election results is a struggle in Palm Beach County

Josh Hafenbrack | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
    January 30, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH - Record crowds poured into polling places in Palm Beach County and across Florida in Tuesday's primary, as a wide-open presidential race and a controversial property tax amendment sparked broad interest.

In a repeat of problems plaguing previous elections, Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson struggled to report the results Tuesday night.

Online results were d more slowly than other counties, including Broward, which uses the same software. And when results were posted, they didn't include precinct totals — leaving voters following local races to guess at how much of the vote had been counted.

  "Broward County has the same equipment as we do, and what they do is every time they get a precinct, they post it," said County Commissioner Karen Marcus, who was at the elections headquarters Tuesday night.

"We're not posting anything. It's real frustrating to the public. We need to sit down and figure out how we can do this better. We're not going to have this luxury of time in November."

Anderson blamed the lack of precinct totals on a defective early voting cartridge, which he said prevented the office's Internet software from posting precinct s.

He said a decision was against posting the totals for local races because to do that "would hold up tabulation for the overall election."

"I want it to be there in a timely fashion, but my first priority is accuracy," Anderson said.

Voter participation was up sharply from the presidential primary in 2004, when just 17 percent of voters went to the polls statewide. That year, the nomination battles in both parties were settled by the time Florida voted. Driving more voters to the polls: Florida's decision to move up its presidential primary, putting the state in the thick of the campaign season, and a hotly debated property-tax measure that narrowly cleared the 60 percent threshold to become law.

In the final major election using touch-screen electronic voting machines, sporadic glitches and foul-ups were reported at Palm Beach County precincts.

A few voters reported issues with balky machines when they tried to a candidate. Among them was Rush Limbaugh, the radio personality who aired his complaints to a national audience.

Limbaugh, of Palm Beach, said after voting for president, he hit the "next" button and the machine froze. He went back to the candidate page and tried again. "So I don't know if I voted twice," he said.

Several polling places opened late, including the one at fire station west of Boynton Beach that didn't open until after 8 a.m. — an hour late — because equipment was delivered to the wrong precinct. Polls at the Kings Point retirement community west of Delray Beach also got a late start because a poll worker accidentally turned off voting equipment.

But issues throughout the day were isolated and addressed quickly, Anderson said, and there were short wait times at the county's 780 precincts.

Trina Andreacci, of Wellington, said she went to the polls to protest her ballooning property tax bill and for the opportunity to cast a ballot in a presidential election she views as critical.

"I feel it's a very, very important election with everything that's going on with the war and the economy," she said.

John Andrews came out to vote for Democrat Barack Obama, but he was still steamed that his vote won't be counted in the Democratic delegate contest.

The national party stripped Florida of its delegates because it deemed Tuesday's primary too early in the calendar.

"I think it's ridiculous this process can happen in the United States," said Andrews, 72, who lives west of Boca Raton. "For us to cast a vote that has no meaning is ridiculous, but I wasn't going to let it stop me from voting."

The turnout would have been even better had national Democrats not blacklisted the state because of its early primary date, Anderson argued.

Some voters had problems related to voter registration, since only registered Democrats and Republicans were allowed to vote in the presidential primary.

Rebecca Monzon, of Lantana, said when she went to cast her ballot for Obama, but the elections clerk had her listed as "no party affiliation." Monzon, 30, said she's a longtime Democrat, but the Elections Office couldn't get things straightened out for her to vote in the presidential race.

"It was just so shocking that I could not vote and at least have my voice heard," said Monzon, a U.S. Air Force veteran.

Defying the conventional wisdom, Democrats turned out in steady numbers at Palm Beach County precincts, despite the controversy over Florida's early primary date that also kept the candidates from campaigning here.

Staff Writers Mark Hollis, Ivettee Yee, Dianna Cahn, Stephanie Horvath, Chrystian Tejedor, Maria Herrera, Scott Travis, Patty Pensa and Peter Franceschina contributed to this story.

Josh Hafenbrack can be reached at jhafenbrack@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5508.