S. Fla. Voting Problems Go Under The State Microscope
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) — Florida lawmakers are hearing from the state's top elections official about what improvements may be needed for future Election Days.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner told a Senate committee Tuesday he plans to dispatch a team of experts to Miami-Dade next week to investigate more fully the "problem" with the recent election, according to CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald.
Although last month's election went quite smoothly compared to past Florida elections, there were problems in parts of the state, especially South Florida, where some voters had to stand in long lines during early voting days and on Election Day.
Detzner, who is Gov. Rick Scott's chief elections officer, said Miami-Dade is one of five Florida counties his staff will make fact-finding visits to next week.
Testifying before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, Detzner said the "problem" could be anything from a lack of early voting sites to a lack of money for office operations.
Detzner said the problem of "underperformance" will also be investigated in Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Lee counties. He said he would report all of his findings to Gov. Rick Scott in January.
Gov. Rick Scott has already urged lawmakers to look at what changes may be needed to a 2011 law that reduced early voting days and may have contributed to the painfully long lines in some areas of the state.
Scott faces re-election in 2014.
Nearly 8.5 million Floridians cast ballots this year.
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