On edit...I guess I must be the one confused as are the two reporters. Others in the thread seem to love connecting arrows. I have been filling in ovals for years on optical scan machines.
All other counties except Indian River County require filling in an oval, but Palm Beach thinks seniors do better at drawing lines.
I remember when Arthur Anderson was elected. We thought, oh goody, a Democrat. Well, he sounds confused to me.
Dart pierces voter confidenceFor voters in Palm Beach, Martin and several other counties, the new optical-scan ballots are the third system in three presidential elections. Palm Beach has had the punch cards and touchscreens. Martin voters used levers in 2000 and touchscreens in 2004.
The mere fact of a new voting system alone does not - well, should not - foretell havoc in November. But unlike the punch cards, the levers and the touchscreens, the new system requires you to ... connect the arrows. Fill-in-the-bubble would come more naturally. But connect the arrows? Who does that for anything else?
It's such an odd requirement that on Tuesday two poll workers greeted me with a "connect the arrows" practice sheet. Then, when I signed my name to receive my ballot, I had to fill in a sample to show that I understood the concept.
On a ballot nearly the size of a folded newspaper - why so large? - I connected my arrows. With just one race on the ballot, that was easy enough. What will happen in November, though, when voters - especially those with arthritis or shaky hands - have to grasp a thin marker to connect the arrows on more than a dozen races?
More on the "connect the arrows" idiocy. And more on the fact that there really is no manual recount in Florida because there really is no paper trail yet.
Voting machines debut in August primary To Browning's frustration, the Legislature did not change the law to require a manual count of all paper ballots, even though Crist repeatedly promoted paper ballots as a way of providing "receipts" for wary voters.
"What good is giving a voter a piece of this paper if no one has access to it?" Browning said, holding up a sample ballot. "And under current law, no one has access to it. No one."
Two counties chose the "connect the arrow" idea.
In most counties, voters will use a pen to fill in an oval next to the candidate or ballot question of their choice. But two counties, Palm Beach and Indian River, opted for a different style in which voters are asked to draw a horizontal line connecting two arrows pointing from right to left, in the candidate's direction.
"Everybody I've talked to looks at the arrow system and says, 'That's nuts,' " said Mark Herron, an election lawyer who represents the Florida Democratic Party. Palm Beach County Election Supervisor Arthur Anderson insists drawing a single line is simpler, especially for older voters.
"Stop and think about it," he said. "From a practical perspective, which would you find easier, to bubble in an oval or draw a single line connecting two parts of an arrow?"
I am looking for a sample ballot from one of those two counties. I can not imagine how it would look.
On edit...maybe all of Florida needs to change to connecting arrows.
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