POLITICS: Major Voting Changes Being Explored in Florida, page 1

Initiall discussions regarding how voting occurs in the State of Florida are underway now, to possibly take effect by 2006. These include the elimination of an actual Election Day in favor of an Election Period (11 day window) as well as the requirement that voting must occur in one place only depending on your place of residence.

www.local6.com
Election supervisors said the experience showed them they could move away from the traditional Election Day and a precinct structure many believe is outdated.

Instead of hundreds of precincts in a county, for example, voters could go to any of a few super-voting sites equipped with enough machines and personnel to keep lines at a minimum.

"What we're basically telling the Legislature is the precinct system is an archaic system, which does not serve the intent of the voters very well," said Ion Sancho, Leon County elections supervisor. "Requiring that you go to your precinct to vote is not unlike Caesar requiring everyone in the Roman Empire showing up in the town of birth so you could do a census."

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Though I can already see pitfalls if not handled properly, I must express my relief to see that options are being investigated to move into the future. Florida already has an option that I have taken advantage of since moving down here, that is the right of anyone to cast an absentee ballot.

Having come from NY, where I was a bit of an election law expert, I was stunned upon moving here that I would be absolutely incabable of casting my ballots at the polls due to the confusion of the ballots and and the amount of research required to make an informed decision.

It would be encouraging if all the states acknowledged now, that in this day and age of technology, so many improvements are needed and began even a national dialog to start implemnting change to make the most important freedom we have more accessible, reliable and comprehnsive (though what Florida is doing is but a mere baby step at this stage).