With the Florida recount process wrapping up, ideas on how to improve the election process for 2020 is already being talked about.
“This is the new normal for elections,” said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.
The spotlight was shining on two of the state’s largest counties, Palm Beach and Broward, and not always in a good way.
Outdated equipment, machine malfunctions and unexpectedly high voter turnout was getting a lot of the blame for why recounts wouldn’t meet state-mandated deadlines.
“What do we do to make sure this doesn’t happened again?" asked NewsChannel 5’s Michael Williams.
On Sunday’s edition of "To the Point," guests on both sides of the political aisle shared their thoughts.
“Let’s put some teeth into the statute moving forward and say to the supervisor of elections, 'If you don’t meet your deadline of meeting votes, so suddenly you can’t come up with 80,000 votes after the fact, there ought to be fines or penalties or something to make sure they comply,'” said attorney and Republican National Committee member Peter Feaman.
“The ultimate decider is at the ballot box. There they can decide who they want to retain and who they don’t,” said attorney John Whittles, who works with the Democratic party.
Yet, Bucher said she believes the answer could be found in future staffing.
“We have a small team, and we have to get bigger because I think this is the normal,” said Bucher.
Bucher has also repeatedly said they need new voting equipment.
“We need to beef it up before 2020,” said Bucher.
Bucher has previously said, “We have in our budget currently to update our equipment just right after this election; need to pass a little piece of legislation and we’re hopeful that we’ll purchase that equipment in March."
Before any new machines are allowed to run in Palm Beach County, they will have to be certified in Tallahassee.
