Lee County Elections Supervisor Sharon Harrington held a news conference today to help explain why some voters had to stand in line for up five hours on Tuesday to cast ballots.
Harrington said the problem was mostly the scanners that read four page paper ballots. Some locations did not have enough scanners ….and in some polling places they jammed. But she said, in the end, the responsibility was hers and emotionally apologized.
“To those who stood in long lines during eight days of early voting, to those who waited in long lines at their precincts. And to those who got discouraged and left without voting," she said. “Moving forward I will do whatever it takes to ensure that this does not happen again in Lee County.”
Harrington says she’ll seek more funding for additional scanners from the Lee County Commission. Elections funding has been cut due to the recession.
In adjacent Charlotte and Collier counties voters moved through the process rapidly. However, long lines were also reported in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. About 68 percent of registered voters in Lee cast ballots – compared to 85 percent in 2008.
