It is unfathomable that a country as wealthy and technologically advanced as America could possibly have a problem tallying votes during elections. However, in 2000, the "leader of the free world" was ushered into office amidst a ballot-counting scandal in the state of Florida. For the most part, the U.S. government inexplicably placed the blame for the miscount on the butterfly ballots that were used in Florida.Since the 2000 presidential election, Florida's counties have implemented multi-million dollar optical scan voting machines. You would think that these new, expensive contraptions would alleviate any voting mishaps; think again.
According to Wired Magazine, after a recent judicial election in Florida, in which the votes had to be recounted due to a close race, over 3,000 cast ballots "mysteriously disappeared ."
Wired reports that the Palm Beach County Election Supervisor stated that, "the discrepancy in the number of votes cast in the judicial race was likely due to the extra sensitivity of optical-scan machines used in the recount, which are different from optical-scan machines that counted the ballots on Election Day. The seven high-speed tabulating machines used in the recount are much more 'unforgiving' than those that processed the votes on election day." [SIDEBAR: ???...More excuses after a few million spent.]
Floridians should take this newest voting faux pas as a heads-up to be on high alert come this November. Make sure that your vote is counted.
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