Vote problems leave candidates confused well into evening
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Mar 14, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. --Technical difficulties produced inaccurate vote tallies for Palm Beach County local elections, leaving many candidates wondering who won well into evening before the results were corrected.
The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Web site displayed inaccurate numbers throughout the night, showing some candidates leading when they were actually behind and differences in vote totals in the same precincts.
Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson first blamed Tuesday's glitch on a "technicality that staff has encountered," but later said it was caused by an "unreadable" vote cartridge.
"The staff had to manually put those votes in," said Anderson, adding that he didn't know from which municipality the affected cartridge originated.
At 10 p.m., the elections Web site showed that all 64 precincts for the West Palm Beach mayor's race had reported, but that just over 1,200 votes were cast.
Mayor Lois Frankel and challenger Al Zucaro both celebrated victories briefly, until Frankel eventually won re-election with 58 percent of the vote.
"I was just told I won," Zucaro said, celebrating in a downtown West Palm Beach bar, before realizing he had in fact lost.
