From Jackie Barron, Harris Party: Oh no...here we go!  For some voters in Sarasota County the election, ended with frustration and a demand for ballot accountability.  Sound familiar?  Ah, Florida.

Late yesterday the county’s phone system went down.  Anyone trying to reach county offices couldn’t get through.  As a result, those needing the latest bus schedules to catch a ride to the polls felt stranded.  The Supervisor of Elections Office—with a wonderful array of workers and volunteers—worked all day to sort out the mess.

But that’s nothing compared to the complaints about touchscreen voting machines.  Potentially as many as a dozen, maybe more, early voters have voiced concerns after a review of their ballot showed they hadn’t voted in the District 13 U-S House Race.  That’s the contest between Republican, millionaire, car dealer Vern Buchanan and democrat, millionaire, banker Christine Jennings.  Its a nasty one.  Both sides have been tearing into each other for weeks.

As recently as this afternoon when my partner, photojournalist Jim Hockett, went to Hot Diggety Dog for lunch, the woman behind the counter made sure to announce, “It happened to me too.”

Today the Jennings camp called a press conference about it.  Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent blamed it on voter oversight, saying, “Sometimes voters just don’t get it right.”

That really ticked them off.

Good news ... the review system worked, the correct votes were cast and counted.
Bad News ... if at the end of the night a small number of votes separates Buchanan from Jennings, you know how that goes.

Get Weekly Deals | Write a letter to the editor | Subscribe and get two weeks free | Place an Ad