by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Tuesday afternoon at the Supervisor of Elections Voting Equipment Center, the Accu-Vote tallying system, which will be responsible for recording every vote on April 15, was subjected to a logic and accuracy test. The system has been used in two previous countywide elections.
Candidates in attendance included Fran Beach, who is running for property appraiser, along with City Council hopefuls Sharon Copeland, Steve Bloomfield and Ju’Coby Pittman.
“I came out today because I wanted to become educated on the new system,” said Pittman. “I wanted to see it for myself and reach a certain comfort level with the voting process. I have, and I think that it’s important that everybody does.”
Copeland and Bloomfield agreed, calling Accu-Vote “a good system” that they were “very comfortable with.”
The machines can read pencil and all ink colors except red.
Council members Doyle Carter and Elaine Brown, who sit on the Duval County Canvassing Board and helped administer the tests, noted when they were running in the last election, they knew very little about how votes were counted.
“I didn’t know about the process,” said Carter, who is not seeking reelection. “I was too busy knocking on doors.”
Erin Moody, communications director for the Elections Office, said the system “is currently the most accurate on the market.”
“John [Supervisor of Elections Stafford] actually requested the machines a few years ago before the punch card system was outlawed in Florida,” she said. “We’re confident with them. In fact, in the contract we signed with [Accu-Vote], it says that if something better comes out, they’ll put all the money we’ve invested in them towards buying it.”
Approximately $1.3 million was set aside to purchase the technology. A machine will be placed in every precinct in Duval County on April 15, with five more at the Elections Office on Monroe Street.
As the tests concluded, Assistant Supervisor of Elections Dick Carlberg announced that everything went smoothly.
“This is the biggest turnout I’ve ever seen,” said Carlberg. “We’ve tested 16 machines today and found absolutely no errors with them. We anticipate the same results on election day.”