Article published Jan 6, 2007

State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, sponsored a bill giving voters a "none of the above" choice, which would indicate that ballots weren't left blank accidentally.

Bennett proposes 'no vote' option

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

TALLAHASSEE -- Voters would have the option of choosing "none of the above" under a bill proposed to avoid confusion over whether people mean to leave ballots blank, an issue at the center of the 13th District's disputed congressional election.

State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, the bill's sponsor, wants the additional option to prevent a repeat of the outcome of the race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings. Buchanan was declared the winner by 369 votes, but more than 18,000 ballots didn't register a choice.

Currently, it's impossible for elections officials to determine whether voters purposely meant to leave the race blank or if they accidentally made no choice.

"What we want to do is give people an option to write on there: 'I don't want to vote in this race. I don't really like any of these people. I don't feel comfortable,'" said Bennett.

He filed the bill Thursday, the day that Buchanan was seated in Congress.

U.S. House leaders are investigating the race and have said Buchanan could be removed if they determine the results need to be changed. Jennings has argued that the blank ballots, known as undervotes, were a result of a touch-screen voting machine malfunction in Sarasota County. Buchanan has called on her to concede, and a state audit of the machines produced no evidence they malfunctioned.

Some have said it was poor ballot design that made it easy to skip the race to replace Katherine Harris.

Others -- including Bennett -- believe many voters skipped the race on purpose because of a particularly nasty primary and general election among the candidates, all but one of whom were from Sarasota.

Bennett believes his bill will have strong support from other lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session that begins in March.

He said he might face opposition from election supervisors.

He is now looking for a House sponsor, and while he said "several" legislators have indicated interest, he declined to name them.

He does not think he will have a problem getting it passed.

"How do you argue against it?" he said. "I think the timing is right and the desire is there."

There could be unintended consequences, said Kathy Dent, Sarasota County's elections chief and the vice president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections.

The association has not had a chance to review the measure and take a formal position, but expects to do so soon.

Dent said, for example, the bill needs to clearly spell out what would happen if the "no vote" option beats out the candidates.

"I personally don't object to having the requirement ... Again, you have to think it through," Dent said.

Nevada is the only state where ballots carry a "no choice" option, but that selection can't be declared the winner.

Bennett's bill would be designed in the same fashion.

"There's a lot of us politicians who aren't sure we could beat none of the above," he said. "There would still be a majority winner."

Staff writer Carol E. Lee and the Associated Press contributed to this report.