Palm Beach County avoids lawsuit, will buy printers for voting machines

[Judi Lynn]

Palm Beach County avoids lawsuit, will buy printers for voting machines

By Kathy Bushouse
Staff Writer
Posted February 4 2004

County commissioners got themselves out of a lawsuit Tuesday by agreeing to buy printers for the county's 5,400 touch-screen voting machines.

The county positioned itself to be among the first in the state to get printers for its machines, but getting them in time for the November election could prove tricky. The printers are still in development by Sequoia Voting Systems, manufacturer of the county's voting machines, and the printers will require both state and federal certification before they can be used in an election.

The commissioners' action, however, seemed to be enough to satisfy U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who had the county removed from his lawsuit seeking to get the state to require printers for touch-screen voting machines.

Still part of the lawsuit are the Palm Beach County elections supervisor, Theresa LePore, and Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood. A court hearing is scheduled for Friday.
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"U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler" is a Democrat.

[abelenkpe]

1. fabulous

I hope counties around the nation will also purchase printers before the november election. We need to keep the pressure on to make sure our votes truly count this time around.

[truthisfreedom]

2. we have to scare the snot out of these freakin' rethugs.

this WILL NOT happen again. ACCOUNTABILITY NOW!

[dusty64]

3. Good for Wexler!

Are these paper receipts going to be kept for comparision or simply discarded after voting. Ya never know with this group, I can't believe lawhore is still in office.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Now the rest of the counties in Florida

need to do the same. Remember that little thing called equal protection?

[Bushfire]

5. This is no victory if the printers don't arrive by Nov.

It's easy for Sequoia to delay, or those responsible for certification. The punch card machines should still be used for the Florida primary I can only hope. I hope Wexler declines any settlement until after the printers are certified, and delivered prior to Nov.

[flpoljunkie]

6. If printers don't arrive, file lawsuit for paper ballots, hand counted!

[mn9driver]

7. They will do everything they can to keep these from being used

in the November election, and after that it won't matter since there won't be any more real elections. From the article:

"...McCarty said the county would get them as soon as possible. She said it would be fine if it could be done by the August primary and November general elections, but her understanding is they can't be manufactured by then.

"I think people need to not be misled into thinking it can be done by '04," she said..."

[FlaGranny]

8. You might think they needed some kind of "special"

printer to do the printing. Geez. Printers print. They don't care what they're printing. If the program doesn't already have the capability to print, it is certainly a p*ss poor program - but I guess we already know that.

[PaDUer]

10. they're probably

not going to be ready for use...Watch, they'll find a reason so they're not to be used.

[sonias]

9. That's the best news I have heard today

This is what voters should do in every county, sue them for fair verifiable elections, it is our constitution right.

Sonia

[yellowcanine]

11. Printers are good but not a cure-all

TS voting machines could still be programmed to record a vote one way and print it out in a different way. Yes, the "paper trail" would be available for a recount, assuming a recount is done. After 2000 we know how hard it can be to get a recount done - and that was when we knew there was a problem. Suppose the difference in votes had been large enough so that no one suspected any need for a recount?