End to Presidential race on the cards

By ANDREW GUMBEL

LOS ANGELES - Whoever becomes the next American President, one of the new Administration's most pressing considerations will be an overhaul of the voting system that has turned the world's mightiest democracy into a laughing-stock of incompetence.

Many voters who went to the polls on November 7 were forced to record their choices on fiddly bits of cardboard that were then read by out-of-date machines of dubious accuracy.

That, above all, explains why there is a problem in Florida. In most elections, even large numbers of discarded or inaccurately read ballots don't make much of a difference.

But this was not most elections, and the sheer closeness of the contest between Al Gore and George W. Bush has exposed the rottenness of a system that should have been fixed years ago.

The punch-card ballot is based on early 20th century technology and was never intended for use in elections. A 1975 study conducted for the Federal Election Commission showed the accuracy of punch-card reading machines at only 99.5 per cent, a margin of error that would translate into 30,000 votes in Florida.

Around 37 per cent of voters in this election used punch cards. Another 20 per cent used an even more antiquated system of mechanical lever machines.

Also, the autonomy granted to local counties leaves states bereft of any kind of organisation with the authority or the financial muscle to make meaningful improvements.

Herald Online feature: America votes

Florida Dept. of State Division of Elections

Democrats and Republicans wage war online