Florida’s Harris Proposes Ballot Free of Chads

Florida’s days of punch-card ballots are history, Secretary of State Katherine Harris said Tuesday in offering 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 and to develop a system for 2004 that would let people cast ballots from anywhere in the state using a high-tech, direct-recording system yet to be developed.

Included in Harris’ three-year plan is a centralized voter database that would automatically update registration information, identify duplicates and remove the names of dead voters from the rolls.

She said she was seeking comprehensive reform.

Lawmakers are having difficulty with the $200-million price tag on the three-year plan, which must be approved by the Legislature.

The Senate has allocated $20 million for election reform but has not specified how it should be spent. The House budget sets aside $23 million.

State Senate President John McKay said the state should not pay to put scanners in each precinct.

Harris, a Republican, was in the spotlight during Florida’s five-week vote-recount saga last year that ended in a 537-vote victory by George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore. Possible errors in punch-card balloting and other problems led to widespread calls for reform.

After criticism of partisan influence, Harris also proposed removing much of the power from Florida’s 67 county canvassing boards, shifting decision-making about election disputes and manual recounts to the state canvassing commission.