Thomas Foley: “What happened in Florida's primary election this year is an example of exactly why we need to complete this conference…”

“What happened in Florida's primary election this year is an example of exactly why we need to complete this conference as soon as possible. The Florida legislature passed legislation that outlawed punch cards, included new technology, called for improved election management practices and policies and introduced a statewide computerized registration system. The State was not afraid to spend money to support this effort. They set aside $32 million to improve the way elections were run. The counties responded with approximately an additional $50 million of local money designed to complement this statewide initiative. It is very difficult for anyone to argue that Florida was not committed to changing the way elections were run in their State. In fact, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and his staff spent the last 2 years studying elections across the country, talking to election officials, voters, disability advocacy groups, election machine vendors and other experts in the field. Based on what they learned, Florida spent more money on new voting equipment than any other State in the country during the last 2 years.”